Climate change has devastated the Great Barrier Reef, with fifty percent killed since 2016. National Geographic Magazine has an infographic about this in its August 2018 issue.
But doesn’t bleaching happen from time to time? Yes, but…
Severe regional bleaching used to hit a given reef about every 27 years. Since the 1980s, the pace has accelerated to every six. Even in the best conditions, badly damaged reefs take at least 10 years to rebound. The Great Barrier Reef, struck two years in a row, may never fully recover.