THE Great Barrier Reef (or Great Barrier Reef) in the northeast Australiacurrently exists the worst episode of bleaching ever seen due to global warming.

According to the Australian Marine Park and Great Barrier Reef Authority, the 73% of the Barrier reefs have been damaged, in a huge ecological disaster.

“The accumulated damage that the dam suffered this summer was greater than what it had suffered in previous summers,” the Authority underlines in a statement.

This new episode of mass bleaching, which was announced in March, is due to rise in water temperature and it is the fifth in eight years.

Aerial observations showed that about 730 reefs, out of more than 1,000 observed, have bleachedthe Marine Park Authority announced today.

This phenomenon is caused by the rise in water temperature. When high temperatures persist, the coral turns white and dies.

“This is the most serious event that has been observed in the southern part of the reef,” Richard Leck, WWF Australia’s head of oceans, told AFP. He called it “terrifying” that the bleaching has “extended further” to areas it had not previously affected.

This phenomenon threatens the survival of coral reefs in the four corners of the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also warned yesterday, Monday.

The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches 2,300 kilometers along the coast of the state of Queensland, is often considered the largest living structure in the world. It hosts an exceptionally rich biodiversity, with more than 600 species of coral and 1,625 species of fish.