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Great Barrier Reef's Worst Bleaching Summer; NOAA, CNN Highlight Global Crisis

May 7, 2024, 02:40 AM

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced its worst summer on record for coral bleaching, with over half of individual reefs showing high or very high levels of bleaching after aerial surveys. This is part of a rare global mass coral bleaching event, announced last month by NOAA, affecting at least 53 countries, the fourth since the late 1990s. Scientists attribute the damage to anthropogenic heating, exacerbated by marine heatwaves and rising ocean temperatures. Marine biologists and organizations like UNESCO are urging immediate action to mitigate the impact and protect coral reefs. Criticism has been directed at the Australian government for increasing fossil fuel production while funding reef research. A CNN report highlighted the severity of the situation, describing it as ‘Like wildfires underwater’.