Great barrier reef 'could die in 20 years'

In less that 20 years, rising sea temperatures caused by global warming could kill Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest chain of living coral, an expert said today.

“We may see a complete devastation of coral communities on the reef and a major change to the pristine values, which at the moment are our pride and joy,” professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland, told The Age newspaper.