The Great Barrier Reef is now facing the hottest sea surface temperatures in four centuries, a new study finds. The rapid warming is causing massive coral bleaching which threatens the marine ecosystem and biodiversity, the scientists warned.
"The world is losing one of its icons," study lead author Benjamin Henley, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said at a news conference Tuesday (Aug. 6). "We will sadly see the demise of one of Earth's most spectacular natural wonders."
