Scientists are warning that the Great Barrier Reef could be heading for major coral bleaching. From The @Guardian: If high ocean temperatures in the region do not drop in the next two weeks, the reef is set for a third major coral bleaching outbreak in the space of five years. “We are down to the wire,” said Prof Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. Coral bleaching is a stress reaction caused when corals spend long periods in warmer than average water. Rising ocean temperatures are caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In August 2019, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority downgraded the reef’s longterm outlook from “poor” to “very poor” for the first time.