News Climate

Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef

Coral analyses show the region is sweltering under the highest ocean heat in four centuries

A photograph of bleached white coral in the Great Barrier Reef.

Blistering Coral Sea temperatures from February to April 2024 led to the Great Barrier Reef’s fifth mass bleaching event in eight years, turning patches of staghorn (shown) and other coral species stark white.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

By Carolyn Gramling

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef faces critical danger from back-to-back bouts of extreme ocean heat.