GBR Marine Park Director - Bleaching & Coral Death Worse Than First Thought

[hatrack]

Oops.

The government agency responsible for the Great Barrier Reef says urgent action is needed to save the world heritage site after yet-to-be-published surveys found the record coral bleaching damage earlier this year was even worse than initially thought. A Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority director also says it appears unlikely that national targets to improve water quality on the reef - currently assessed as poor in areas close to the coast - would be met.

While reef surveys are yet to be completed, Dr Wachenfeld said the rate of coral death following bleaching due to high ocean temperatures last summer would be greater than the initial estimate of 22 per cent. "Essentially, this is confirming that this is the worst bleaching event that the reef has seen by a very, very long way," he said.

The bleaching was not uniform. Inner and middle shelf reefs north of Port Douglas were badly affected, but southern reefs were barely touched after the tail-end of cyclone Winston reduced temperatures in February. Dr Wachenfeld, a trained coral reef ecologist, said the damage was unquestionably linked to climate change.

EDIT

Dr Wachenfeld said the reef remained one of the best protected marine ecosystems in the world and was "very, very far from dead". But it would be dramatically changed under projections based on existing climate pledges of 2.8 degrees global warming this century. "At that temperature it doesn't look anything like it does today," he said. "There will be very little coral left, it will have lost a lot of its biodiversity and, in particular, it will have lost its value to people."

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/time-to-act-damage-to-great-barrier-reef-worse-than-thought-surveys-find-20161124-gswy1z.html

[madaboutharry]

1. I worry if there is even 500 years left.

How long can humans survive on Earth if we don't take dramatic steps?