This article discusses how the Great Barrier Reef is moving south as scientists watch from space.
Warming ocean temperatures are causing a “migration” of the Great Barrier Reef away from the equator, research published this week has found.
But scientists say we’re unlikely to see the reef off the coast of Brisbane, with other factors meaning it could be halted for good before it gets too far south.
The researchers took to the fossil record to find examples of the reef moving south away from the equator when the water got too hot.
A paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science this week found at multiple points in the past coral reefs across the world migrated south to take advantage of cooler waters near the poles.