Great Barrier Reef on one-way path to decay with no end in sight, report says — “Future warming already locked into the climate system means that further degradation is inevitable”: Australian Government

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1. [Aug 24, 2024](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-24/great-barrier-reef-continued-deterioration-climate-change/104265330):

   *The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report, tabled on Friday in the Senate, gives a long-term lens on what the reef can expect to look like based on the past five years.*

   *”Future warming already locked into the climate system means that further degradation is inevitable,” the report said.*

   *The new report uses data from January 2019 to December 2023, meaning it does not encompass the 2023-24 summer bleaching events.*

   *A study published in Nature earlier this year found between January and March 2024 was the warmest sea surface temperature period for waters surrounding the reef in more than four centuries.*

   *UNESCO has flagged placing the Great Barrier Reef on a list of sites “in danger” multiple times, but held off doing so once more in July [2024].*

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   [July 23, 2021](https://www.science.org/content/article/great-barrier-reef-escapes-danger-listing-after-intense-australian-lobby):

   *After intense lobbying by the Australian government, the World Heritage Committee decided against listing the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as “in danger,” as UNESCO had recommended in June [2021].*

   *UNESCO had recommended the GBR be listed as “in danger” not only because the reef was battered by major bleaching events in 2016, 2017, and 2020, but also because of Australia’s foot dragging in addressing climate change.*

   *But Sussan Ley, Australia’s environment minister, mounted a last-minute, global campaign to avert the move.*

   *In the run-up to the virtual meeting, officially held in Fuzhou, China, Ley contacted representatives of 18 of the 21 member countries of the World Heritage Committee either in person—by visiting Hungary, France, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oman, and the Maldives—or virtually.*