Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been hit by widespread coral bleaching caused by heat stress, government officials confirmed on March 8, 2024.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been hit by widespread coral bleaching caused by heat stress, government officials confirmed on March 8, 2024. This is the fifth mass bleaching of the reef since 2016.
Aerial surveys of over 300 reefs conducted by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which monitors the health of the coral, found bleaching in shallow water areas spanning two-thirds of the reef.
“The results of the aerial survey and the coral bleaching that we are seeing are consistent with the patterns of heat stress that have been building over the reef over the summer months,” said Roger Beeden, chief scientist at the reef authority.
Read more at: NASA Earth Observatory
Photo credit: Michala Garrison
