In the last 10 years, there have been four such global events across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. Over half of the world’s corals have already been lost since 1950. Here are some of the world’s major coral reefs affected…
Australia’s great barrier reef
One of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been experiencing a widespread bleaching outbreak over the years. The reefs undergo bleaching when heat removes the algae that gives them life and colour, ending up in discolouration. The coral reefs here have suffered massive damage in the past eight years. Up until 2016, there had been only two recorded instances of mass bleaching. Scientists have been calling for urgent climate action to save the reefs. According to reports, the reef stretches for some 2,300km (1,429 miles) off the country’s northeastern coast and is suffering its worst bleaching event on record.
Thailand’s coral reefs
An island in southern Thailand has been closed because of extensive coral bleaching. Thailand, which witnesses tourist influx for its beautiful beaches and reefs, had to shut down Pling Island because of mass bleaching. The island has been closed since May 9. The reason for shutdown is to provide the coral reefs a recuperation period. This has come amid sweltering heat waves sweeping across Thailand and Asia in the past few weeks which has caused a rise in temperature.
Seychelles coral reefs
In Seychelles, 90% of the coral reefs have been lost since 1998 because of a catastrophic bleaching event. The archipelago nation suffered another massive bleaching event in 2016, undoing the recoveries that occurred in the intervening years. The government has been racing against time to protect the ecologically essential beautiful reefs from getting extinct. According to reports, the local conservationists are recovering and transplanting coral fragments in the reefs to ensure a lasting recovery.
Caribbean coral reefs
Tourism has become one of the major causes behind the decline of the Caribbean coral reefs. Massive amounts of waste poured into the water with tourists being ferried from one island to another on the cruise ships travelling through the Caribbean is polluting the reef habitat and pushing them towards death. The reef is suffering from a virulent disease called stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). SCTLD has reportedly reduced coral cover by 30% to 60% in affected regions and has pushed a few coral species toward local extinction. It was initially reported near Miami in 2014 and since then, this disease has affected coral populations across 18 countries and territories in the region.
Southeast Asian coral reefs
Plastic menace is another cause of declining coral reef cover. According to an estimate, there would be more pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans than fish by 2050 and this has been already visible through the coral reefs of southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is considered to have one of the highest levels of marine plastic in the world. As per World Resources Institute, plastic pollution and overfishing together have been changing the reef dynamics of coral reefs on the coast of various southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.