Aug. 7 (UPI) — Ocean temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef are at their highest levels in 400 years, threatening to cause “serious damage” to the iconic ecosystem, a study published on Wednesday found.
The ocean heat in the Coral Sea is under pressure two consecutive records temperature highs. Five of the six warmest years on record have occurred in the past 10 years, with heat pushing the record average up by as much as 1 degree Celsius.
The results, reported in the study, are published in Thursday’s edition from the magazine Natureled to mass bleaching of the coral reef during the hottest months from January to March.
Although coral reefs can recover from bleaching events, repeated bleaching can eventually kill the reef, scientists say. UNESCO recognized the importance of the Great Barrier Reef in 1981 when it designated it as a World Heritage Site.
“When I mapped the 2024 data point, I had to triple-check my calculations,” said Benjamin Henley, who led the study published in Nature. according to Phys.org“It was off the charts, way above the previous record high in 2017. I could hardly believe it. Tragically, there has been another mass coral bleaching event this year.”
Henley, who teaches at the University of Melbourne, said world leaders must be more aggressive in tackling the climate crisis or valuable natural areas such as the Great Barrier Reef could be lost.
“Unless rapid, coordinated and ambitious global action is taken to combat climate change, we are likely to witness the loss of one of Earth’s most spectacular natural wonders,” he said.
