High temperature of seas around Australia's Great Barrier Reef have killed two-thirds of a 700-km (435 miles) stretch of coral in the past nine months.
This is the worst die-off ever recorded on the World Heritage site, scientists who surveyed the reef said on 29
th Nov.
Their finding of the die-off in the reef's north is a major blow for tourism at reef which, according to a 2013 Deloitte Access Economics report, attracts about A$5.2 billion ($3.9 billion) in spending each year.
He said the die-off was "almost certainly" the
largest ever recorded anywhere because of the size of the Barrier Reef, which at 348,000 sq km (134,400 sq miles) is the biggest coral reef in the world.
Coral Bleaching- Occurs when the water is too warm.
- Coral expels living algae, causing it to calcify and turn white.
- Mildly bleached coral may recover.
- Coral mortality was lower in southern parts of Great Barrier reef.
- Australia is currently the largest carbon emitter per capita in the Pacific region.
