CANBERRA : The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, is the world’s largest coral reef system and has so far avoided being placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List of sites in danger.

Morgan Pratchett, a marine ecologist at James Cook University in Queensland, said the expected intensity of the El Niño event is a major concern for the reef’s future.

El Niño, which involves a warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, can trigger global changes in wind patterns, atmospheric pressure and rainfall, contributing to extreme weather conditions.

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