CATASTROPHIC CORAL BLEACHING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: A WORLD HERITAGE CRISIS

The document reports an unprecedented mass coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, attributing the increased likelihood of such events to climate change. It highlights severe mortality rates in the northern and central regions and criticizes the Australian government for approving projects like the Abbot Point port expansion and the Carmichael Coal Mine, which the authors argue undermine the reef's resilience and contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions.

• A mass coral bleaching event has affected 93% of the individual reefs in the Great Barrier Reef, with the most severe impact in the northern region where over 80% of the 900 reefs are severely bleached.
• Coral mortality rates for the current year are estimated at 22% across the entire Reef, rising to 35% in the northern and central sections, and reaching 50% in the far northern section.
• Climate change has made the above-average sea temperatures that triggered this bleaching event 175 times more likely.
• The expansion of the Abbot Point coal export port involves dredging 1.1 million cubic meters of undisturbed seagrass habitat within the World Heritage Area and increasing the risk of shipping accidents.
• The Carmichael Coal Mine is projected to generate 4.7 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over its 60-year operation, contributing to both sea temperature rise and ocean acidification.
• The authors express concern that UNESCO complied with an Australian request to remove Australian sites from the report 'World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate'.

APA

Earthjustice (2016). CATASTROPHIC CORAL BLEACHING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: A WORLD HERITAGE CRISIS. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/catastophic-coral-bleaching-in-the-great-barrier-reef.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. CATASTROPHIC CORAL BLEACHING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: A WORLD HERITAGE CRISIS. 2016. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/catastophic-coral-bleaching-in-the-great-barrier-reef.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=CATASTROPHIC CORAL BLEACHING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: A WORLD HERITAGE CRISIS |date=June 2016 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/catastophic-coral-bleaching-in-the-great-barrier-reef.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2016catastrophic, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{CATASTROPHIC CORAL BLEACHING IN THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: A WORLD HERITAGE CRISIS}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/catastophic-coral-bleaching-in-the-great-barrier-reef.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }