It extends for more than 2miles (0km) in a roughly northwest-southeast direction and has an area of some 130square miles (350square km). Great Barrier Reef , world’s largest coral reef complex, located in the Pacific Ocean off northeastern Australia. This largest barrier reef in the world is both a national icon and a global treasure that was recognized as a World Heritage site over thirty years ago. Measuring more than 1miles long , the Barrier Reef stretches the full length of the coastline of the Central American country of Belize.
Coral bleachingoccurs when corals become heat-stressed enough to expel their primary source of foo the microalgae that live inside their cells.
This leaves the coral looking as white as if they had been soaking in bleach. This year was no different: the bleaching corresponded with a strong El Niño event. El Niños generally mean less precipitation across northern Australia.
This year’s event more severely impacted the northern reef, for instance. See full list on climate. Just because a coral is bleached doesn’t mean it’s dead. If water temperatures drop back below stressful levels and remain there for a long enough period of time—with no additional bleaching events or other major stresses—corals can regrow their algae and resume their mutually beneficially relationship.
