Arlington Reef in Queensland, is part of the Great Barrier Reef. — LUKA PETERNAL/Wilkimedia Commons
Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science observed record coral regrowth this year along two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef’s expanse. It’s the largest growth in 36 years of official monitoring, and it’s great news.
But it’s a problem that the regrowth was necessary at all. Without repeated heat-driven coral bleaching – four episodes in seven years – the reefs wouldn’t have needed to bounce back. Heat can chase off the algae that thrive on corals and give them their colour – hence “bleaching” – or kill the coral outright at high enough temperatures.
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