New 1-5 Scale Unveiled to Measure Damage to Great Barrier Reef

Damage to the Great Barrier Reef will in future, be measured on a scale from one to five, similar to the tropical cyclone system, under a new framework announced by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on Feb. 20. A ranking of five would indicate widespread bleaching devastation on the reef. A single-celled algae, called zooxanthellae, lives inside coral, giving it both colour and food. But when the coral experiences stress it expels the algae, causing it to turn white. A bleaching event does not necessarily mean the coral is dead. Stress can be caused by environmental changes such as increased water temperatures or freshwater flooding....