Coral bleaching
Videos
Coral bleaching is the process where corals become white due to loss of symbiotic algae and photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water t
Bleached coral
Healthy coral
Healthy coral at left, and bleached, but still living, coral at right
Coral and microscopic algae have a symbiotic relationship. When water temperatures get too high, the algae leave the coral tissue and the coral begins to starve.
Great Barrier Reef
Videos
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 squa
Coral bleaching
…Programme, between 2014 and 2016, the longest recorded global bleaching events killed coral on an unprecedented scale. In 2016, bleaching of coral on the Great Barrier Reef killed 29 to 50 percent of the reef's coral. Bleaching events impact many regions of the world, including Australia, Hawaii, Japan, and more. Natural…
Image of part of the Great Barrier Reef adjacent to Queensland, taken from the International Space Station
Aerial photography
Heron Island, a coral cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef
Aerial view of Arlington Reef