World Heritage Reefs At Risk Of Coral Bleaching After Heat Stress Exposure
Almost 75 per cent of world heritage coral reefs have been exposed to heat stress that causes coral bleaching in the past three years, UNESCO says. The draft report on climate change released overnight is outlined in the agenda paper ahead of a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) meeting in Poland next month.
It states three-quarters of coral reefs over the past three years of the 29 world heritage coral reefs were exposed to conditions that cause bleaching.
“Coral mortality during the latest global bleaching event most likely has been the worst ever observed, including at world heritage property reefs,” the paper said.
It states the Great Barrier Reef bleaching event as the most widely reported and it would need to be assessed by the World Heritage Committee.
Other reefs that suffered severe bleaching were in Seychelles, New Caledonia and the United States. UNESCO expressed its “utmost concern regarding the reported serious impact from coral bleaching that has affected world heritage properties in 2016-17 and that the majority of world heritage coral reefs are expected to be seriously affected by climate change”. The UNESCO draft paper reiterated the need for governments to implement and ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as possible. It urged governments where possible to strengthen all efforts to build resilience of reefs to climate change including the reduction “to the greatest extent possible” of all other pressures and threats.
Scientists will undertake further work and advise UNESCO on what can be done to limit the risks and severity of bleaching in the future.