91% of the Great Barrier Reef has suffered bleaching

This is the first time that the largest coral reef in the world has been affected by such bleaching. Of the 719 reefs studied, 654, or 91%, show some level of coral bleaching, due to a prolonged heat wave during the austral summer, according to a new government report published on the evening of Tuesday May 10. . Especially since this bleaching takes place in the middle of the La Niña climatic phenomenon, usually characterized by an abnormally low water temperature.

Bleached corals remain alive and may recover if conditions improve but “strongly bleached corals have higher mortality rates”says this report, a first version of which was published in March. “Climate change is intensifying and the reef is already suffering the consequences”warns the monitoring report, which highlights that this is the fourth wave of bleaching to hit the reef since 2016.

Between September 2021 and March 2022, the Great Barrier Reef Maritime Authority, which published this study, carried out exhaustive surveys on this reef, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. She found that the waters began to warm in late December and that the three main regions where the barrier is located were hit by this phenomenon, which results in discoloration due to the expulsion of algae giving the coral its color. live.