According to the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, the “number one cause” of this whitening “is climate change”.
It is a cry of alarm for one of the natural jewels on the planet. The large co -ray barrier, located in Australia, undergoes the greatest whitening ever observed, according to a government report published Tuesday, August 5, which warns that this natural treasure is in poor condition. Scientists reported the whitening “the most extensive“Caused by stifling oceanic temperatures in 2024 which caused “Unprecedented thermal stress levels” Since the first surveys, almost 40 years ago.
The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences studied the health of 124 coral reefs within this sprawling reef, which is often called “The largest living structure in the world”between August 2024 and May 2025. The results show that the southern and northern reef branches saw the “Bigger annual decline” never recorded. The reefs had been struck by tropical cyclones and star invasions crowned with thorns, a species that feeds on coral.
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Climate change in question
But the “cause number one is climate changeMike Emslie stated, responsible for the search for the institute. .There is no doubt about it“, He told AFP.
The large co -ray barrier is an extent of 2,300 kilometers of tropical corals housing an incredible biological diversity. Only, these repeated episodes of whitening threaten to deprive this tourist attraction of its splendor, making the benches of corals sold formerly rich in color with sickly white.
Exceptionally hot tropical waters have triggered a generalized whitening of corals on the large coral barrier in 2024 and in the first months of 2025 – the sixth event of this type in the past nine years.
“Unprecedented thermal stress”
“The large coral barrier has experienced unprecedented thermal stress levels, causing the most extensive and most severe whitening ever recorded to date”indicates the report of the Australian agency. “It is still worth fighting. We cannot give up and abandon ”declares Mike Emslie, for whom the great barrier of Corail remains a “Incredible place”.
The report revealed that a type of rapidly growing coral, known as Acropora, was the one that had suffered the most. This coral grows quickly, but it is also one of the first to whiten.
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Richard Leck, from the Global Fund for Nature, compares the fluctuating health of the Grande Barrière de Corail to “roller coaster”. He adds that certain coral reefs in the world were already beyond any recovery, warning that the large coral barrier could suffer the same fate without an ambitious and rapid climate action. “This is the sign of an ecosystem put under incredible pressure, and what greatly concerns scientists of the reefs, is when the reef does not recover as it did before”he told AFP.
Record of sea surface temperature
Over the past two years, massive whitening in the world has exhausted more than 80% of the planet’s coral reefs. Blanching occurs when water temperatures increase, forcing corals to expel microscopic algae known as zooxanthelles.
If high temperatures persist, corals can eventually whiten and die. The average temperature of the sea surface around Australia was the “Higher ever recorded” In 2024, according to the Australian National University.
Australia is currently preparing its next cycle of programs reduction objectives, a key obligation in the context of the historic climatic agreement of Paris. The mining superpower remains, however, one of the largest coal exporters in the world and continues to largely subsidize its fossil fuels.