Highest ocean heat in four centuries places Great Barrier Reef in danger.

ABSTRACT: Mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia between 2016 and 2024 was driven by high sea surface temperatures (SST)¹. The likelihood of temperature-induced bleaching is a key determinant for the future threat status of the GBR², but the long-term context of recent temperatures in the region is unclear. Here we show that the January-March Coral Sea heat extremes in 2024, 2017 and 2020 (in order of descending mean SST anomalies) were the warmest in 400 years, exceeding the 95th-percentile uncertainty limit of our reconstructed pre-1900 maximum. The 2016, 2004 and 2022 events were the next warmest, exceeding the 90th-percentile limit. Climate model analysis confirms that human influence on the climate system is responsible for the rapid warming in r

SUBMITTER: Henley BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11306100 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature