Quote:

Australia has again been warned it has six months to avoid a possible "in danger" listing for the Great Barrier Reef from UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. In a draft decision released overnight, the UN body noted with "utmost concern" that the long-term outlook for the world's largest reef remained "very poor". "Whilst recent recovery in some parts of the ecosystem, including improvements in coral cover and seagrass meadows, is encouraging and demonstrates the Reef retains resilience, the Outlook Report concludes that the capacity of the reef to tolerate and recover is being compromised by a rapidly changing climate," the committee wrote.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-10/great-barrier-reef-in-danger-heritage-warning-six-months/105516802

Is there an increasing danger to the GBR and other reefs?

One threat is that ocean surface temperatures are increasing at an increasing rate. This obviously endangers coral reefs who cannot evolve fast enough to cope with the new temperatures.

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ocean-warming/?intent=121

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The above chart shows the acceleration in ocean surface temperatures from about 1990 on. The increase is due to increasing ocean surface “heat waves.”

Coral can recover from a bleaching event. What about two bleaching events in a row? Three?

Quote:

Australia has received repeated warnings in recent years that its natural wonder was at risk of being placed on the in danger list. Last term, the government raced to escape an in danger recommendation after reassuring UNESCO that its plan to restore the reef was working, and committing another round of funding. In 2021, then-environment minister Sussan Ley also fought off a recommendation to list the reef in danger under the Morrison government, avoiding potential global embarrassment. Last year, the World Heritage Committee noted "with utmost concern" that the Great Barrier Reef had suffered four mass coral bleaching events since 2016, including an unprecedented bleaching in 2022 during a normally cooler La Niña period.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-10/great-barrier-reef-in-danger-heritage-warning-six-months/105516802