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Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hosts a dazzling array of corals, which create a home for animals like fish and sea turtles.
As a popular tourist destination, the reef also provides billions to the Australian economy.
But last year, a monthslong ocean heat wave decimated many of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef.
Maria Byrne is a marine biologist at the University of Sydney.
Byrne: “It just kept warming. … The heating was intense.”
Coral contain special algae that give them their color and provide them with food.
But when the ocean gets too hot, the coral lose those algae – and become pale, starved for food, and vulnerable to disease. This is called bleaching.
Last year, Byrne and her colleagues tracked more than 400 corals in the Great Barrier Reef. By April 2024, 80% of those corals had bleached.
Sometimes corals can recover after bleaching. But if a heat wave lasts too long, they may not be able to.
And by July, 53% of the bleached corals Byrne was monitoring had died.
So as the climate warms and ocean temperatures rise, the risks to coral reefs will likely grow.
Byrne: “This 2024 event reinforces the need for climate action as soon as possible.”
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
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