What’s Happening with The Great Barrier Reef Right Now?

This is fine 🙃

There's some severe coral bleaching happening.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has officially confirmed the Great Barrier Reef is being hit with a severe, widespread bleaching event.

It the sixth mass coral bleaching event to the Reef since 1998.

A new Climate Council report also found if climate change persists at this rate, the Reef could face bleaching events every two years by 2034, and every year by 2044.

It also described last year as the warmest on record for the world’s oceans, suggestingthe key to the Australian wonder’s survival would be cutting global emissions by at least 50 per cent this decade.

What is coral bleaching?

Coral bleaching happens when the water is too warm, for too long.

Essentially the coral gets rid of the algae living inside it, which provides it with most of its energy, and leaves it colourless. This makes it vulnerable to disease and starvation.

If temperatures don't return to normal, the coral dies and if bleaching occurs regularly, the reef ecosystem can collapse.

Experts say a key factor to more frequent coral bleaching is climate change. 

Meanwhile, the Great Barrier Reef is being assessed by UNESCO rn.

In some pretty interesting timing, scientists from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are monitoring the Great Barrier Reef as we speak.

They’re sussing out whether the Reef should be added to the "World Heritage In Danger" list.

The 10-day visit was negotiated after a political lobbying effort last year that kept it off the list because of Australia’s progress to protect the Reef.

The UN is not stoked with Australia.

On top of all this, the United Nations Secretary-General is not pleased with our government and took a big ole’ swipe at Australia in his address to a global sustainability summit this week.

It in part stems from Prime Minister Scott Morrison's attendance at COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year where he failed to deliver on the UN's climate recommendations to strengthen Australia's 2030 emissions reduction target or commit to phasing out coal.

Instead, he refused the latter but agreed to a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The UN chief said countries were "sleepwalking to climate catastrophe" if they continued to rely on fossil fuels, like coal.

Bit of an obvious dig at Australia, seeing as our PM is a huge fan of coal. I mean, we all saw the wild vid circling around TikTok…

The government has since shrugged off the criticism, saying Australia is “delivering outcomes” with its climate policies. But, it would seem the UN wants to see the receipts.

Okay, I’m worried. What can I do about this?

We know you care about the planet. In fact, our recent YouthInsight survey found 79% of young people thought climate change was a big, pressing issue.

When we read about climate change events, it can be hard to see how one human can make an impact.

In truth, changes do need to be made on an industrial level, but there are still things we can do to make a difference.

Writing a letter to state and federal politicians (search for your Member of Parliament here) or participating in peaceful protests/attending climate rallies are great ways to let the government know you want them to take climate change seriously.

You can also check out our articles on six tips to tackling climate change at home and what you can do to help the flood crisis.