Great Barrier Reef record bleaching event

"We are all in shock really at how quick this has happened. Three severe bleaching events in five years is not something we anticipated happening until the middle of the century." —Terry Hughes, Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, North Queensland In 2020, the Great Barrier Reef faced its most widespread bleaching event as a direct result of climate change, the third such event in a span of just 5 years. "Warm ocean temperatures are the main driver of coral bleaching, which is when corals turn white as a stress response to water that is too warm. This happens because they are expelling the algae that grows inside them, which is their main energy source and gives them their color. Bleaching doesn't kill coral immediately. But if temperatures remain high, eventually the coral will die, destroying a natural habitat for many species of marine life." For the first time, this bleaching event affected all three regions of the Great Barrier Reef.