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3d ago

Great Barrier Reef Coral Cover Plummets by Up to a Third in Record Decline

After back-to-back bleaching events, a government survey shows coral cover tumbled by up to a third, intensifying calls for a stronger 2035 emissions target

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Overview

  • The 2025 AIMS survey found coral cover fell by 25% in the northern region and 33% in the southern region, marking the largest annual drops since monitoring began in 1986.
  • Central reefs avoided crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks for the first time in 2025 after control programs culled over 50,000 predators.
  • Successive climate-driven heatwaves triggered mass bleaching in 2024 and early 2025, with cyclones and floods compounding coral mortality.
  • Volatility in hard coral cover has surged over the past 15 years, with populations swinging rapidly between record highs and lows.
  • Conservationists and WWF Australia are pressing the federal government to lock in an ambitious 2035 emissions reduction target to support reef recovery.