This is the seventh mass bleaching event to hit the vast, ecologically important but fragile site and the fifth in only eight years.
Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals.
Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022.
Sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Elliot island on October 10, 2019.
Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images/FileBy continuing on the current pathway, “we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef and the $6 billion sustainable tourism industry,” said Schindler.
Persons:
CNN —, El Niño, ”, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Dr, Lissa Schindler, Lady Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, Schindler, “, David Ritter, Derek Manzello
Organizations:
CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian, Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Labor, Oceanic, NOAA, Reuters, Reef Watch
Locations:
Australia, Lady, Southern, Pacific