By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP Science Writer)

Ocean temperatures that have gone “crazy haywire” hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. It’s so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off.

More than three-fifths — 62.9% — of the world’s coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. That’s nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the world’s coral died, said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch Program.

When water gets too hot, coral, which are living creatures, bleach and sometimes die.

In the Atlantic, off the Florida coast and in the Caribbean, about 99.7% of the coral reefs have been hit with “very very severe” losses in staghorn and elkhorn species, Manzello said Thursday in NOAA’s monthly climate briefing. Sixty-two countries are seeing damaged coral, with Thailand shutting off a tourist-laden island to try to save the coral there.

Meteorologists say a La Nina — a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes the weather worldwide — is forecast to develop soon and perhaps cool oceans a bit, but Manzello said it may be too little and too late.

“I still am very worried about the state of the world’s coral reefs just because we’re seeing things play out right now that are just very unexpected and extreme,” Manzello said.

“This wouldn’t be happening without climate change. That’s basically the cornerstone of all the ocean warming we’re seeing,” Manzello said. But on top of that are changes in El Nino, the reverse of La Nina and a natural warming of ocean waters; reduced sulfur pollution from ships and an undersea volcano eruption.

Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen said “acceleration of global warming is now hard to deny” in a new analysis and statement Thursday.

For coral, it comes down to how hot the water is and “things have just gone crazy haywire with ocean temperatures in the last year,” Manzello said. He said hurricanes bring up cool water from deep and benefit coral reefs if they don’t hit them directly.

“Hurricanes can be devastating for reefs,” Manzello. “But in the grand scheme of things and given the current situation we are in on planet Earth, they’re now a good thing essentially, which is kind of mind-blowing.”

On Wednesday, parts of the Atlantic where hurricanes often develop had an ocean heat content — which measures water warmth at depths — equivalent to mid-August, said hurricane researchers Brian McNoldy at the University of Miami and Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University.

The world’s oceans last month broke a record for the hottest April on record. It was the 13th straight month global seas broke records, and because the oceans are slow to cool or warm, more records are likely, said Karin Gleason, NOAA’s climate monitoring chief.

Coral reefs are key to seafood production and tourism worldwide. Scientific reports have long said loss of coral is one of the big tipping points of future warming as the world nears 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial time. That’s a limit that countries agreed to try to hold to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

“This is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet,” said Andrew Pershing, a biological oceanographer who is vice president for science of Climate Central. “It’s an ecosystem that we’re literally going to watch disappear in our lifetimes.”

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Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

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Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

It’s fitting the lockers of Kervin Arriaga and Joseph Rosales are next to each other inside the Minnesota United dressing room at Allianz Field.

The Hondurans have essentially been joined at the hip since Arriaga joined Rosales in Minnesota in 2022. On the field in the last two games, their partnership has produced two goals off corner kicks; Rosales’ service from the flag twice finding the head of a leaping Arriaga.

After their latest connection in the 2-2 draw with Los Angeles Galaxy on Wedneday, Arriaga was a center of attention during a post-match interview, while an obscured Rosales lounged in the seat next to him, scrolling his phone.

But the dynamic duo needed to be rejoined yet again. Arriaga was asked about the quality of those passes, and Rosales’ head cranked to his right to hear his fellow countryman’s answer.

“Good. The truth is that during the course of the week we have spoken on where to shoot, and according to him, I owe him $100, since it’s $50 for every goal,” Arriaga said. Rosales just smiled.

If that’s not a joke, then Michael Boxall owes Rosales $50 after the set up on his corner-kick goal in a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on April 27. In that three-game span, Rosales has amassed three assists, all on corners.

The Loons have produced five goals from corner kicks across the last four games, including a recycled corner turning into Bongi Hlongwane’s long-range strike against L.A. on Wednesday and Robin Lod’s service headed in by Hassani Dotson in the 3-0 win Charlotte FC on April 21.

MNUFC has scored 19 total goals in 11 matches this season, including six on set pieces. Lod scored on a Sang Bin Jeong free kick in the 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC on March 16.

