Canberra, March 18 (BNA) A government agency said, Friday, that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering from widespread and severe coral bleaching due to rising ocean temperatures two years after mass bleaching occurred.
The report by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority, which manages the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, comes three days before a United Nations delegation is scheduled to assess whether the reef should be downgraded to the World Heritage List due to the ravages of climate change.
Coral reefs suffered greatly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Previous bleaching destroyed two-thirds of the reefs, according to the Associated Press.
The environmental organization Greenpeace said the extensive and severe coral bleaching experienced during the La Niña weather pattern associated with cooler temperatures in the Pacific Ocean was evidence of the Australian government’s failure to protect coral from the effects of climate change.
In July last year, Australia got enough international support to delay an attempt by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, to downgrade its World Heritage coral reefs to “in danger” due to damage from climate change.
But the question will return to the agenda of the World Heritage Committee at its next annual meeting in June. A UN delegation will be inspecting the health of the coral reefs next week.
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