Time-lapse footage shows coral dying a sad, colourless death

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This video is kinda cool, but it's also very, very depressing.

It's time-lapse footage of coral bleaching in action.

You can see the colours leaching out into the water as the coral dies.

The footage aired as part of last night's episode of 60 Minutes, during which Tom Steinfort delivered a sobering report on widespread bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

The situation for the once magnificent reef is dire, with Terry Hughes, who is heading emergency aerial assessment of Australian landmark telling Steinfort the rising temperature of sea water is behind the devastation.

He said that, of the reefs observed between Townsville and Cairns, most were considered in the highest bleaching category.

That means more than 80 percent of the coral on each reef was a ghostly white.

Alarmingly, he also said that every single reef is affected by bleaching.

Every. Single. Reef.

And while the reefs were once bursting with colour, some patches look like this:

Hughes says the "elephant in the room" was carbon emissions contributing to climate change.

"It isn't 'normal' for millions of corals to die in two consecutive super-hot summers," he said on Twitter.

According to the Queensland government's reef water quality program website, there are plans to address this.

"The government is in the process of exploring options for climate change mitigation and plans to reduce emissions in innovative ways, supporting measures associated with renewable energy with a focus on solar and a mandate for biofuels," a government fact sheet says.

The government also lists other commitments to protect the reef, such as  a ban on sea dumping within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and brining in vegetation protection laws to minimise damaging run-off to the reef.

But it isn't all bad news; there are a few glimmers of hope.

And while Cyclone Debbie is expected to wreak havoc on far north Queensland, the storm system is expect to help some coral recover slightly.

"We needed the cyclone in February to make a real difference, but it may help mildly bleached corals in the south regain their colour faster," Hughes says.

"It takes 10 to 15 years for the fastest-growing corals to recover provided they don't bleach again."

You can watch the entire episode of 60 Minutes on 9now.