Considered one of the true treasures of Planet Earth, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral system on the planet, able to be seen from space. And now, due to human caused climate change, it’s been severely, severely damaged, possibly forever. Coral bleaching, caused by high water temperatures, has been happening on the reef for the last several years. But a severely hot summer there this year has increased the bleaching to reach two thirds of the entire reef system. This means bright, colorful, living coral has now been killed, leaving white skeletons of the coral behind. The chart below show the amount of bleaching from 2016 to 2017. Sadly, the trend is not going in the right direction. Via James Cook University:
With such a huge area of bleaching, what can be done to stem the tide? Well, cutting emissions is the first critical step. And judging by current politics, that seems uncertain. For reference, a healthy, beautiful section of the Great Barrier Reef looks like the below photo:
