Great Barrier Reef ocean temperatures hit 400-year record. The frequency of mass bleaching has dramatically increased. From 1877 to 1982, there was almost a century between bleaching events. Since 1982, there have been seven mass coral bleaching events, occurring almost every other year recently.

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1. For the past decade, water temperatures along Australia’s famed Great Barrier Reef have been the warmest in 400 years, a major study said on Thursday.

   Ocean temperatures around the spectacular coral system have increased yearly since 1960 but were particularly hotter during recent mass coral bleaching events, according to a study in the science journal Nature.

   The warmer waters are most likely down to human-induced climate change, the report said.

2. I’m surprised the reef is still there at all. When Bush 2nd was King of America I remember reading several articles that indicated that coral reefs would likely be history by 2030. They’re almost certainly doomed, and almost certainly soon, but they’re more resilient than predicted, apparently.