A diver swimming among the coral on the Great Barrier Reef in March.
Photographer: Glenn Nichols/AFP/Getty Images
Visit the Great Barrier Reef Before Climate Change Kills the Coral
Despite record coral regrowth this year, the Great Barrier Reef is facing danger from regular heat-induced bleaching events
Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science observed record coral regrowth this year along two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef’s expanse. It’s the largest growth in 36 years of official monitoring, and it’s great news.
But it’s a problem that the regrowth was necessary at all. Without repeated heat-driven coral bleaching — four episodes in seven years — the reefs wouldn’t have needed to bounce back. Heat can chase off the algae that thrive on corals and give them their color — hence “bleaching” — or kill the coral outright at high enough temperatures.