Good news! Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which has undergone 4 mass bleaching events in the last 6 years, has rebounded significantly in parts of it's reefs. The northern and central areas of the reef now shows the highest amount of coral cover since monitoring began 36 years ago.

The Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) defines healthy coral coverage as anything above 30%. The northern region of the reef currently boasts 36% coverage this year, up from a low of 13% in 2017, while the central region shows 33% - up from 12% in 2019. The southern region of the reef actually fell to 34% from 38% last year. This is due to a current outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, which threaten healthy coral populations.

Although the news is good and the reef is healthy for now, experts caution that the reef is still very vulnerable to water temperature changes and invasive species that threaten the delicate balance of life.

Source: Yahoo News