Three-year heatwave bleached half the planet's coral reefs: study

A study published on Tuesday showed that more than half of the world's coral reefs were bleached between 2014-2017 -- a record-setting episode now being eclipsed by another series of devastating heatwaves. The analysis concluded that 51 percent of the world's reefs endured moderate or worse bleaching while 15 percent experienced significant mortality over the three-year period known as the "Third Global Bleaching Event". It was "by far the most severe and widespread coral bleaching event on record", said Sean Connolly, one the study's authors and a senior scientist at the Panama-based Smithsonian Tropical Research...