Great Barrier Reef suffered worst bleaching on record in 2016, report finds

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 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38127320

Source:  By Hywel Griffith, BBC News, Sydney
For Investigation:  10.3

For GSS Losing Biodiversity chapter 7. Excerpt: Higher water temperatures in 2016 caused the worst destruction of corals ever recorded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, a study has found. Some 67% of corals died in the reef's worst-hit northern section, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies report said. The situation was better in the central section, where 6% perished, while the southern reef is in good health. ...This year's mass bleaching was the worst-ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef, following two previous events in 1998 and 2002. Professor Hughes is certain that the increased water temperature is the result of carbon emissions, and warns that climate change could bring annual bleaching within 20 years. "Most of the losses in 2016 have occurred in the northern, most pristine part of the Great Barrier Reef," he said....

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