INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Coral across Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most devastating die-off on record, a new report says.
In just nine months, bleaching caused by warmer water has killed around 67% of the coral in a previously pristine part of the reef, one of the natural wonders of the world.
"We've seen three bleaching events (in the reef) and each time it can be explained by where the warm water was," the report's author, ARC Center of Excellent for Coral Reef Studies Director Terry Hughes, told CNN.
"In the north, the summer temperatures got up to two degrees above the normal maximum and that caused severe bleaching," he said.
