Worst bleaching on record for coral reef ecosystems
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia.
"The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said.
"Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time."
Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale.
Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die.
Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January.
Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km - from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent.
Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent.
The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent.
Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between.
"They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said.
"The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health.
The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024.
Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem.
The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
The worst coral bleaching ever recorded has been confirmed by scientists for tropical reefs off Australia's western coastline.
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia.
"The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said.
"Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time."
Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale.
Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die.
Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January.
Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km - from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent.
Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent.
The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent.
Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between.
"They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said.
"The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health.
The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024.
Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem.
The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
The worst coral bleaching ever recorded has been confirmed by scientists for tropical reefs off Australia's western coastline.
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia.
"The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said.
"Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time."
Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale.
Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die.
Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January.
Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km - from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent.
Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent.
The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent.
Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between.
"They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said.
"The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health.
The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024.
Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem.
The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
The worst coral bleaching ever recorded has been confirmed by scientists for tropical reefs off Australia's western coastline.
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia.
"The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said.
"Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time."
Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale.
Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die.
Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January.
Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km - from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent.
Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent.
The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent.
Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between.
"They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said.
"The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health.
The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024.
Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem.
The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
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Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Record-breaking coral bleaching lays waste to WA's most prized reefs
Last summer's marine heatwave off the West Australian coast was the longest, largest and most intense on record for the state, resulting in its most widespread coral bleaching event ever recorded. While the full impact is still unfolding, experts from numerous organisations and agencies forming the WA Coral Bleaching Group have so far reported bleaching and mortality ranging from medium (11-30 per cent) to extreme (90 per cent) levels across systems up to 1500 kilometres apart. A summary released on Tuesday says researchers found 31-60 per cent bleaching and mortality at Ningaloo Reef monitoring sites, and 61-90 per cent mortality at Mermaid and Clerke Reefs, Rowley Shoals. At inshore southern Kimberley reefs, they recorded 31-60 per cent bleaching with mortality in March; at Ashmore Reef, they recorded 11-30 per cent bleaching and mortality with one site at 31-60 per cent. Members of the bleaching group, convened by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, first began monitoring the heatwave in September. Heat stress peaked in December, January and again in March/April. Temperatures only began to drop in May. 'Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time,' AIMS senior research scientist Dr James Gilmour said. 'The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA.' The stress is expected to beat records set during the 2011 La Nina and the 2016 El Nino on all but the southernmost reefs. The full impact was still being assessed, and some bleached coral may recover, but it can take a coral reef 10-15 years to recover fully.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Record-breaking coral bleaching lays waste to WA's most prized reefs
Last summer's marine heatwave off the West Australian coast was the longest, largest and most intense on record for the state, resulting in its most widespread coral bleaching event ever recorded. While the full impact is still unfolding, experts from numerous organisations and agencies forming the WA Coral Bleaching Group have so far reported bleaching and mortality ranging from medium (11-30 per cent) to extreme (90 per cent) levels across systems up to 1500 kilometres apart. A summary released on Tuesday says researchers found 31-60 per cent bleaching and mortality at Ningaloo Reef monitoring sites, and 61-90 per cent mortality at Mermaid and Clerke Reefs, Rowley Shoals. At inshore southern Kimberley reefs, they recorded 31-60 per cent bleaching with mortality in March; at Ashmore Reef, they recorded 11-30 per cent bleaching and mortality with one site at 31-60 per cent. Members of the bleaching group, convened by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, first began monitoring the heatwave in September. Heat stress peaked in December, January and again in March/April. Temperatures only began to drop in May. 'Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time,' AIMS senior research scientist Dr James Gilmour said. 'The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA.' The stress is expected to beat records set during the 2011 La Nina and the 2016 El Nino on all but the southernmost reefs. The full impact was still being assessed, and some bleached coral may recover, but it can take a coral reef 10-15 years to recover fully.
SBS Australia
6 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Scientists confirm worst coral bleaching on record off Australia's western coastline
While researchers are still assessing the full extent of the damage wrought by a marine heatwave, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has confirmed the most widespread bleaching on record for Western Australia. "The length and intensity of the heat stress, and its footprint across multiple regions, is something we've never seen before on most of the reefs in WA," the institute's senior research scientist James Gilmour said. "Areas which had given us hope because they'd rarely or not bleached before, like the Rowley Shoals, north Kimberley and Ningaloo, have been hit hard this time." Sensitive to heat stress, corals expel the algae living in their tissues in warm water, causing the coral to go pale. Bleaching is not always fatal but if underwater heat is prolonged and severe, corals can die. Sea surface temperatures around Australia last summer were the warmest on record since 1900, with coral heat stress peaking in January. Conditions varied across the tropical reefs spanning 1500km — from "extreme", or 90 per cent bleached or dead, to "medium", somewhere between 11 per cent and 30 per cent. Mermaid and Clerke reefs in the Rowley Shoals, 300km west of Broome, recorded "very high" levels of mortality, between 61 per cent and 90 per cent. The World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, known for its whale sharks, experienced "high" bleaching and mortality between 31 per cent and 60 per cent. Dr Gilmour said climate change was driving the increased frequency and severity of mass coral bleaching events and giving them little time to bounce back in between. "They need 10 to 15 years to recover fully," he said. "The key to helping coral reefs survive under climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." Improving water quality and cracking down on overfishing can also support reef health. The Great Barrier Reef has also been under pressure, experiencing the largest-ever annual decline in coral cover in two of its three regions in 2024. Heat stress was largely responsible, with predator outbreaks and cyclones also damaging the expansive ecosystem. The updates on coral health land ahead of the expected release of the federal government's 2035 climate goals, due in September under the Paris Agreement rules.
