Great Barrier Reef at risk of ‘collapse,’ scientists warn
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is at a very high risk of extreme and widespread bleaching and “ecosystem collapse” linked to this year’s El Nino weather phenomenon, top scientists warned on July 21.
Often dubbed the world’s largest living structure, the reef stretches 2,300 kilometers along the coast of Queensland state and is a major tourism draw for Australia.
This month it avoided being listed as endangered, despite the United Nations reporting “utmost concern” about mass coral bleaching and the impact of climate change.
Morgan Pratchett, a marine conservation ecologist at Queensland’s James Cook University, told the International Coral Reef Symposium in Auckland, New Zealand, that the “extreme El Nino” posed a significant concern.
