Abu dhabi: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered the largest decline in coral cover in two of its three regions over the last year, research released on Wednesday showed, following a mass bleaching of its corals that was among the worst on record.

According to Emirates News Agency, the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) reported that the reef has experienced the largest annual decline in coral cover in its northern and southern regions since monitoring began 39 years ago. The coral cover has dropped between a quarter and a third after several years of growth.

Mike Emslie, leader of the AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Programme, stated, “We are now seeing increased volatility in the levels of hard coral cover. This is a phenomenon that emerged over the last 15 years and points to an ecosystem under stress.”

The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living ecosystem, stretches for approximately 2,400 km (1,500 miles) off the coast of Queensland. Since 2016, it has faced five summers of mass coral bleaching, where significant portions of the reef turn white due to heat stress, increasing their risk of death.

The 2024 event was particularly severe, with the largest footprint ever recorded on the reef, experiencing high to extreme bleaching across all its three regions, as detailed in the report.