Sydney (AFP) - Australia's Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists said Wednesday, as they revealed the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country.

After extensive aerial and underwater surveys, researchers at James Cook University said only seven percent of the huge reef had escaped the whitening triggered by warmer water temperatures.

"We've never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before," said Terry Hughes, convenor of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce.

The damage ranges from minor in the southern areas -- which are expected to recover soon -- to very severe in the northern and most pristine reaches of the 2,300 kilometre (1,430 miles) site off the east coast.

Hughes said of the 911 individual reefs surveyed, only 68 (or seven percent) had escaped the massive bleaching event which has also spread south to Sydney Harbour for the first time and across to the west.

Researcher Verena Schoepf, from the University of Western Australia, said coral was already dying at a site she had recently visited off the state's far north coast.

"Some of the sites that I work at had really very severe bleaching, up to 80 to 90 percent of the coral bleached," she told AFP. "So it's pretty bad out there."

- Severe throughout the Pacific -

Australia's Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it was "absolutely clear that there is a severe coral bleaching event occurring not just in the Great Barrier Reef but throughout many parts of the Pacific".

Hughes said the bleaching began in Hawaii late last year and had already affected several Pacific islands.

"Right now, New Caledonia, the Coral Sea, the northern half of the Barrier Reef and New South Wales are bleaching severely, and western Australia is quickly catching up," he told AFP.

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them, but scientists warned last year that the warming effects of a El Nino weather pattern could result in a mass global bleaching event.

Hughes said while bleaching had been linked to El Ninos, which generally occur every four to six years, "it wasn't until 1998 that one finally caused a bleaching event to happen" on the Great Barrier Reef.

"So the issue is global warming," Hughes told AFP, saying the link between water temperature and the severity of the bleaching was clear.

Hughes said the impact on the Great Barrier Reef would have been even worse had not a tropical cyclone which smashed into the Pacific island of Fiji in February brought rain and cooler weather to parts of Queensland.

"If you think about it, being rescued by the vagaries of a cyclone is a fairly precarious place to be," he added.

Andrew Baird, from James Cook University's centre for coral reef studies, said he had been surprised by the scale and severity of the event on the major tourist drawcard which is teeming with marine life.

"We've been expecting a really big event for a while I suppose and here it is," he told AFP.

Baird said because the bleaching was far less serious in the southern reaches "lots of the reef will still be in good shape".

"But the reef that's been badly affected -- which is a third to a half of it -- is going to take a while to recover," he told AFP.

"And again the big question is how many of these events can it handle? And I think the answer is not many more."

(Yahoo News)

BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in the Syrian conflict and talks (all times Beirut local):

8:30 p.m.

A Hezbollah media outlet in Lebanon says 290 Islamic State militants with 150 of their family members have been evacuated by a U.N. convoy from a Damascus-area town to Raqqa, the extremist group's de facto capital, in northeast Syria.

The outlet, known as Military Media, says the IS fighters left Dumair on Wednesday under a U.N. deal.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, says the town has been at the center of heavy clashes between pro-government forces, Islamist militants, and IS fighters.

The Observatory also says that fighting has erupted between Syrian pro-government militias and Kurdish forces in the Kurdish city of Qamishli, in Syria's northeast.

It says Kurdish forces have killed or arrested 25 militiamen in the city, which was once shared peacefully between the two sides.

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7:50 p.m.

The spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general has confirmed plans are underway to evacuate some 500 people from four besieged Syrian communities.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday that the people are in "urgent need of life-saving medical attention." He did not give details on the timing or where the people would be taken.

He says the "sad thing is, we should not have to negotiate medical evacuations."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said six people have been evacuated on medical grounds from Foua and Kfraya villages while two were evacuated from Zabadani in a deal sponsored by the United Nations and coordinated by the Red Crescent.

The larger evacuation would be the first major one since a February cease-fire, which has all but collapsed amid renewed violence. In December, 460 people from the four communities were evacuated.

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3:40 p.m.

The head of the Syrian government delegation at the Geneva peace talks says the walkout by a main Syrian opposition group has removed a "major obstacle" to the success of the negotiations.

Bashar Ja'afari, who is also Syria's U.N. ambassador, blasted the opposition group as "extremists" and "mercenaries."

Ja'afari told reporters Wednesday in Geneva that his government's position is that any political solution in Syria would include a broad-based unity government, an amended constitution and parliamentary elections. He says any group that thinks otherwise is "living an illusion" and is "wasting their time and ours."

The Western-backed High Negotiation Committee suspended its participation in the Geneva talks this week after a cease-fire, which had been in effect since late February, all but collapsed. The HNC does not want President Bashar Assad to have any role in a future Syria.

The U.N. special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said he will review the talks on Friday

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2:30 p.m.

Syrian activists and the Lebanese Al-Manar TV say a deal has been reached to evacuate 500 residents from four besieged Syrian communities.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday six people were evacuated on medical grounds from Foua and Kfraya villages while two were evacuated from Zabadani in the deal sponsored by the United Nations and coordinated by the Red Crescent. The U.N. declined comment.

The evacuation would be the first major one since a February cease-fire, which has all but collapsed amid renewed violence. In December, 460 people from the four communities were evacuated.

Madaya northeast of Damascus and Zabadani near the border with Lebanon have been besieged by government and allied militia for months. Fouaa and Kfarya in the northern province of Idlib are blockaded by rebels for over a year.

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1:20 p.m.

The head of a Turkey-based Syrian opposition group says that the government of President Bashar Assad has effectively "buried" the cessation of hostilities with its continuous attacks across the country.

Anas al-Abda, the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, says at a press conference Wednesday there will be no quick return to peace talks in Geneva if the current situation continues.

He also warns that the peace negotiations may "collapse completely."

The cease-fire agreement in place since Feb. 27 has all but collapsed amid fierce fighting in Syria's north.