About two-thirds of the shallow-water coral on the reef’s previously pristine, 430-mile northern stretch was dead, researchers reported.

….Some scientists and environmental advocates have criticized the government’s efforts to protect the reef, saying they have fallen far short. They have also pointed to a seeming contradiction in the wishes of the Queensland government to protect the reef even as it pushes ahead with plans to develop the Carmichael coal mine, the country’s biggest, which lies less than 200 miles inland in the Galilee Basin.

…As custodian of the reef, the government has an obligation to manage one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, Dr. Steffen said. “It is nonsense to think we can open up a new coal mine and think we are going to save coral reefs.”

…Coral in the north was “cooked” as water temperatures rose about two degrees, Professor Hughes of James Cook University said. “That coral did not bleach and die slowly.”

Great Barrier Reef Hit by Worst Coral Die-Off on Record, Scientists Say – The New York Times

Sigh….