Bleached Out: Heat Stress Cooks Great Barrier Reef

Weeks of warmer-than-average ocean temperatures caused extensive bleaching in the world’s largest coral reef system.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been hit by widespread coral bleaching caused by heat stress, government officials confirmed on March 8, 2024. This is the fifth mass bleaching of the reef since 2016.

Aerial surveys of over 300 reefs conducted by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which monitors the health of the coral, found bleaching in shallow water areas spanning two-thirds of the reef.