Coral reef safe zones set to plummet, while potential bleaching events loom in Qld, WA
ABCThe number of coral reefs worldwide that will be spared the harm of warming is predicted to plummet within just a few decades. Key points: Researchers predict just 0.2 per cent of the world's reefs will be unaffected by warming at 1.5C Signs suggest bleaching events may occur in WA and QLD in the coming weeks Climate action is the only thing that can really improve the outcome for coral reefs That's the finding of research published today in the journal PLOS Climate, which comes as reef scientists "anxiously" eye off the potential for bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and in Western Australia over the coming weeks. The Great Barrier Reef suffered bleaching events in 2016, 2017, and 2020, and the co-author of today's paper, Scott Heron from James Cook University, said scientists were anxiously watching weather patterns in Queensland's north, and off the northern WA coast. "Here we are at the end of January — summertime in Australia — and we're seeing heat stress developing to a point of potential widespread coral stress on the Great Barrier Reef," Dr Heron said. At 1.5C of warming, they found only a few reefs in Polynesia and the Coral Triangle in the western Pacific would be spared recurring "thermal stress events" at least once every 10 years, according to Dr Heron.