AFP | Updated: Mar
, , : (IST
The Great Barrier Reef is the planet’s largest coral reef system
SYDNEY
(bleaching)
events in five years, authorities said Thursday.
The planet’s largest coral reef system is worth an estimated USD 4 billion a year in tourism revenue for the Australian economy, but is at risk of losing its coveted world heritage status because warmer oceans brought about by
climate
change have damaged its health.
Its northern reaches suffers an unprecedented two successive years of severe bleaching in and 2020, prompting the
government
agency overseeing the reef to downgrade its long-term outlook to “very poor”.
Some previously untouched areas had now suffered “moderate or severe bleaching”, said the Great Barrier Reef Marine
, which is conducting an aerial survey of the giant organism. The damage had been less extensive around popular tourist
like Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands, the agency added.
Environmentalists have criticized Australia’s conservative government for favoring an expansion of the country’s massive coal mining industry over action to curb climate change.
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