Great Barrier Reef suffers mass coral bleaching event

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered "very widespread" damage after rising sea temperatures caused the third mass coral bleaching events in five years, authorities said yesterday. The planet's largest coral reef system is worth an estimated $4 billion a year in tourism revenue for the Australian economy, but is at risk of losing its coveted world heritage status because warmer oceans brought about by climate change have damaged its health. Its northern reaches suffered an unprecedented two successive years of severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017, prompting the government agency overseeing the reef to downgrade its long-term outlook to "very poor".