Science & technology | Coral hazard

The Great Barrier Reef is seeing unprecedented coral bleaching

Continued global warming will mean its obliteration

Marine biologist inspecting and recording bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
Photograph: Getty Images
|Sydney

THE GREAT Barrier Reef is a natural marvel. Spanning 2,300km along the north-east coast of Australia, this vast ecosystem boasts hundreds of species of multicoloured corals across an area roughly the size of Italy. Thousands of other marine species rely on it for their survival. But the rate at which Earth is warming leaves its future in doubt.

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