Coral reefs are really important for the planet’s biodiversity.
Although they cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, they are home to a third of all known marine species.
Coral reefs are usually incredibly colourful. However, if the ocean gets too warm, they start to lose of a type of organism called algae that live in their tissues, and gives them their vibrant colour.
If this goes on for too long, they start to turn white, or ‘bleach’.
Danny Collins, an oceans PhD student at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the lead author of the study, told BBC Newsround “these white, bleached corals are often treated as a lost cause,” but he argues that their research shows this might not be the case.