Australia's Great Barrier Reef is Spawning With Life, Giving Hope to Scientists

The yearly coral spawn on the Great Barrier Reef has "given birth," resulting in a parade of color on the Australian monument.

Vast pieces of an 800-kilometer (500-mile) length in the northern half of the reef died in 2016 due to high water temperatures, according to a report published in the journal Nature in March 2017. The scientists attributed the incident to the consequences of global climate change. The number of newborn corals born on the Great Barrier Reef fell dramatically in 2018, prompting experts to declare it the start of a "massive natural selection process unfolding." The bleaching episodes of 2016-17 killed many mature breeding individuals, resulting in poor coral birth rates. If the tendency continues, the types of corals that reproduce will alter, resulting in a "long-term reorganization of the reef ecology."

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act of 1975 (section 54) requires an Outlook Report on the Reef's health, stresses, and prospects every five years. The most recent report was released in 2019.d

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