Report shows massive catastrophic coral bleaching to the Great Barrier Reef - A report published in Nature has revealed that the Great Barrier Reef suffered a massive bleaching episode in 2016. Click through the gallery to learn more.

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Report - The peer-reviewed, highly revered scientific journal Nature just released a report confirming everyone's worst fears concerning the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

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Evidence - The report presents clear evidence that a mass bleaching event occurred in 2016, putting the Great Barrier Reef in the danger zone.

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Damage - The report states that the Great Barrier Reef was struck by a 30% mass extinction.

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Blame - The mass devastation is due to a record-breaking hike in sea temperature in 2016.

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Temperature - Corals began to die on the reef after critical exposure to the unprecedented heat, which lasted nine months.

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Species - Fast-growing staghorn and tabular corals suffered a catastrophic die-off.

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Professor - The study was led by Professor Terry Hughes, the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

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Interview - Hughes told The Guardian: “When corals bleach from a heatwave, they can either survive and regain their colour slowly as the temperature drops, or they can die."

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Sad - Hughes continued: "Averaged across the whole Great Barrier Reef, we lost 30 percent of the corals in the nine-month period between March and November 2016.”

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Length - The scientists conducting the report reviewed the entire 2,300 km length of the Great Barrier Reef.

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Establish - They managed to establish a close link between the coral die-off and areas where heat exposure was most extreme.

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Badly hit - The most badly affected area was the northern third of the reef, where waters are most shallow.

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Stats - The study found that 29% of the 3,863 reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef lost two-thirds or more of their corals.

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Loss - Researchers estimate half of the corals in shallow-water habitats in the northern Great Barrier Reef have been lost.

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More bad news - Once the 2017 bleaching event is taken into account, Professor Hughes estimates that around half of the shallow-water corals will have died.

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Climate change - The report concludes that climate change is the sole reason for the sea temperature rises.

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Recover - As temperatures rise, bleaching events become more common, giving corals less time to recover.

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Further risks - The scientists said their research underscores the need for further risk assessment into the collapse of reef ecosystems, especially if global action on climate change fails to limit warming to a 1.5 to 2°C increase on pre-industrial levels.

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Ecosystems - They also warn that a failure to curb climate change and a subsequent increase above 2°C, will radically alter tropical reef ecosystems and undermine benefits they provide to hundreds of millions of people.

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Reliance - Losing the Great Barrier Reef would cause an untold ecological disaster both for the environment and the local community that depends on it.

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World's biggest - The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef, comprising of over 2,900 individual reefs (prior to the mass bleaching).

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Space - The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms.

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Importance - Due to its ecological importance, it was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

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CNN - CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

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Variety - The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable or endangered species, some of which may be endemic to the reef system.

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Dolphins - Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef.

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Future - Lead researcher Professor Hughes concludes that it's not necessarily too late to save the Great Barrier Reef.

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Climate - Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Hughes said: “The Great Barrier Reef is certainly threatened by climate change, but it is not doomed if we deal very quickly with greenhouse gas emissions. Our study shows that coral reefs are already shifting radically in response to unprecedented heatwaves.”

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Hold on - It would be a tragedy to lose such a wonderful entity.

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