The once lush coral beds of Australia's Great Barrier Reef have turned white, thanks to coral bleaching. Ninety-three percent of the corals turned white due to high temperatures and scientists fear that 50 percent of them will die a natural death.
Ars Technica said that the present that Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage site, is suffering its worst coral bleaching case in history. Due to this catastrophic phenomenon, the other side of the country's reefs is at risk of facing the same carnage.
93 pct of Aussie #GreatBarrierReef affected by bleaching, worst in recorded history https://t.co/hLcDmXNrZ3 pic.twitter.com/BLTJFjmyd4
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 20, 2016
Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies released a report stating that only seven percent of the world's largest 1400-mile coral reef system is unaffected by coral bleaching. This finding appalls researchers as they have never seen coral bleaching with the same magnitude as what's happening in the Great Barrier Reef.
"Almost without exception, every reef we flew across showed consistently high levels of bleaching, from the reef slope right up onto the top of the reef," said Terry Hughes, a member of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce. In a report from CNN, Hughes likened the coral bleaching destruction to that of "10 cyclones have come ashore all at once."
The survey shows the huge extent of the damage, with the worst hitting the northern area, and one of Australia's most important tourist sites. Andrew Baird from James Cook University said that they are measuring about almost 50 percent mortality of corals affected.
Baird also mentioned that some reefs are more likely to endure a mortality exceeding 90 percent. He described the Australian Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching as severe, which would eventually affect almost all species, including those that take decades to regrow.
New post: Coral bleaching event severe https://t.co/NFgnNbqxcD — Great Barrier Reef (@BarrierReefOrg) April 12, 2016
According to the National Ocean Service, coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by environmental conditions. Changes in temperature, nutrients or light, result in the expulsion of the algae living in them, causing them to turn white.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the UN said that coral bleaching is "the most widespread and conspicuous impact of climate change." What's happening in the Australian Great Barrier Reef is one of the impacts that scientists have forewarned and feared.
