5月10日，澳大利亚政府机构最新调查结果显示，大堡礁91%的珊瑚礁因气候变暖而出现白化现象。

科学家表示，这是历史上第一次出现如此大规模的白化现象。1998年有记录以来，大堡礁共发生6次白化现象，其中4次发生在2016年之后。

分析称，全球变暖导致的海水温度上升是大堡礁白化的主要原因。珊瑚白化事件通常在海水温度超过正常值时发生，但此次白化发生在拉尼娜现象期间，赤道附近的海水温度理应低于正常水平，此次白化事件尤其恶劣。

More than 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef was impacted by coral bleaching during the Australian summer of 2021-2022.

“The surveys confirm a mass bleaching event, with coral bleaching observed at multiple reefs in all regions。” “This is the fourth mass bleaching event since 2016 and the sixth to occur on the Great Barrier Reef since 1998.”

The surveys revealed that 654 reefs, or 91 percent of those surveyed, had experienced some bleaching.

Coral bleaching occurs when warmer than normal ocean temperatures turn the chemicals that coral-dwelling algae produce into poisons, prompting the coral to expel the algae. Because the algae provide the coral with both nutrients and color, the remaining coral turns white.