The Bureau of Meteorology this week declared a 70% chance of an El Niño developing this year. This raises concern for the health of the Great Barrier Reef, which is under continuing threat from climate change.
Recent summers have shown the devastating damage heat stress can wreak on the reef. We must act urgently to protect this underwater marvel – through this likely El Niño, and beyond.
We are coral reef and climate scientists, and policy experts. We’ve seen how the Great Barrier Reef is nearing its tipping point. After this point, it will become unrecognisable as a functioning ecosystem.
