Great Barrier Reef Bleaching On Track To Hit 60% - Keppels @ 100% Already

[hatrack]

SYDNEY, Australia — A bout of coral bleaching hitting Australia's Great Barrier Reef could be as bad as an episode in 2001-2002 that affected 60% of the reef, scientists warned Tuesday.

An international team studying the world's reefs said in a statement that water temperatures for the past four months off Australia's northeastern coast have been well above long-term averages. "We were all very concerned when we saw the temperature readings for December," said Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the University of Queensland.

He said temperature measurements were similar to those in 2001-2002, which led to the worst coral bleaching ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef. "In that event, over 60% of the Great Barrier Reef bleached and up to five% of reefs suffered serious damage," he added.

EDIT

Bleaching already has whitened coral around the Keppel islands at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage-listed chain of reefs that stretches for almost 1,200 miles along most of the coast of Australia's Queensland state. "Corals at the Keppels are completely bleached and we are only halfway through January," Hoegh-Guldberg said. "How this will develop across the Great Barrier Reef is the number one question right now."

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-01-31-australia-reef-bleaching_x.htm