Australia’s Great Barrier Reef had suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record, scientists said Tuesday in a dire warning about the threat posed by climate change to the world’s largest living organism. James Cook University professor Terry Hughes said a comprehensive survey last month found record sea temperatures had caused the third mass bleaching of the 2,300-kilometer reef system in just five years. Bleaching occurs when healthy corals become stressed by changes in ocean temperatures, causing them to expel algae living in their tissues, which drains them of their vibrant colours.

Great Barrier Reef bleaching worst – scientists. (2020, April 8). The Manila Times, p. B3.