Before head coach Eric Ramsay joined MNUFC, he was hired by Manchester United in 2021 and was in charge of set plays for the famous Premier League side. It’s a focus of his now with the Loons.

Ramsay has talked about three key ingredients to set pieces: a quality ball entering the box, a “real desperation” for players to get on the end of it, and once the ball is booted, the location of players and their ensuing movements to get free from defenders.

That’s where Ramsay’s often-expansive answers to questions can dry up. He isn’t about to share the secret sauce.

“There’s a lot of detail to it that I won’t give away here,” he said in his news conference Wednesday.

Set pieces also are a big focus of new Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad. The amount of corner kicks compared to the opposition is one of the key stats he looks at in the post-match stats. He also prefers in-swingers and going into Wednesday, 75 percent of the Loons attempts were bending toward goal.

In seasons past, the Loons have relied on Emanuel Reynoso to take the bulk of corners, but with Reynoso missing out on most of the season, it’s been a by-committee approach so far in 2024. Rosales currently leads the team with 24 corners. Lod has 23 and Jeong 19.

MNUFC has totaled more corner kicks than its opponent in only six of the 11 matches so far this season and have averaged 6.3 corners per game. There hasn’t been an uptick in those numbers to coincide with increased scoring on corners in the last four games; they are just making the most of their chances.

But work on Ramsay’s set pieces is a staple in Loons training sessions in Blaine, especially leading up to the Galaxy match, given how they have been prone to allowing goals on set plays this season.

“We … approach these things in a very purposeful way, but there is momentum in that sense,” Ramsay said. “We’ll be a team that’s a real threat across not just corners but on throw-ins and wide free kicks, too. It’s a really good trait to have as a team.”

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a historic shift in generations of U.S. drug policy.

A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. The plan approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland does not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will take public comment on the proposal to move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids.

The move comes after a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department, which launched a review of the drug’s status at the urging of President Joe Biden in 2022.

Biden also has moved to pardon thousands of people convicted federally of simple possession of marijuana and has called on governors and local leaders to take similar steps to erase convictions.

“This is monumental,” Biden said in a video statement, calling it an important move toward reversing longstanding inequities. “Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I’m committed to righting those wrongs. You have my word on it.”

The election year announcement could help Biden, a Democrat, boost flagging support, particularly among younger voters.

The notice of proposed rulemaking submitted to the federal register kicks off a 60-day comment period followed by a possible review from an administrative judge, a potentially lengthy process.

Biden and a growing number of lawmakers from both major political parties have been pushing for the DEA decision as marijuana has become increasingly decriminalized and accepted, particularly by younger people.

The U.S. Cannabis Council, a trade group, applauded the proposed change, saying it would “signal a tectonic shift away from the failed policies of the last 50 years.”

The available data reviewed by HHS shows that while marijuana “is associated with a high prevalence of abuse,” that potential is more in line with other schedule III substances, according to the proposed rule.

The HHS recommendations are binding until the draft rule is submitted, and Garland agreed with it for the purposes of starting the process.

Still, the DEA has not yet formed its own determination as to where marijuana should be scheduled, and it expects to learn more during the rulemaking process, the document states.

Schedule III drugs are still controlled substances and subject to rules and regulations, and people who traffic in them without permission could still face federal criminal prosecution.

Some critics argue the DEA shouldn’t change course on marijuana, saying rescheduling isn’t necessary and could lead to harmful side effects. Others argue marijuana should be treated the way alcohol is.

Federal drug policy has lagged behind many states in recent years, with 38 states having already legalized medical marijuana and 24 legalizing its recreational use. That’s helped fuel fast growth in the marijuana industry, with an estimated worth of nearly $30 billion.

Easing federal regulations could reduce the tax burden that can be 70% or more for marijuana businesses, according to industry groups. It also could make it easier to research marijuana, since it’s very difficult to conduct authorized clinical studies on Schedule I substances.

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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

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