The Australian Government Reef Conservation Authority and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Reserve have again recorded massive coral bleaching.
“Data from aerial photography carried out by the Reef Conservation Authority and scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and covering two-thirds of the marine park <...> confirmed widespread and massive bleaching of corals on the Great Barrier Reef,” TASS reports, citing the agency’s message.
It is noted that corals growing in shallow waters were most severely bleached, indicating “the accumulated effects of heat stress over the past two years.”
The Reef Conservation Authority noted that the extent of coral damage, despite the apparent widespread and deep bleaching, can only be adequately assessed after additional observations. If humanity fails to stop global warming in the next decade, coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef will become irreversible by 2050 and the reef will die out.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
