A new video was released revealing worsening and damaging effects of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, prompting scientists to lift their emergency response system to the highest level.
According to local biologists, during this month alone, the UNESCO World Heritage site that stretches for 1,200 miles has been suffering from the worst bleaching event in the last 15 years which is partly blamed on the recent El Nino phenomenon, that has apparently been the hottest one within 20 years.
Scientists explain that coral bleaching is caused by algae dwelling on corals that goes through a process known as calcification. Corals thrive in certain marine temperatures and when this changes, corals can suffer and die.
According to chairman Russell Reichelt of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, authorities are now lifting its response level to three, which means that more surveys are about to be conducted for investigating these coral mortality rates, to better understand the different effects of reef pressure that can lead to better guidance in coral reef management.
This new footage was captured last Saturday by the CoralWatch group of the University of Queensland, which caused a stir among scientists and environmental groups, as coral bleaching is now becoming a huge concern, which is now a severe impact of climate change.
According to Richard Leck of the World Wildlife Fund, this new video has been very concerning where it revealed large areas of coral that are drained of color, that are now fighting for their survival. This is now considered as the worst coral bleaching event to hit the most pristine region of the Great Barrier Reef.
Scientists say that in order for the reef to recover somehow, corals need to break away from these warming conditions due to El Nino in order to survive, however, recent forecasts by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reveals that El Nino will continue to get worse.
Apart from this, the World Meteorological Organization says that this year will be the hottest year ever on record which will become even hotter due to the impacts of El Nino.