Climate Change Has All But Destroyed Great Barrier Reef, Study Confirms

More than 90 percent of world's largest living ecosystem has been hit by "severe" coral bleaching

by Nadia Prupis, staff writer

More than 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is suffering some level of coral bleaching and will likely never return to its original state, a new study from the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies released Tuesday confirms.

"We've never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before," said Terry Hughes, director of the research council. "In the northern Great Barrier Reef, it's like 10 cyclones have come ashore all at once."