What are the primary causes of a 50 percent reduction in coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef?

October 8, 2012 By News Staff

Answer: storm damage, the crown of thorns starfish and bleaching

Over the past 27 years, the amount of coral cover in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has dropped by 50.7 percent, according to a new study of data gathered from more than 2,000 surveys of 214 reefs. It's down to half the size it was in 1985, according to io9.com.

Storm damage is responsible for 48 percent of the decline, 42 percent can be attributed to the crown of thorns starfish, and 10 percent is due to coral bleaching.

Image courtesy of Richard Ling

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