A new, alarming report has revealed that more than 70 percent of Japan's biggest coral reef is dead due to rising sea temperatures as a result of global warming.

According to the Japanese environmental ministry, about 3/4 of the reefs in Sekisei Lagoon in Okinawa are now dying, and most of it is dead due to a natural disaster known as bleaching.

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Warmer waters cause bleaching, and this triggers coral to expel algae which are living within them, transforming them into bone white. If water temperatures return to normal in a short time, some of the corals can recover. If not, lack of nutrients can cause the corals' death.

In recent years, Japan's most diverse ecosystems where the reef is located has been in an "extremely serious" condition. In southern Japan, 35 coral locations across the reef are now 70.1 percent dead, according to the ministry.

The dead coral has reportedly transformed into dark brown and is now covered in algae.

This warming occurred between June and August 2016 in the southern region of the Okinawa islands where the average sea temperature surface was 30.1 degrees Celsius. This is also one or two degrees warmer than normal.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, this is the highest average temperature ever recorded since record keeping began in 1982.

Japanese scientists and ministry officials have stated that this type of bleaching could become the new normal due to the current warming ocean trends around the world.

This bleaching has already spread out to 90 percent of the Sekisei reef which is also a famous diving spot covering 400 square miles.

Before this, a similar survey carried out between September and October 2016 revealed that 56 percent of the reef is now dead, suggesting that this bleaching event spread rapidly in a short time.