Great Barrier Reef Suffers "Widespread" Coral Bleaching, Again
NDTV
Surveillance flights over the reef revealed damage due to heat stress ranging from minor to severe bleaching across the 2,300-kilometre (1,243-mile) network of corals.
The Great Barrier Reef has again been hit with "widespread" bleaching, authorities said Friday, as higher-than-average ocean temperatures off Australia's northeast threaten the already struggling World Heritage site.
Surveillance flights over the reef revealed damage due to heat stress ranging from minor to severe bleaching across the 2,300-kilometre (1,243-mile) network of corals, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said.
"Bleaching has been detected across the Marine Park -- it is widespread but variable, across multiple regions, ranging in impact from minor to severe," the authority said in its weekly update.
Over the past week sea temperatures throughout the marine park ranged between 0.5 and two degrees Celsius above average, while the far north and inshore areas recorded temperatures between two and four degrees above average.
