Extreme weather has damaged nearly half Australia's marine ecosystems since 2011

 Extreme climate events such as heatwaves, floods and drought damaged 45% of the marine ecosystems along Australia’s coast in a seven-year period, CSIRO research shows.

Strong winds from cyclone Yasi hit Townsville in 2011.
Storms, heatwaves and coral bleaching have devastated
Australian coasts in the past decade.

More than 8,000km of Australia’s coast was affected by extreme climate events from 2011 to 2017, and in some cases they caused irreversible changes to marine habitats.

The study collated all the published research by leading scientists, who have examined the effects of marine heatwaves, heavy rainfall from tropical storms, cyclones and droughts on coral, kelp, mangrove and seagrass communities.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “Extreme weather has damaged nearly half Australia's marine ecosystems since 2011.”