The latest coral reef observed to be suffering the effects of man made global warming is off Japan's southern island of Okinawa.  Bleaching has claimed almost three-quarters of the Sekisei Lagoon reef.

Much like the Great Barrier Reef, Sekisei Lagoon is a popular diving site.  But the Japanese environment ministry says the situation has become "extremely serious" in recent years.  The ministry's latest survey of 35 locations in the lagoon conducted in November and December found that bleaching had reached about 90 percent of the reef, and that 70.1 percent of the coral had died.  Much of the dead coral has now turned dark brown and is now covered with algae.

The average sea surface temperature in the southern part of the Okinawa island chain between last June and August was 30.1 C Degrees.  That's as much as two degrees warmer than usual.  Japan's meteorological adds that it's the highest average temperature since record-keeping began in 1982.

The bad news from the ministry report follows warnings by the Coral Reef Watch program at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that said global coral bleaching could become the "new normal" due to warming oceans.