Paul Marshall from the Great Barrier Reef marine park photographs bleached coral heads off the Keppel Islands in Queensland, Australia. An international network of more than 100 scientists is alarmed at the level of bleaching occuring worldwide.
Rising ocean temperatures force out the algae that live in coral and give it its remarkable coloration. Scarla Weeks, a researcher at the University of Queenland, said, "Sea surface temperatures over the last five months are actually higher in certain locations now than they were in 2002 when we witnessed the worst bleaching incident to date."
Join Discussion