2023-08-09 07:44:12
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef might continue to deteriorate with seasonally warming ocean temperatures, with the country’s top marine science body saying on Wednesday it fears another massive coral bleaching this year.
Parts of the reef showed promising signs of recovery until a bleaching event in 2022 shredded swaths of vibrant coral into a dull, sickly white mass.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science said that although the condition of the reef stabilized during a “relatively mild” summer in 2023, it remained fragile.
The institute’s research director, David Wachenfeld, said the reef was “at increased risk, with climate change leading to more frequent and severe bleaching events”.
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Australia’s meteorological office said it was “likely” an El Nino weather phenomenon to develop in the country over the next few weeks, raising ocean temperatures in the Pacific and posing a new risk of coral bleaching.
Globally, average ocean temperatures have consistently exceeded seasonal heat records since April.
“A danger”
Mr Wachenfeld said a single major disturbance might be enough to reverse the reef’s recent recovery.
At the beginning of the year, a team of United Nations experts was able to remove this marvel from the list of heritage sites considered “in danger”.
UNESCO first sounded the alarm over the deterioration of the reef in 2010.
Ocean heat waves caused massive coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022.
According to researcher Mike Emslie, even the smallest bout of bleaching was enough to “stop” the reef’s recovery.
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