Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has faced a significant decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in the past year, according to recent research released on Wednesday. This decline follows a severe coral bleaching event, one of the worst on record. The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences reported that the reef has witnessed the largest annual decrease in coral cover in its northern and southern regions since monitoring began 39 years ago, with a drop of between a quarter and a third in coral cover after years of steady growth.
Mike Emslie, the head of the institute’s long-term monitoring program, noted an increase in volatility in hard coral cover levels over the last 15 years, indicating a stressed ecosystem. The Great Barrier Reef, spanning approximately 2,400 kilometers off the coast of Queensland, is the world’s largest living ecosystem.
Since 2016, the reef has encountered five summers of mass coral bleaching, where extensive portions of the reef turn white due to heat stress, putting them at a heightened risk of mortality. The 2024 bleaching event had the most extensive impact ever recorded on the reef, with severe bleaching observed across all three regions.
Despite not being currently listed as endangered by UNESCO, the United Nations has recommended adding the Great Barrier Reef to the list of endangered world heritage sites. Australia has been advocating for the reef to remain off the endangered list to protect its tourism industry.