Ariel surveys conducted in March 2020 have indicated that the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from another widespread bleaching event. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is the third mass bleaching event to hit the reef in the last 5 years. The previous two bleaching events, which occurred in 2016 and 2017, decimated approximately half of this amazing coral reef. While scientists saw reefs in the northern and central regions of the Great Barrier Reef begin to recover following the events of 2016 and 2017, they now have concerns that this recovery progress has been for nothing.

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 square kilometres.

A Coral Reef is basically a huge colony of tiny animals called coral polyps that rely on colorful algae living inside of them for food. This algae then photosynthesize nutrients from sunlight and give corals their green, brown, and reddish coloring. However, these polyps are etremely sensitive to their environments and a heat wave of a few degrees higher than average is enough to make them kick out their algal partners. When this occurs, the coral reefs then turn white and the polyps begin to starve.

Initial analyses is indicating that this bleaching event is not as severe as 2016. However, it is far more widespread across the 1,400 mile reef. Studies have shown that white reefs can actually recover their algae but this recovery process can take up to 10 years. However, climate change is making reef recoveries seem less likely going forward.