 A March 2016 report stated that coral bleaching was more widespread than previously thought, seriously affecting the northern parts of the reef as a result of warming ocean temperatures.In October 2016, "Outside" published an obituary for the reef; the article was criticized for being premature and hindering efforts to bolster the resilience of the reef.In March 2017, the journal "Nature" published a paper showing that huge sections of an 800-kilometre (500 mi) stretch in the northern part of the reef had died in the course of 2016 due to high water temperatures, an event that the authors put down to the effects of global climate change.