India, May 22 -- Rising ocean temperatures due to climate change may be disrupting the vital ventilation system among corals, leading to their total collapse.

Corals are often considered as static organisms, but their surfaces have hair-like cilia that work as a ventilation system. The structures beating in rhythm help corals "breathe" by moving oxygen-rich water across their surface.

This fundamental functioning is now under threat as new experiments reveal that heat stress disrupts ventilation system. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, found that warming seas initially make these cilia work faster.

But beyond a critical temperature they suddenly lose coordination, causing oxygen levels around coral tissues to co...