The United Nations (UN) began Monday the inspection of the Great Barrier Reef.

The objective is to assess whether the site, classified as a World Heritage Site, is protected from global warming.

Higher than average temperatures caused bleaching of some coral areas despite a rather cool summer, site authorities said in mid-March.

The UNESCO mission will assess whether Australia is sufficiently protecting the Great Barrier Reef, before the World Heritage Commission determines in June whether to classify it as "in danger".

A real emergency for the experts

In 2015, the UN threatened to downgrade the site, prompting Australia to launch a billion-dollar "Reef 2050" protection plan.

Since 2016, the Great Barrier Reef has suffered three episodes of massive bleaching but in July 2021, the Commission did not classify the site as "in danger" to everyone's surprise.

Coral expert Scott Heron of James Cook University hopes for "some transparency in the areas of the reef that [the UN] visits", including those affected by bleaching.

"The condition of some parts of the reef is so bad that there is no possibility of coral bleaching this year because there are few corals left," he said.

Climate change is bringing the Australian reef closer to its stress threshold, favoring bleaching episodes.

“We need urgent action on global warming in this decade,” said Scott Heron.

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  • Planet

  • Climate change

  • Unesco

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  • Coral

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