Trade wind regimes during the Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching season

Richards, Lara S.; Siems, Steven T.; Huang, Yi; Harrison, Daniel P.; Zhao, Wenhui

doi:10.5194/wcd-7-109-2026

Articles | Volume 7, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-109-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-109-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 7, issue 1

Research article

|

16 Jan 2026

Research article |

| 16 Jan 2026

Trade wind regimes during the Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching season

Lara S. Richards, Steven T. Siems, Yi Huang, Daniel P. Harrison, and Wenhui Zhao

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-109-2026-supplement

Data sets

Northern Australia Automated Marine Weather and Oceanographic Stations, Sites: [Davies Reef] Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) https://doi.org/10.25845/5c09bf93f315d

ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

Short summary

By studying the variability of the trade winds during the Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching season, we show that ocean heating and a higher risk of coral bleaching are linked to the breakdown of the trade winds into either calm and clear conditions or a monsoon-like northerly flow. Years with mass coral bleaching are also associated with more "calm and clear" days in the warmest months and fewer strong trade wind days on the fringe months of the bleaching season.