Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers record coral decline following mass bleaching

August 6, 2025 12:03 PM

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers record coral decline following mass bleaching

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered the largest decline in coral cover in two of its three regions over the last year, research released on Wednesday showed, following a mass bleaching of its corals that was among the worst on record. The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences said the reef has experienced the largest annual decline in coral cover in its northern and southern regions since monitoring began 39 years ago, with coral cover dropping between a quarter and a third after seve...

Hottest oceans in 400 years endanger Great Barrier Reef, scientists say

August 8, 2024 1:24 PM

Hottest oceans in 400 years endanger Great Barrier Reef, scientists say

Water temperatures in and around Australia's Great Barrier Reef have risen to their warmest in 400 years over the past decade, placing the world's largest reef under threat, according to research published on Thursday. The reef, the world's largest living ecosystem, stretches for some 1,500 miles (2,400 km) off the coast of the northern state of Queensland. The research is rare in putting the effects of man-made climate change into historical context, as other surveys on damage to the reef have...