Coral bleaching is caused by rising water temperatures resulting from two natural warm currents.
It is exacerbated by man-made climate change, as the oceans are absorbing about 93% of the increase in the Earth's heat.
Bleaching happens when corals under stress drive out the algae known as zooxanthellae that give them colour.
If normal conditions return, the corals can recover, but it can take decades, and if the stress continues the corals can die.
Lead author Prof Terry Hughes warned bleaching events had become "the new normal".
Last week, he said an aerial survey had shown evidence of mass bleaching in consecutive summers for the first time.
The scale of the damage will be examined in the next three weeks by the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, a collaboration of scientists and reef managers.
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