General Article Great Barrier Reef hard coral cover close to record lows

Topic Selected: Climate Change Book Volume: 357
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Coral bleaching, crown-of-thorns starfish and cyclones reduced coverage across the reef over past five years.

By Adam Morton, Environment Editor

Hard coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef is near record lows in its northern stretch and in decline in the south, surveys by government scientists have found. A report card by the government’s Australian Institute of Marine Science says hard coral cover in the northern region above Cooktown is at just 14% – a slight increase on last year but close to the lowest since monitoring began in 1985.

A series of ‘disturbances’ – coral bleaching linked to rising water temperatures, crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and tropical cyclones – have caused hard coral cover to shrink across much of the world heritage landmark over the past five years. Depending on the location, coral coverage is between 10% and 30%.

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