In last weeks blog I talked about how there is another coral reef growing off the coast of the Amazon River. In this weeks blog I am going to look at the recent bleaching that has happened to the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered one of the most devastating die-offs due to warmer weather on record. In less than one year (9 months), bleaching which was caused by warmer weather killed roughly 67% of the reef in some of the most pristine parts of the reef. The article states that in the north, the summer temperatures go up to 2 degrees above the normal maximum and that caused severe bleaching”. Scientists say that it will take upwards of 15 years for the coral to grow back unfortunately there is no telling when another warming session will occur.
Sources:
Westcott, B. (2016, November 29). Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers worst ever coral bleaching. Retrieved February 18, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/28/asia/great-barrier-reef-coral-death/