Record ocean temperatures and coral bleaching events devastated Australia’s reef system in the worst die-off ever recorded.

The Great Barrier Reef has survived ice ages, volcanic eruptions, and countless natural disasters over millions of years. But this past summer nearly broke it completely. What scientists witnessed along Australia’s coast was unlike anything in recorded history — a mass die-off so severe that even veteran marine biologists were left speechless.
Dr. Terry Hughes from James Cook University, who has studied coral reefs for over three decades, called it “the most severe bleaching event we’ve ever documented.” The reef that took thousands of years to build was decimated in just a few months of record-breaking ocean temperatures.








