As of: March 8, 2024, 7:42 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Coral bleaching is occurring again on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
For the corals to survive, a rapid change in the weather would be necessary.
Great Barrier Reef - The colorful biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is threatened: The reef's corals are again affected by mass bleaching - the fifth in eight years.
This emerges from a report from the responsible authority Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) on Friday.
The sea temperatures have recently been exceptionally high, which is putting the corals under stress.
Corals in the Great Barrier Reef (symbolic image).
© picture alliance/dpa/Great Barrier Reef Foundation |
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Climate change threatens corals: bleaching endangers biodiversity in the Great Barrier Reef
Researchers recently discovered exceptionally high ocean temperatures, according to data from the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer platform.
The oceans absorb about 90 percent of global warming.
The heat is also putting a lot of strain on the Great Barrier Reef, as recent aerial photos show.
According to scientists, the corals suffer from heat stress, which is why the coral polyps reject their symbiotic algae.
As a result, the corals not only lose their colorful color, but also the ability to provide themselves with food, which ultimately leads to their death.
What remains are white limestone skeletons that are overgrown by green-brown algae.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,300 kilometers off the northeast coast of Australia.
With around 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 species of molluscs, it is one of the most species-rich ecosystems in the world.
Coral death: Only a rapid change in the weather can save the Great Barrier Reef
According to scientists, the faster the heat waves follow each other, the more dangerous it becomes for the corals.
If coral bleaching occurs at short intervals, a reef has no chance of recovering, warns Laura Puk, an expert on corals and mangroves from WWF Germany.
“The phase of global mass coral extinction has already begun,” Puk continued.
“Only an early change in the weather that cools the Great Barrier Reef in the short term can prevent the bleached corals from dying off over a wide area.”
The WWF emphasizes that every tenth of a degree counts.
More than half of the tropical coral reefs have already died, and even with warming of “just” two degrees, researchers predict that up to 99 percent of the reefs could disappear.
Australia's GBRMPA remains cautiously optimistic, saying coral bleaching does not necessarily lead to die-offs as some may recover in cooler conditions.
The reef has already recovered from previous bleaching events, strong tropical storms and starfish outbreaks in the past, it said.
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