SYDNEY, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Higher water temperatures in 2016 caused worst-ever bleaching of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, with some 67 percent of corals died in the reef's northern section, latest surveys revealed.
The situation is better in the central section of the reef, where 6 percent destructed, while the southern part is in normal condition.
In the hottest months on record, the researchers have witnessed the threat posed by human-caused climate change to the corals.
"Some of the initial mortality was down to heat stress," as the study leader Professor Terry Hughes was quoted by Australian media as saying, "the coral was cooked."
The study also found that the coral reefs which survived the bleaching have now been faced with bigger threats from snails and crown of thorns starfish.
The Australian government has published a long-term sustainability plan for the reef, and pledged financial support for research into coral destruction, according to the website of the government.
