Interim report: 2016 coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

[Extract] Since 2014, severe mass coral bleaching has been occurring in most tropical regions across the world in the longest mass bleaching event ever recorded. This global event was triggered by record-breaking sea surface temperatures caused by climate change and amplified by a strong El Niño. For the Great Barrier Reef, this resulted in the worst ever coral bleaching in 2016.