The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst bleaching event to date with studies showing 93 percent of the reef being effected. Bleaching is caused by the warmer temperature of the waters brought about by the El Nino system. This current event gives a window into the impacts of climate change. Additionally parts of the reef have been damaged by cyclones, the severity and frequency of which will also increase with global temperature rise. The Australian Federal Government and the Queensland State Government this year granted approvals for the Carmichael Coal Mine, the largest ever in Australia, which will export coal through the Great Barrier Reef. The emissions from the burned coal directly contributes to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.

While the severest bleaching occurred in the northern parts of the reef, this documentation was captured in the mid section, at Green Island and Fitzroy Island, both just off the coast of Cairns.