The entirety of the Great Barrier Reef could suffer from mass bleaching and coral reefs this Australian summer . The US ocean Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has estimated a 60 % possibility of the area reaching the dangerous alert level one between November 2018 and February 2019 . Bleaching predominantly occurs in March . Unlike the mass mortality events of 2016 and 2017 , the southern Great Barrier Reef could also be affected . Marine biologist robin Hoegh - Guldberg , director of the University of conservation 's Global Change Institute , said the worrying predictions must serve as “ a wake - up call ” to the Australian government to change its coral - damaging policies .
The entirety of the Great Barrier Reef could suffer from mass bleaching and coral death this Australian summer. The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast a 60% possibility of the area reaching the dangerous alert level one between November 2018 and February 2019. Bleaching predominantly occurs in March. Unlike the mass mortality events of 2016 and 2017, the southern Great Barrier Reef could also be affected. Marine biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the University of Queensland's Global Change Institute, said the worrying predictions must serve as “a wake-up call” to the Australian government to change its climate-damaging policies.