Hotter-than-average ocean temperatures are causing fresh damage to Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef and prompting concerns over a new mass bleaching event that could further destroy the world’s biggest living structure.
The impact of heat stress has been detected across the site and “several locations have whole colonies bleached white,” the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, or GBRMPA, a government agency, said Friday in a statement. “Corals across the marine park remain vulnerable to the ongoing elevated temperatures.”
