Great Barrier Reef could face bleaching disaster in coming weeks

Amid concerns of Global warming, fears of a potential coral bleaching disaster on the Great barrier reef in the coming weeks have escalated. This comes as the sea surface temperature has already risen two degrees higher above the average in many parts of the marine park, international media reported.

Already occurred at three sites 

Climate Council professor Lesley Hughes said there were reports of bleaching that had already occurred in three sites off Cape York, in far north Queensland, Australia. She further said that if these conditions and the temperatures are maintained, there was a cent per cent risk of bleaching over the next few weeks with a potential peak in the second week of March.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have already placed the great barrier Reef on Alert level 1 for the next seven days pointing towards the likeliness of significant bleaching. Talking on the topic further, Professor Hughes added that bleaching could have devastating consequences for Marine Park which is listed in World Heritage. According to international media, the summers of 2016 and 2017 saw back-to-back mass bleaching, which wiped out half of all shallow-water coral on the Great Barrier Reef.

She also told international media that if they get bleaching in the northern parts again this year, certainly there won't have been enough time for those reefs that were previously bleached to recover. 

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Meanwhile, a research released on February 17 at the annual Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego revealed that climate change could destroy all remaining coral reefs by the end of the century. It was found that the increase in ocean temperatures poses a huge threat to the corals. According to the study, the warmer temperatures boost them to release symbiotic algae that bleach them making them vulnerable and puts them at higher risk of death.