The Great Barrier Reef may never recover from the devastating 2016 heat wave

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Australia’s Great Barrier Reef will never be the same following the devastating marine heat wave that hit it between 2015 and 2016, according to a new study published Wednesday. 

The new research found that the northern third of the reef — which as a whole, is the largest living structure on the planet — experienced a “catastrophic die-off” of fast-growing coral species, like staghorn and tabular corals. 

These reefs have now shifted to a new state, with a different balance of coral species than were present prior to the marine heat wave. Scientists have tied that marine heat wave itself, and the increasing prevalence and severity of them, to human-caused global warming. Read more…

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