PARIS: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, under severe stress in a warmer, more acidic ocean, has returned from near-extinction five times in the past 30,000 years, researchers said Monday. The reef “probably has not faced changes in SST (sea surface temperature) and acidification at such a rate,” Webster told AFP. Webster and an international team wanted to view the reef’s current plight within a longer-term context. As sea levels dropped leading up to the LGM, there were two massive “death events” – about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, the team found. Coral reefs are home to about a quarter of ocean life, and act as nurseries for many species of fish.

Source: New Strait Times May 28, 2018 16:41 UTC