Australia’s Great Barrier Reef devastated by worst coral bleaching on record, new report finds

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🗞️ Driving the news: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has experienced its most extensive coral bleaching event on record, with up to one-third of hard coral cover lost across major regions in 2024, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)
• Triggered by a severe marine heatwave during an El Niño year, the bleaching event marked the largest spatial footprint in the reef’s 39-year monitoring history, with some local reefs losing up to 70% of their coral cover

🔭 The context: This catastrophic event coincides with a rare global mass bleaching that affected coral reefs across dozens of countries
• It follows a recent period of recovery for the Great Barrier Reef, aided by fast-growing coral species that were particularly vulnerable to thermal stress
• Prior severe bleaching events were recorded in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, and 2022 — illustrating an intensifying trend closely linked to rising ocean temperatures driven by climate change

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Coral reefs are foundational to marine biodiversity, supporting 25% of ocean life despite covering just 1% of the ocean floor
• Their loss threatens food security, coastal protection, and economic livelihoods for millions
• The Great Barrier Reef's decline is emblematic of accelerating climate risks to ecosystems, and the bleaching underscores the urgency of global emissions reduction and adaptive marine conservation

⏭️ What's next: While Australia continues transitioning to renewable energy, environmental groups are urging faster action, including phasing out coal power and implementing stronger reef protection measures
• Further assessments of 2025 bleaching impacts are pending
• Scientists are calling for urgent investment in reef adaptation research, as many fear the reef may reach an ecological tipping point beyond recovery if warming trends persist

💬 One quote: “The coral reefs of the future are unlikely to look like those of the past. The loss of biodiversity seems inevitable,” the report warned

📈 One stat: Oceans now absorb 90% of the excess heat from global warming, with each of the past eight years breaking records for ocean heat content

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