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The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is in the midst of a period of mass coral bleaching, part of a wider event affecting coral reefs globally. Surveys by air and sea reveal that bleaching is widespread across the Reef, but that the severity is not uniform. The data collected shows that the severity of bleaching that will cause mortality to the coral community has been restricted to the upper third of the GBR, from Port Douglas north.

Preliminary results indicate that while all surveyed reefs are experiencing bleaching in this region, the level of community-wide bleaching ranges from ’minor’ to ’extreme’. The scientists have also noted that the extent of bleaching differs between reefs and between species in the same location

Scientists report that the bleaching severity on the central and northern GBR has varied between reefs. Mortality and severe bleaching was not observed until Saxon and HastingsReefs near Port Douglas. 
On reefs off the coast of Townsville, bleaching is generally restricted to the shallow, high-light environment of the reef flat (upper 1-3m, on top of the reef). Reefs experiencing this ’minor‘ level of bleaching (1-10% of coral community bleached) are typically less likely to experience major loss to the coral community.
On mid-shelf reefs along the coast from Mission Beach to Innisfail, bleaching levels are ’minor’ to ’moderate’ with less than 10-30% of the community bleached and bleaching restricted to the upper reef flat (1-3m).

AIMS researchers have observed an increase in bleaching severity on reefs north of Cairns, with extreme bleaching (more than 60% of the community) observed at Saxon and HastingsReefs. Both of these reefs are reported to show bleaching of a wide range of species, extending beyond the reef flat to depths of 10-15m.

In addition, scientists have observed that different species of coral have responded to the same local (that is, reef level) heat stress conditions in different ways. On reefs with ’minor’ bleaching, bleaching is somewhat restricted to coral types known to be more sensitive to thermal stress, such as Seriatopora, Stylophora and Pocillopora species (see below). Reefs exhibiting a ’moderate’ level of bleaching appear to impact a higher diversity of taxa including branching and plating Acropora species, some massive Porites, and a wide range of moderately tolerant sub-massive species including Goniastrea, Favia and Favites

TheNationalist wrote:It is already dead in places and dying in others as countless independant studies have shown.

Meanwhile our useless excuse for a government has delayed the reef being put on the endangered list at U.N.

Plantagenet wrote:

TheNationalist wrote:It is already dead in places and dying in others as countless independant studies have shown.

Meanwhile our useless excuse for a government has delayed the reef being put on the endangered list at U.N.

Being on the endangered list wouldn't do a thing anyway. The only thing that would help is a huge decrease in CO2 emissions and thx to obama the Paris Accords don't actually require any CO2 reductions