Climate change continues to pose major risk to Great Barrier Reef

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A new set of samples of the Great Barrier Reef has raised new concerns about the danger posed to the reef by climate change. New research surrounding the temperatures in Australia around the coral reef shows that they are the highest they have been recorded in the last 400 years. Further, they say that this extreme heat has caused multiple mass coral bleaching events just in the last nine years and could provide an increase threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

The researchers highlighted the danger that climate change poses to the Great Barrier Reef in the journal Nature, stating that the ongoing rising temperatures continue to pose an “existential threat” to this massive natural wonder.

“The science tells us that the Great Barrier Reef is in danger,” Professor Helen McGregor from the University of Wollongong told BBC News. “We should be guided by the science.” And this new evidence comes directly from within the coral reef itself. Over the years, researchers have collected multiple samples from the skeletons of the coral, which have provided vital clues about the chemical environment around the reef—and how it has changed, including the current threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

Bleaching happens whenever coral is exposed to high sea temperatures, which causes it to expel all of its algae. This causes the coral to turn white. It isn’t very pretty, and when the algae grows on the surface of the white coral, it eventually turns brown. The overall result is a complete loss of the coral’s natural beauty.

While the bleached coral can eventually recover, the heat must first relent and let the temperatures lower. Otherwise, the coral won’t have a chance to recover. And if things continue the way they have, then the threat to the Great Barrier Reef will continue to be massive, the professor warns. And at that point, you have to ask yourself—where does that leave the reef?

Scientists say they hope to convince the UN to change its mind about the “endangered” status of the reef, so that they can protect it more easily.