Sydney: Australia’s beautiful Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst ever bleaching event, the country’s reef authority reported on Wednesday.
Often referred to as the world’s largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) stretch of land that is home to incredible biodiversity, including more than 600 species of coral and 1,625 species of fish.
But climate studies by scientists show that about 730 of more than 1,000 reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, are flooded.
The federally funded Marine Park Authority said in a statement that “the impact of concentrations on corals this summer was greater than in previous summers.”
The incident is the reef’s fifth mass bleaching in eight years.
Bleaching occurs when microscopic algae called zooxanthellae are forced to survive. If the high temperature continues, the coral may turn white and die.
Roger Beeden, chief scientist for the Reef Service, said climate change is the biggest threat to reefs around the world.
AFP journalists visited the worst-hit areas of the Great Barrier Reef this month.
Anne Hoggett, a marine biologist who has lived and worked on Lizard Island for 33 years, said when she first arrived, coral bleaching only happened once every ten years.
“We don’t know yet if they have suffered enough damage to compensate or repair,” Hoggett told AFP.
Australia has invested $5 billion ($3.2 billion) to improve water quality, reduce the effects of climate change and protect threatened species.
