I’m not going to editorialise about this, because I will end up ranting incoherently and/or break the keyboard. Instead, I’m just showing the BBC’s headline, and the data that support it. The latter comes from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Here’s the data as presented by AIMS:

The “worst coral decline on record” is the final downtick in the figures. The BBC headline:

Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral decline on record

The headline is, in many respects, accurate. But its story is very partial in its presentation. No-one reading it, without any other source of information, would have any idea that the reef’s coral is presently relatively high, certainly very high compared to the situation 13 years ago. The reader “well-informed” by the BBC would be fearful of the reef’s hopes of survival from this year to next. (Do let me know if you disagree.)

As I said below my survey of alarmist headlines about the GBR three years ago,

My prediction is that the Great Barrier Reef will continue to be destroyed, year in and year out, but that it will nevertheless endure for millions of years to come.

Alan injected a note of caution into my optimism; but he was more afraid of falling sea levels during future glaciations than the reef cooking during today’s climate panic.

Paul Homewood’s coverage.