Posted:
20.11.2024 12:28:07
Great Barrier Reef lost a third of its corals in the north
Data provided by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows that large northern areas of the Great Barrier Reef were severely damaged in 2024 by the global warming. One segment lost up to three fourths of its corals, TASS reports.
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According to the latest AIMS report, northern areas of the Great Barrier Reef have lost more up to a third of its coral cover. Although the full reef survey has not been completed yet, scientists are talking about ‘the largest annual decline for this sector in 39-years of AIMS’ monitoring’.
Researchers blame the coral mortality on the global warming and more frequent cyclones. Head of the reef monitoring programme, Dr. Mike Emslie, said that most reefs in the Northern Queensland area were subjected to levels of climate change-driven heat stress that caused bleaching in February and March of 2024. “The heat stress got so high in some areas that mortality is not a surprising outcome […], and a few reefs escaped significant loss,” he added.
The AIMS long-term monitoring programme tracks the status of 130 Great Barrier Reef areas. By now, monitoring has been completed for 20 of them; researchers say the full data about all corals surveyed will be available by mid-2025 at the earliest.
AIMS reported a massive bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef corals in March 2024. The aerial survey data that covered two thirds of the monitored area confirmed widespread mass bleaching of corals, with the worst damage being done to the inward-facing, shallow part of the reef. Scientists believe the reason is the ocean temperature rising due to the climate change and the warming effect of the El Nino oscillation phenomenon in the Pacific.
According to the latest AIMS report, northern areas of the Great Barrier Reef have lost more up to a third of its coral cover. Although the full reef survey has not been completed yet, scientists are talking about ‘the largest annual decline for this sector in 39-years of AIMS’ monitoring’.
Researchers blame the coral mortality on the global warming and more frequent cyclones. Head of the reef monitoring programme, Dr. Mike Emslie, said that most reefs in the Northern Queensland area were subjected to levels of climate change-driven heat stress that caused bleaching in February and March of 2024. “The heat stress got so high in some areas that mortality is not a surprising outcome […], and a few reefs escaped significant loss,” he added.
The AIMS long-term monitoring programme tracks the status of 130 Great Barrier Reef areas. By now, monitoring has been completed for 20 of them; researchers say the full data about all corals surveyed will be available by mid-2025 at the earliest.
AIMS reported a massive bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef corals in March 2024. The aerial survey data that covered two thirds of the monitored area confirmed widespread mass bleaching of corals, with the worst damage being done to the inward-facing, shallow part of the reef. Scientists believe the reason is the ocean temperature rising due to the climate change and the warming effect of the El Nino oscillation phenomenon in the Pacific.
