Longest coral bleaching event on record continues to hammer reefs

Severe bleaching is now under way across the northern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world’s great treasuries of marine diversity. At some reefs off far northeast Australia near the tip of Cape York, up to 50 percent of coral have already died. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority classified the unfolding event as Level R3, the most dire, because of severe regional bleaching over the last few days