The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority reported on Friday, March 25, that another huge bleaching event is damaging Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It recently issued a warning that ocean temperatures were up to 4 degrees Celsius higher than normal for March in some places of the reef. Two United Nations (UN) scientists are now in Queensland on a reef-monitoring mission. The Australian Conservation Foundation described the incident as “truly heartbreaking”. Bleaching happens when stressed corals release the algae that give them color and life. They can recover, but only if the conditions permit it. It is the fourth time in six years that rising sea temperatures have caused severe and widespread devastation. The first mass bleaching event occurred in 1998, followed in 2002, 2016, 2017, and 2020. Scientists believe climate change must be handled immediately to save the world’s largest reef system.