Great Barrier Reef records largest annual coral loss in 39 years

📰 IN NEWS – Great Barrier Reef Records Largest Annual Coral Loss in 39 Years

🗓️ Date: August 7, 2025 , 10:23 am IST

📰 Source: The Hindu

📍 Location: Queensland, Australia

✅ Why in News?

According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has suffered its largest annual loss of live coral in four decades, primarily due to bleaching in 2024 caused by climate change-driven heatwaves.

✅ Key Findings

The 2024 live coral cover recorded was the largest loss in 39 years of monitoring.
Coral cover fell by:
- ~33% in the southern region
- ~25% in the northern region
- ~14% in the central region
Despite the damage, total coral cover remains close to the long-term average due to growth since 2017.

🔥 What Caused the Coral Loss?

2023–2024 Global Coral Bleaching Event:
- Declared a global crisis in April 2024.
- Affected 84% of the world’s coral reef area across 83 countries.
- Triggered by record global heatwaves.
Bleaching Mechanism:
- Prolonged heat leads corals to expel symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae).
- Causes loss of color and weakens the coral, making them more susceptible to disease and death.

🧠 Expert View

“These are substantial impacts... the increasing frequency of coral bleaching is really starting to have detrimental effects on the Great Barrier Reef.”
– Mike Emslie, Head, AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program

🌍 Global Context

The U.S. NOAA Coral Reef Watch reports that this is the 4th and most severe global bleaching event in history.
UN IPCC (2018) had warned that warming beyond 1.2°C could lead to widespread coral extinction.
Current global warming: 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels.