In 1998, scientists recorded world's first mass bleaching event, years later study finds global coral cover well below normal levels as reefs at risk of irreversible decline threatening marine life, ocean livelihood, El Nino weather raises fears

Scientists recorded ‌the world's first mass bleaching event in 1998 and three more have occurred since 2010. When temperatures fall, the reefs can recover relatively quickly. Over 2017-2019, reefs gained 6 per cent coral cover, nearly offsetting the 6.6 per cent ​loss from the ​2016 bleaching event. The latest bleaching ⁠in 2023 was the most extensive on record, impacting 77 per cent of the world's coral reef areas.

Coral reefs are experiencing bleaching ​events so frequently that they no longer have time to recover before the next one strikes, with global coral cover now well below normal levels and at risk of irreversible decline, scientists said on August 31. The world's coral reefs sustain a quarter of all marine life, make coastlines more resilient ‌and provide food ⁠and livelihoods for ⁠millions of people, but their survival has been threatened by pollution and increasingly frequent mass bleaching caused by soaring ocean heat.