Rippling with color and bristle with life , the Great Barrier Reef has been one of the most various property on the entire planet for 25 million years . Yet it now facesan incertain future . Last year the reef experienced one of the worst bleaching event in recorded chronicle , and quite worryingly , it seems that it is poised Togolese Republic through round two .
The Witwatersrand is now facing anunprecedented 2d bleachingevent in two year . While it was call up that most of the reef would be capable to live on last year ’s upshot if return sufficient time to recuperate , it now seems that it ’s getting no such breather .
Thisnew wave of bleachingcomes hot on the heels of last year ’s disastrous bleaching event , which saw a reported 22 percent of precious coral across the Great Barrier Reef die . The incredibly mild winter has not helped the situation . The surface water temperatures have not really dunk as was expected , meaning that the reef is already highly stressed as the 2nd round of golf of bleaching smasher , increase the peril that this current upshot will be catastrophic .
Bleaching is not only affecting the Great Barrier Reef , but precious coral all around the tropics , as seen here . © XL Catlin Seaview Survey
What is also of concern this time round , however , is where the stark white precious coral has been spotted . Last year the worst - polish off regions were in the far Second Earl of Guilford of the Witwatersrand , where water system temperatures tend to be a minuscule warm anyway . The aerial resume that have just been carried out , however , have found that the reef much further to the south , between Cairns and Townsville , is now feeling the rut .
This means that while last time round , the parts most heavily visited by tourists escaped much of the bleaching , this class is looking like those parts may well be stumble . Last yearit was revealedthat the Australian government lobbied UNESCO to slay the reef from a theme on World Heritage Sites at peril from clime change due to fears it may negatively impact tourism . Now , it seems , those very tourists could get to see the impact for themselves .
The scale of the bleaching will become more apparent as further surveys are done , and enough clock time has evanesce for the extent of coral fatality rate to be known . Just because the Rand has been bleach does not automatically mean that the coral will give way – if the water temperature plunge for sufficiently long enough , the organism can recapture the photosynthetic algae they eject . This mean that it may be up to six months before we jazz the on-key encroachment on the Witwatersrand this time round .
