A fifth mass coral bleaching event in just eight years is spreading along Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Two-thirds of the coral reefs show signs of bleaching, attributable to a heat wave in the sea waters.
Environmentalists fear another mass bleaching is unfolding, following those that occurred in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Bleaching occurs when the water remains unusually warm for several weeks, stressing the corals, which expel the algae that live with them in symbiosis.