Record ocean heat has taken a devastating toll on one of the world\u2019s greatest natural wonders, with coral bleaching on Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef reaching \u201ccatastrophic\u201d levels, a new study has found. <\/p>\n
More than 50% of affected corals monitored near an island in the reef\u2019s south were killed last year during the most \u201csevere and widespread bleaching\u201d to ever hit the area, according to a team of Australian scientists. <\/p>\n
In 2024, the reef experienced its worst summer on record. Soaring ocean temperatures smashed records, causing the reef\u2019s seventh mass bleaching event. Corals are bleached white when marine heat waves put corals under stress, causing them to expel algae from their tissue, draining their color. <\/p>\n
The culprit is the burning of planet-heating fossil fuels, which is driving up global temperatures. Coral damage was also accelerated last year by the El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern, which heats ocean temperatures in this part of the world. <\/p>\n
Scientists from the University of Sydney tracked 462 coral colonies at the reef\u2019s One Tree Island over the course of five months last year, beginning at the heat wave\u2019s peak in early February. <\/p>\n
By May, 370 of those colonies were bleached and, by July, 52% of the bleached corals were dead, according to the peer-reviewed study published in Limnology and Oceanography Letters. <\/p>\n
Some coral species monitored had a mortality rate of 95%, with researchers observing the start of \u201ccolony collapse\u201d where the dead skeleton detaches from the reef and turns to rubble. <\/p>\n
Another species, the Goniopora, became infected by black band disease, which invades the coral\u2019s tissue and can kill it. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings underscore the urgent need for action to protect coral reefs, which are not only biodiversity hotspots but also crucial for food security and coastal protection,\u201d said lead author Maria Byrne, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the university. <\/p>\n
Byrne said the area studied is in a protected part of the reef, far from the coast and free from mining activities and tourism. <\/p>\n
But the reef, \u201cdespite its protected status, was not immune to the extreme heat stress that triggered this catastrophic bleaching event,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world\u2019s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. It contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy each year, mainly through tourism, and is promoted heavily to foreign visitors as one of the country\u2019s \u2013 and the world\u2019s \u2013 greatest natural wonders. <\/p>\n
The authors said mass bleaching is becoming \u201ca biennial event\u201d and as such \u201creinforces the need for urgent global action now to adhere to ambitious climate and reduced emissions targets.\u201d <\/p>\n
The bleaching hit areas of the reef not impacted before, and disease and death were found in coral species considered resilient, the study found. <\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing the impacts on a reef that has largely avoided mass bleaching until now is devastating,\u201d said Shawna Foo, a marine scientist and co-author of the study. \u201cThe high rates of mortality and disease, particularly in such a remote and pristine area, highlight the severity of the situation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. <\/p>\n
The 2022 bleaching was the first during a La Ni\u00f1a event, El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s counterpart, which tends to have a cooling influence \u2013 raising serious concerns about the reef\u2019s outlook. <\/p>\n
The authors said their research was a \u201cwake-up call for policymakers and conservationists\u201d as its implications extend beyond ecology and conservation to communities that depend on the reef for fishing, tourism and coastal protection. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe resilience of coral reefs is being tested like never before, and we must prioritize strategies that enhance their ability to withstand climate change,\u201d said Ana Vila Concejo, co-author of the study from the university\u2019s School of Geosciences. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings underscore the need for immediate and effective management interventions to safeguard these ecosystems.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Record ocean heat has taken a devastating toll on one of the world\u2019s greatest natural wonders, with coral bleaching on Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef reaching \u201ccatastrophic\u201d levels, a new study has found. More than 50% of affected corals monitored near an island in the reef\u2019s south were killed last year during the most \u201csevere and <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}