REUTERS/David Gray/File PhotoWarm seas around Australia's Great Barrier Reef have killed two-thirds of a 700-km (435 miles) stretch of coral in the past nine months, the worst die-off ever recorded on the World Heritage site, scientists who surveyed the reef said on Tuesday. He said the die-off was "almost certainly" the largest ever recorded anywhere because of the size of the Barrier Reef, which at 348,000 sq km (134,400 sq miles) is the biggest coral reef in the world. READ MOREUNESCO's World Heritage Committee stopped short of placing the Great Barrier Reef on an "in danger" list last May but asked the Australian government for an update on its progress in safeguarding the reef. "Climate change is killing the Great Barrier Reef," said environmentalist Charlie Wood, director of 350.org, an anti-fossil fuels movement. If we want our kids to enjoy the Great Barrier Reef for generations to come, we must act now to keep fossil fuels in the ground," Wood said in an emailed statement.

Source: Standard Digital November 29, 2016 04:57 UTC