The survival of the Great Barrier Reef rests on cutting global warming, with efforts to improve water quality and fishing doing little to prevent major bleaching, according to a new study.

The study, released in the scientific journal Nature, shows protecting it from fishing and poor water quality is doing little to prevent bleaching.
 
"Global warming is the number one threat to the reef. The bleaching in 2016 strongly reinforces the urgent need to limit climate change," said co-author David Wachenfeld from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

The reef experienced the worst coral bleaching on record last summer with protective efforts making no difference to the amount of bleaching during the extreme weather.

"With rising temperatures due to global warming, it's only a matter of time before we see more of these events," Wachenfeld said.

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