Berliner Boersenzeitung - 'Shocking' mass bleaching drains life from Australian reef

EUR -
AED 4.157871
AFN 79.147377
ALL 97.791425
AMD 433.963171
ANG 2.025956
AOA 1038.063962
ARS 1293.941242
AUD 1.757171
AWG 2.04047
AZN 1.943585
BAM 1.952139
BBD 2.285135
BDT 137.852697
BGN 1.952749
BHD 0.426807
BIF 3367.506297
BMD 1.132022
BND 1.458687
BOB 7.819921
BRL 6.426376
BSD 1.131718
BTN 96.743446
BWP 15.190707
BYN 3.703658
BYR 22187.632659
BZD 2.273216
CAD 1.572316
CDF 3220.603083
CHF 0.935593
CLF 0.027814
CLP 1067.36074
CNY 8.173089
CNH 8.153044
COP 4723.384746
CRC 573.693722
CUC 1.132022
CUP 29.998585
CVE 110.057632
CZK 24.865929
DJF 201.531379
DKK 7.45938
DOP 66.711358
DZD 149.879916
EGP 56.511445
ERN 16.980331
ETB 152.37936
FJD 2.560072
FKP 0.846534
GBP 0.844619
GEL 3.101729
GGP 0.846534
GHS 13.467031
GIP 0.846534
GMD 82.075021
GNF 9803.701336
GTQ 8.687248
GYD 237.462092
HKD 8.864848
HNL 29.458454
HRK 7.531115
HTG 148.144327
HUF 402.196098
IDR 18484.562049
ILS 4.019754
IMP 0.846534
INR 96.878504
IQD 1482.541154
IRR 47672.27578
ISK 144.615673
JEP 0.846534
JMD 179.902622
JOD 0.80261
JPY 162.782814
KES 146.438953
KGS 98.995356
KHR 4530.264102
KMF 495.254296
KPW 1018.833904
KRW 1557.005483
KWD 0.347395
KYD 0.943081
KZT 576.997352
LAK 24468.815758
LBP 101400.764659
LKR 339.075616
LRD 226.343532
LSL 20.220911
LTL 3.342567
LVL 0.684749
LYD 6.203312
MAD 10.437818
MDL 19.573256
MGA 5067.228651
MKD 61.413319
MMK 2376.621027
MNT 4053.379776
MOP 9.125802
MRU 44.85249
MUR 51.73397
MVR 17.500717
MWK 1962.415791
MXN 21.861954
MYR 4.833712
MZN 72.334331
NAD 20.220109
NGN 1802.49641
NIO 41.652256
NOK 11.492627
NPR 154.789513
NZD 1.907095
OMR 0.435789
PAB 1.131718
PEN 4.172512
PGK 4.639259
PHP 62.977219
PKR 319.017643
PLN 4.24297
PYG 9039.648322
QAR 4.126225
RON 5.070892
RSD 117.044299
RUB 90.695383
RWF 1621.173823
SAR 4.246113
SBD 9.437819
SCR 16.359911
SDG 679.77724
SEK 10.848966
SGD 1.460297
SHP 0.889592
SLE 25.69445
SLL 23737.937132
SOS 646.752839
SRD 41.488488
STD 23430.571397
SVC 9.903515
SYP 14719.09719
SZL 20.225997
THB 37.115041
TJS 11.628277
TMT 3.967737
TND 3.386549
TOP 2.651307
TRY 43.949402
TTD 7.688175
TWD 34.061975
TZS 3060.418785
UAH 46.894942
UGX 4133.2852
USD 1.132022
UYU 47.141178
UZS 14591.507075
VES 107.184293
VND 29402.009339
VUV 137.319521
WST 3.135804
XAF 654.694525
XAG 0.034179
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.059346
XDR 0.817488
XOF 654.729161
XPF 119.331742
YER 276.099227
ZAR 20.285727
ZMK 10189.557502
ZMW 30.782641
ZWL 364.510646
  • RYCEF

    0.2300

    11.15

    +2.06%

  • CMSC

    -0.1600

    22.1

    -0.72%

  • BP

    -0.0800

    29.12

    -0.27%

  • GSK

    0.2770

    38.677

    +0.72%

  • NGG

    0.2500

    73.67

    +0.34%

  • VOD

    0.0950

    10.485

    +0.91%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    44.53

    +0.2%

  • RIO

    0.2500

    62.49

    +0.4%

  • AZN

    0.5800

    70.5

    +0.82%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    12.82

    0%

  • BCC

    -1.0000

    88.92

    -1.12%

  • RBGPF

    4.2000

    67.2

    +6.25%

  • SCS

    -0.0950

    10.155

    -0.94%

  • CMSD

    -0.1170

    22.053

    -0.53%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    21.6

    -0.28%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    55.42

    +0.78%

'Shocking' mass bleaching drains life from Australian reef
'Shocking' mass bleaching drains life from Australian reef / Photo: John SAEKI - AFP

'Shocking' mass bleaching drains life from Australian reef

Alarming levels of coral bleaching have been recorded off Australia's western coast, scientists said Wednesday, turning huge chunks of a celebrated reef system a sickly dull white.

Text size:

A months-long marine heatwave had "cooked" the sprawling Ningaloo Reef, ocean scientist Kate Quigley said, part of a world heritage-listed marine park renowned for vibrant corals and migrating whale sharks.

Although environment officials were still verifying the scale of damage, Quigley said it was on track to be the region's worst mass-bleaching event in years.

"Warm oceans have just cooked the corals this year," Quigley told AFP.

"It wouldn't be amiss to throw in the word 'unprecedented'.

"It has gone deep, it's not just the top of the reef that is bleaching. Many different species of coral are bleaching."

Branching through shallow waters along Australia's western coast, the 300-kilometre (185-mile) Ningaloo Reef is one of the largest "fringing reefs" in the world.

The unfolding mass bleaching looked to be the worst since 2011, Quigley said.

Ocean waters lapping Western Australia have been as much as three degrees warmer than average over recent summer months, according to the government weather bureau.

Rising temperatures shot past the "bleaching threshold" sometime in mid-January, according to monitoring by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Bleaching occurs when warm waters trigger a biological response forcing coral to expel the colourful algae embedded in their tissues.

"Bleaching is a sickness, but it does not mean outright death," said Quigley, a research scientist with environmental charity the Minderoo Foundation.

"But if it is bad enough, the corals will die."

- 'Just shocking' -

Government data showed smaller patches of coral bleaching had also been spotted at the northern tip of the more famous Great Barrier Reef on Australia's east coast.

Quigley said the Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef were shaped by different weather patterns -- and it was rare to see bleaching on both at the same time.

"What we're seeing is the level of ocean warming is so great, it's overriding the local conditions in some places.

"It's just shocking. When we take a national snapshot it's extremely concerning."

The Great Barrier Reef, a popular tourist drawcard, has suffered five mass bleachings over the past eight years.

Quigley said the extent of damage on the Great Barrier Reef was not currently widespread enough to be considered "mass bleaching".

Global average temperatures were the hottest on record in 2024, with prolonged heatwaves in many of the planet's oceans causing particular alarm.

Australia sits on bulging deposits of coal, gas, metals and minerals, with mining and fossil fuels stoking decades of near-unbroken economic growth.

But it is increasingly suffering from more intense heatwaves, bushfires and drought, which scientists have linked to climate change.

(H.Schneide--BBZ)