Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years due to storms, predatory starfish and bleaching linked to climate change, a study found Tuesday. The research by scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) and the University of Wollongong warned that coral cover on the heritage-listed reef - the world's largest - could halve again by 2022 if trends continued. Intense tropical cyclones - 34 in total since 1985 - were responsibility for much of the damage, accounting for 48 percent, with outbreaks of the coral-feeding crown-of-thorns starfish linked to 42 percent.

Coopes, A. (2012, October 9). Coral damage. Manila Bulletin, pp. 11, B-11.