The Great Barrier Reef experienced a ‘mass bleaching event’ during the Southern Hemisphere’s 2021-22 summer months, according to the latest annual Reef Summer Snapshot study by Australian researchers.

The report found that 91% of reef sites examined contained evidence of bleaching, largely due to warming ocean temperatures brought on by the climate crisis.

‘Climate change is escalating, and the Reef is already experiencing the consequences of this,’ the study’s authors wrote. ‘Unfortunately, the events that cause disturbances on the reef are becoming more frequent, leaving less time for coral recovery.’

This is the 4th time in 7 years that a mass bleaching event has occurred in the Great Barrier Reef, per the report.