Australia's Great Barrier Reef is reportedly "cooking up" with the increased temperatures caused by the continued mining and burning of fossil fuels. Nearly two-third of the 435 miles stretch of coral reef is killed by the warm seas.
According to scientists, the World Heritage site has the worst die-off in the reef's north. A researcher at James Cook University, who spoke to Reuters said: "The coral is essentially cooked."
This is the largest die-off recorded in the Barrier Reef, which is 134,400 square-miles, the biggest coral reef in the world. This bleaching occurs when sea waters are too warm.
Bleaching occurs naturally, however, the increase in temperatures of the sea waters due to global warming contributed to the incident.
The Great Barrier Reef was about to enter the list of "in danger" by the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, however, they have asked the Australian government to update a report on safeguarding the reef.
As quoted by a CNN report, ARC Center of Excellent for Coral Reef Studies Director Terry Hughes said the north portion of the coral reef suffered severe damage as summer temperatures shoot up to two degrees above normal.
"It's quite sobering, we've now seen three of these events, each one was more severe than the last and these have occurred with less than one degree of global warming," he said.
"Two degrees of global warming will mean these events are more severe," he added. Australia is one of the developed nations that produce large amounts of greenhouse gasses. Developed nations should focus on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and attribute the necessary errands to control global warming and save the world.
