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Hundreds of sites across most of the Great Barrier Reef are turning white due to heat stress in the fifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years.
Aerial surveys over two-thirds of the reef have confirmed “widespread” bleaching, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said on Friday.
Climate change is the biggest threat to tropical reefs worldwide and coral bleaching is caused by thermal stress.
It’s not always fatal, but corals are likely to die if temperatures remain higher than normal for too long.
Reef Authority chief scientist Roger Beeden said bleaching had been recorded at 300 sites from Cape Melville north of Cooktown to just north of Bundaberg.
“The results are consistent with what we have observed with higher than average sea surface temperatures across the marine park over a long period,” Dr Beeden said.
He said bleaching of shallow-water corals was prevalent on most of the reefs studied, but noted that heat stress this summer had varied by location.
More than two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef suffered “widespread” bleaching (pictured, the Great Barrier Reef: left in 2021, right the same coral in 2024)
Responding to the news, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government has already invested $1.2 billion to save the reef.
‘We need to act on climate change. We need to protect our special places and the plants and animals that call them home. And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said. courier mail.
‘We have legislated to reach net zero, with a 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030 and we have committed to reaching 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Dr Lissa Schindler of the Australian Marine Conservation Society said acting now could save a $6 billion sustainable tourism industry and the 64,000 jobs created by the Great Barrier Reef.
Climate change is the biggest threat to tropical reefs worldwide, and coral bleaching is caused by thermal stress (pictured, pre-bleaching stock of the Great Barrier Reef)
But the bleaching reflects what has happened to other reefs around the world over the past year.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science, which assisted in the aerial work, said teams needed to enter the water to determine the severity of the bleaching.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the latest mass bleaching showed the federal government must raise emissions targets and end fossil fuel projects to keep global temperatures in a survival range for reefs.
“We need to do much more to address climate change, which is causing marine heat waves that cause coral bleaching,” Dr Schindler said.
‘The former federal coalition government ignored the alarm generated by four mass coral bleaching events.
“Australia’s current target of a 43 per cent reduction in carbon pollution by 2030 is consistent with a warming trajectory of 2 degrees Celsius, equivalent to the loss of 99 per cent of the world’s coral reefs.”
READ MORE: Reef in great danger amid historic bleaching events
This photo shows a bleached coral on Heron Island in Queensland, Australia. Severe bleaching is occurring along the Great Barrier Reef as the world stands on the brink of another mass bleaching event.