Indonesia: In another extreme climate event, spike in sea temperatures quickly kills huge area of coral
A dramatic spike in ocean temperatures off Indonesia's Aceh province has killed large areas of coral and scientists fear the event could be much larger than first thought and one of the worst in the region's history.
The coral bleaching -- whitening due to heat driving out the algae living within the coral tissues -- was first reported in May after a surge in temperatures across the Andaman Sea from the northern tip of Sumatra island to Thailand and Myanmar.
An international team of scientists studying the bleaching event found that 80 percent of some species have died since the initial assessment in May.