Physical Diagnosis of the 2016 Great Barrier Reef Bleaching Event

Widespread coral bleaching across the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in 2016 is often reportedly caused by El Niño and/or global warming. However, the GBR is not in a region where it is straightforward to anticipate sea surface temperature (SST) warming during El Niño, and the role of climate change is unclear. This study uses a diverse range of observations to investigate the physical causes of SST anomalies that developed on the GBR in 2016. Warm...