50% of corals worldwide have disappeared

Scientists from the Caltin Marine Vision Survey (CSS) project have published the most comprehensive record of the disappearing reef areas around the world.

>>>The world's largest coral reef is seriously degraded

The CSS project team started working on mapping Australia's giant Barrier coral reef since September 2012. Scientists use a robot, equipped with a high-tech SeaView SVII camera, to dive deep into the ocean. Every three seconds, the robot sends back to the center sharp images with shooting angles extended to 360 degrees.

Scientists studying coral reef Barrier, Australia - (Photo: Daily Mail)

Combining a GPS device to accurately determine the location and direction of the image, scientists have made judgments about the health status of coral reefs. After research, experts say, about 50% of coral reefs worldwide have been destroyed in the past 30 years. And every year, 1-2% of the world's coral reefs are destroyed by coastal pollution and climate change.

A comprehensive record of the disappearance of corals worldwide is achieved thanks to the support of Google Street View - providing a comprehensive record of coral reefs in Australia's huge barrier. With special software, more than 50,000 photos, high resolution of 20 coral reefs are 'linked' together and show up on Google Maps.

This work plays an important role, creating a "big step" in the fight against the disappearance of coral reefs worldwide.