- The Great Barrier Reef has suffered its steepest annual decline in live coral cover, as reported by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims).
- This decline follows a record-breaking marine heatwave in 2024, which triggered the worst bleaching events in nearly four decades.
- Heat stress from climate change is identified as the primary cause of mass bleaching, worsened by factors such as cyclones and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.
- Aims found that two of the three areas monitored since 1986 experienced coral losses, marking the largest annual decline recorded.
- Researchers warn that the reef faces a "volatile" future and may reach a "point from which it cannot recover" due to the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events.
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