Claims that Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its coral cover between 1995 and 2017 have received global media coverage were based on a new paper co-authored by controversial Australian researcher, Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University. 1
Here are some examples:
Maria Cramer, “The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its corals,” The New York Times, October 14, 2020
Amy Woodyatt, “The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its corals within 3 decades,” cnn.com, October 14, 2020
Luke Denne, “The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral in just 20 years, study says,” nbcnews.com, October 14, 2020
“Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals since 1955,” bbc.com, October 14, 2020