Great Barrier Reef Bleaching Engagers “Precious Resources,” Researcher Says

The massive bleaching of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral ecosystem in the world, is even worse than anticipated, according to research published in Nature earlier this month. “We didn’t expect to see this level of destruction to the Great Barrier Reef for another 30 years,” the lead author, Terry P. Hughes, told The New York Times. “In the north, I saw hundreds of reefs—literally two-thirds of the reefs were dying and are now dead.”

Bleaching primarily occurs when rising seawater temperatures lead the corals to expel the symbiotic algae living within them, draining the corals of their color and eliminating their principal food source. We asked marine geologist Justin Ries, associate professor in the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, to explain the significance of the new research and what this level of damage means for the health of our ecosystem as a whole, including ourselves.