The meteorological drivers of mass coral bleaching on the central Great Barrier Reef during the 2022 La Niña

Lara Shania Richards; Steven Thomas Siems; Yi Huang; Wenhui Zhao; Daniel Patrick Harrison; Michael John Manton; Michael John Reeder

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-74181-2

The meteorological drivers of mass coral bleaching on the central Great Barrier Reef during the 2022 La Niña

Lara Shania Richards
, Steven Thomas Siems
, Yi Huang
, Wenhui Zhao
, Daniel Patrick Harrison
, Michael John Manton
, Michael John Reeder

School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The frequencies of marine heatwaves and thermal coral bleaching events (CBEs) over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continue to increase with five mass CBEs reported since 2016. While changes in the local meteorology, such as reduced wind speeds and decreased cloud cover, are known to heat the shallow reef waters, little consideration has been given to the overriding synoptic meteorology. The 2022 CBE, occurring under La Niña conditions, saw ocean temperatures at Davies Reef increase 1.9 ∘C over 19-days and subsequently cool 2.1 ∘C back to seasonal norms over eight days. This event was found to be triggered by repeated Rossby wave breaking disrupting the local trade winds, thus inhibiting the latent heat flux. Latent heat fluxes, the primary driver of the event, tripled as the trade winds returned via rapid coastal ridging. These same synoptic features are concurrent with the historic Lismore flooding located hundreds of kilometres south of the GBR.

Original language	English
Article number	23867
Number of pages	17
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	14
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74181-2
Publication status	Published - Dec 2024

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Coral bleaching
Great Barrier Reef
Marine heatwave
Trade winds

Access to Document

10.1038/s41598-024-74181-2Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "The meteorological drivers of mass coral bleaching on the central Great Barrier Reef during the 2022 La Ni{\~n}a",

abstract = "The frequencies of marine heatwaves and thermal coral bleaching events (CBEs) over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continue to increase with five mass CBEs reported since 2016. While changes in the local meteorology, such as reduced wind speeds and decreased cloud cover, are known to heat the shallow reef waters, little consideration has been given to the overriding synoptic meteorology. The 2022 CBE, occurring under La Ni{\~n}a conditions, saw ocean temperatures at Davies Reef increase 1.9 ∘C over 19-days and subsequently cool 2.1 ∘C back to seasonal norms over eight days. This event was found to be triggered by repeated Rossby wave breaking disrupting the local trade winds, thus inhibiting the latent heat flux. Latent heat fluxes, the primary driver of the event, tripled as the trade winds returned via rapid coastal ridging. These same synoptic features are concurrent with the historic Lismore flooding located hundreds of kilometres south of the GBR.",

keywords = "Coral bleaching, Great Barrier Reef, Marine heatwave, Trade winds",

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AU - Siems, Steven Thomas

AU - Huang, Yi

AU - Zhao, Wenhui

AU - Harrison, Daniel Patrick

AU - Manton, Michael John

AU - Reeder, Michael John

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/12

Y1 - 2024/12

N2 - The frequencies of marine heatwaves and thermal coral bleaching events (CBEs) over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continue to increase with five mass CBEs reported since 2016. While changes in the local meteorology, such as reduced wind speeds and decreased cloud cover, are known to heat the shallow reef waters, little consideration has been given to the overriding synoptic meteorology. The 2022 CBE, occurring under La Niña conditions, saw ocean temperatures at Davies Reef increase 1.9 ∘C over 19-days and subsequently cool 2.1 ∘C back to seasonal norms over eight days. This event was found to be triggered by repeated Rossby wave breaking disrupting the local trade winds, thus inhibiting the latent heat flux. Latent heat fluxes, the primary driver of the event, tripled as the trade winds returned via rapid coastal ridging. These same synoptic features are concurrent with the historic Lismore flooding located hundreds of kilometres south of the GBR.

AB - The frequencies of marine heatwaves and thermal coral bleaching events (CBEs) over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) continue to increase with five mass CBEs reported since 2016. While changes in the local meteorology, such as reduced wind speeds and decreased cloud cover, are known to heat the shallow reef waters, little consideration has been given to the overriding synoptic meteorology. The 2022 CBE, occurring under La Niña conditions, saw ocean temperatures at Davies Reef increase 1.9 ∘C over 19-days and subsequently cool 2.1 ∘C back to seasonal norms over eight days. This event was found to be triggered by repeated Rossby wave breaking disrupting the local trade winds, thus inhibiting the latent heat flux. Latent heat fluxes, the primary driver of the event, tripled as the trade winds returned via rapid coastal ridging. These same synoptic features are concurrent with the historic Lismore flooding located hundreds of kilometres south of the GBR.

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KW - Great Barrier Reef

KW - Marine heatwave

KW - Trade winds

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ER -

The meteorological drivers of mass coral bleaching on the central Great Barrier Reef during the 2022 La Niña

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

Cite this

The meteorological drivers of mass coral bleaching on the central Great Barrier Reef during the 2022 La Niña

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Projects

ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

Cite this