Global warming is causing a mass “die-off” on the Great Barrier Reef. Authorities have enacted the highest emergency response level.
“The corals in the remote far north of the reef experienced extremely hot and still conditions this summer, and were effectively bathed in warm water for months, creating heat stress that they could no longer cope with,” said Russell Reichelt, the chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
The weather conditions are causing extreme bleaching resulting in the death of large amounts of coral.
“This is the worst coral bleaching event ever to hit this most pristine part of the Great Barrier Reef,” said WWF spokesman Richard Leck. “We can turn this around. The reef can recover but we must speed up the shift to clean, renewable energy and we must build reef resilience by reducing runoff pollution from farms and land clearing. Australia must speed up the transition to clean energy – like solar and wind – by setting a target of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035.”