Australia's Great Barrier Reef suffers major coral bleaching

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major coral bleaching event, with the results consistent with patterns of heat stress that have built up over summer at the biologically diverse site

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major coral bleaching event, with the results consistent with patterns of heat stress that have built up over summer at the biologically diverse site, a government agency said on Friday.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), the agency tasked with monitoring the reef's health, confirmed that "a widespread, often called mass, coral bleaching event is unfolding" across the reef.