Influenced by the global warming,coral reef bleaching phenomenon is more and more serious and approximately 1 /3 of the world's coral is facing possible extinction. Sea water temperature anomaly is one of the most important causes of coral reef bleaching and mortality. NOAA has developed thermal stress satellite products for coral reef bleaching monitoring based on sea surface temperature (SST) , including 50 km and 5 km spatial resolution. This paper presents the research status of coral reef bleaching,and introduces the methods and algorithms that NOAA has developed for monitoring coral reef bleaching. There is also a case study of coral reef bleaching monitoring in South China Sea based on NOAA's coral reef bleaching monitoring products. It is shown that it is very probable that coral reef bleaching already occurred in the study area in June 2015. This paper expounds the necessity and urgency of exploring the related research on coral bleaching warning methods in China through research review and case study,and provides relevant research and technical reference.