A global coral bleaching event that began last year has quickly grown to the largest on record, according to a U.S. agency, with the impacted reef area continuing to grow.

From the beginning of 2023 through October 10, 2024, “roughly 77 percent of the world’s reef area has experienced bleaching-level heat stress,” Derek Manzello of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told AFP on Friday.

He said the ongoing bleaching event — the fourth since 1998 — had surpassed the previous record of 65.7 percent in half the time, and “is still increasing in size.”

Coral are marine invertebrates made up of individual animals called polyps.

They have a symbiotic relationship with the algae that live inside their tissue and provide their primary source of food, as well as their captivating colors.

When […]