(AP) — Recent flooding in Hawaiʻi caused widespread and obvious damage. But extreme rain events that are predicted to become more common with global warming do not only wreak havoc on land. The runoff from these increasingly severe storms is also threatening Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs. The runoff problem is multifaceted, but one of the biggest issues is pollution from the state’s 88,000 cesspools, which regularly overflow into the ocean when there’s heavy rain. And while increasing ocean temperatures can sicken and kill coral, scientists say the less well known threat of runoff could prove more serious for reefs in the Hawaiian Islands.

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