reginald white is from the office in majero. coral could regenerate and get life.therwise you are seeing the death of the coral at certain levels. at certain depths. that is alarming because most of the families in intindia depend on a subsistence economy. this is the food source. >> if the coral dies, food well. >> reporter: if the rising o temperature - that causes the massive die off - if it continues, experts worry the results could be disastrous. >> there are about a half a billion that rely on coral reefs as the primary source of food. >> scientists use a larger array of environmental satellites to take the temperature of the earth's oceans. what is happening in the marshal islands in appears to be growing into a global event. >> the bleaching now is in kiribati, along the tropical pacific area. we have the south-east asia coral triangle area, with a lot of warming in the philippines, and bleaching has been reported from the philippines and parts of indonesia. the marshals are starting to see stress returning again. and over to the galapagos and coastal areas