Exclusive: Mass bleaching seen along Great Barrier Reef could mark start of global-scale event, expert warns
Rising ocean temperatures could have pushed the world’s tropical coral reefs over a tipping point where they are hit by bleaching on a “near-annual” basis, according to the head of a US government agency program that monitors the globe’s coral reefs.
Dr Mark Eakin, coordinator of Coral Reef Watch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told Guardian Australia there was a risk that mass bleaching seen along the length of the Great Barrier Reef in 2020 could mark the start of another global-scale bleaching event.
Related: Great Barrier Reef’s latest bleaching confirmed by marine park authority
It’s been a shitty, exhausting day on the #GreatBarrierReef.
I feel like an art lover wandering through the Louvre….as it burns to the ground. pic.twitter.com/I0Mx7epLCe
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