Never in the past 400 years has the sea around the Great Barrier Reef been as warm as it is this year. According to a new study, the warming can be attributed to human influences. "If nothing changes, we will likely soon witness the demise of one of the Earth's great natural wonders," said one of the study's authors.

It was the fifth coral bleaching event in just eight years, which began in Australia at the start of the year. For the coral populations of the Great Barrier Reef, this is catastrophic, as they shed the colourful algae with which they otherwise live in symbiosis. The result: the corals not only bleach out, they also lose the energy suppliers that are often vital to their survival, and subsequently die off.

According to climate researcher Benjamin Henley from the University of Melbourne, the latest coral bleaching in Australia was caused primarily by above-average warm sea water temperatures. From January to March, water temperatures off the Australian coast were higher than in the same period over the past 400 years.

The study shows that from 1960 to 2024, a steady increase was recorded: during the January to March period, an average warming of 0.12 degrees per decade was measured. "The coral bleaching events of recent years have been extreme and indeed unprecedented over such a long period of 400 years," said the climate researcher on Tuesday, speaking to journalists.

The human impact is problematic… Read & listen to everything about the Great Barrier Reef and its warming at science.orf.at.