Reef relief: how a late summer monsoon helped cool the Great Barrier Reef at just the right time

© AIMS | LTMP, CC BY-NC-ND EMBARGOED UNTIL Tue 11 Aug 2026 at 0001 AEST Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is a true natural wonder: a unique and diverse underwater seascape the size of a small country. However, cycles of disturbance and recovery threaten to turn its colourful coral gardens into algal-dominated seascapes – then back again. And these cycles are becoming more volatile as our world warms. At the Australian Institute of Marine Science, we’ve been documenting these changes for the past…