Half of the Corals of The Great Barrier Reef died

 

Scientists said, half of the Great Barrier Reef's corals have died due to climate change over the past 25 years.

An alarming rate of declining of all sizes of corals since the mid-1990s, has been found on the vast World Heritage-listed reef off Australia's North-Eastern coast.

Larger species like branching and table shaped corals have almost disappeared from the far northern reaches of the reef.

Most of the fishes and other creatures depend on nooks and crannies which are made by corals. So losing the corals means to change the broader ecosystem. 

The reef is completely at risk of losing its World Heritage status due to ocean warming for climate change. 

Apart from environmental changes, it is estimated that Australia was able to earn around 4 billion dollar annually in tourism revenue for this Great Barrier reef before the Corona Virus pandemic.

Changes in ocean temperatures stress healthy corals that cause them to expel algae living in their tissues draining them of their vibrant colours in a process known as bleaching.

The year 1998 was the hottest year on record and sea temperatures continued to soar. That time mass bleaching was first seen.

The lead author Andy Dietzel, of James Cook University said, the coral population large number of baby corals as well as large ones. The mother corals produce most of the larvae.

It has been found that starfish always destroy the part of the reef when large outbreak of starfishes happens and since 1995, several cyclones have destroyed most of the reef.

Scientists said, corals will continue to die unless global average temperature keeps under 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

If temperature do stabilize later this century then it is expected that corals will be able to revive and rebuild their numbers again.

If the rise is as much as 3 or 4 degrees Celsius, then revival of the corals will be only in our imagination.

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