Climate change: Coral samples show Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’

“The recent events in the Great Barrier Reef are extraordinary,” said lead researcher Dr Benjamin Henley, who carried out the study whilst working at Wollongong University.

“Unfortunately, this is terrible news for the reef.”

“There is still a glimmer of hope though,” he added. “If we can come together and restrict global warming, then there’s a glimmer of hope for this reef, and others around the world, to survive in their current state.”

Corals have adapted to survive and grow within a specific temperature range – forming a skeleton that provides a living habitat for other marine life.

Corals exist in a symbiotic partnership with a special type of marine plant – a species of algae – which lives inside the coral, providing it with food and giving it its bright colour.

Bleaching occurs when sea temperatures rise too high and corals expel their algae, subsequently turning white.

“It’s not a pretty sight,” said Dr Henley. “Eventually [other] algae grows on the surface of the white coral, turning it brown.

“While bleached coral can recover, if the heat does not relent, it doesn’t have the chance to,” he explained.