A new study has found the Great Barrier Reef is facing the highest ocean temperatures in 400 years. Scientists warn the effects could be catastrophic if not urgently addressed.
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00:00The Great Barrier Reef is under threat. A new study analyzing coral skeletons has found
00:04seawater around the reef is at its hottest in 400 years. Coral is highly sensitive to
00:09ocean temperatures, and in the case of the Great Barrier Reef, continued warming could
00:13prove catastrophic for an area big enough to be seen from space.
00:17We are trying here to assess the risk of these mass bleaching events. I mean, the Great Barrier
00:23Reef is the size of Italy. So it's absolutely enormous. And you're talking here about a
00:30mass bleaching event can have the footprint around 10 times bigger than the most extreme
00:39tropical cyclone.
00:41The rate at which the sea has heated up hasn't been constant over all those centuries, though.
00:46Coral skeletons show an uptick from 1900, leading scientists to conclude that human-induced
00:50climate change is the culprit. Researchers say there's not much time left to keep the
00:55damage under control.
00:57If the current trends continue and if humans don't change the way they live, we will definitely
01:04see more of those heat events. And we see them more often. What's happening now in the
01:08last 20, 30 years is that these heat extremes are happening more often, and there's less
01:14time for corals to recover.
01:17The Great Barrier Reef has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 and is a natural
01:21marvel that captures the global imagination. Now, scientists are sounding the alarm about
01:26its future.
01:28Science is pointing very clearly to the reef being in danger, and elevating that status
01:35I think is not blaming any particular government, but it's a rally call to the world that we
01:40need to be reducing our emissions urgently, immediately.
01:45But warnings about climate change like this aren't new. While scientists are doing what
01:49they can, saving the reef may in the end be a matter of political will.
01:54Chris Ma and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.