Corals Are Dying on the Great Barrier Reef
Australian government issues emergency response level and warns that bleaching may be linked to climate change.
Scientists have discovered an unprecedented die-off in the world's largest reef, the Great Barrier Reef, prompting the Australian government to issue its highest response level.
Diver surveys based off Cape York, Australia's northeastern tip, found up to 50 percent mortality in the reef from coral bleaching. Death among the organisms that build the reef's structure is most likely linked to rising temperatures in the ocean, the government announced.
"The corals in the remote far north of the reef experienced extremely hot and still conditions this summer, and were effectively bathed in warm water for months, creating heat stress that they could no longer cope with," Russell Reichelt, the chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, said in a statement.
Bleaching
