Corals become ‘bleached’ when stressed, expelling the colourful photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside them and provide them with energy. According to a report released on 17 April by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority — the Australian government’s reef-management agency — the UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef is experiencing its worst mass bleaching event on record. ” There have been very high temperatures driven by climate change all across the world, and there has been coral bleaching in many other countries,” says Roger Beeden, chief scientist for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Great Barrier Reef is ‘transforming’ because of repeated coral bleaching!
Attribution: Samrat Bharadwaj