Back-to-back coral bleachings in 2016 and 2017 have left only the southern third of the Great Barrier Reef untouched, and experts are predicting the death of the entire ecosystem.
“Where last year’s bleaching was concentrated in the reef’s northern third, the 2017 event spread further south, and was most intense in the middle section of the Great Barrier Reef. This year’s mass bleaching, second in severity only to 2016, has occurred even in the absence of an El Niño event,” says The Guardian.
Water-quality expert, Jon Brodie, who has spent most of his career studying the reef, described it as being in a “terminal stage.” “Last year was bad enough, this year is a disaster year,” Brodie said. “The federal government is doing nothing really, and the current programs, the water-quality management is having very limited success. It’s unsuccessful.”
The reef had no time to recover from bleaching, which is a result of climate change, before another round began this year. Warmer temperatures cause coral to reject the algae that live on them and are responsible for their bright hues, thus turning the coral white. Bleaching in 2017 is expected to extend at least 500 kilometers south of where it reached last year.