{"id":33242,"date":"2016-05-31T13:58:24","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T03:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=33242"},"modified":"2022-05-02T11:52:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T01:52:23","slug":"politicians-offer-token-ausvotes-funding-to-great-barrier-reef-facing-extinction-it-is-a-climateemergency-warns-takvera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/politicians-offer-token-ausvotes-funding-to-great-barrier-reef-facing-extinction-it-is-a-climateemergency-warns-takvera\/","title":{"rendered":"Token #ausvotes funding to Great Barrier Reef facing #extinction. A #climateemergency warns @takvera"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Warmer

Warmer sea surface temperatures threaten coral reefs. 2C is too hot warns Professor Terry Hughes<\/p><\/div>\n

\nWe need to come to terms that the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem and coral reef ecosystems globally as we know them, are facing extinction. It is a climate emergency. The reef is our canary in a coalmine and it is now dying from the greenhouse gases we have released.\n<\/p>\n

\nEarly surveys of the Great Barrier Reef showed that 93 percent of reefs were affected by coral bleaching<\/a>. Scientists have been undertaking extensive aerial and underwater surveys since then to refine these initial survey results. Scientists from the Coral Reef Centre of Excellence are now reporting that over 35 percent of coral north of Cairns in the northern and central regions are now dead or dying.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe impact of coral bleaching changes dramatically from north to south along the 2300km length of the Reef.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe found on average, that 35% of the corals are now dead or dying on 84 reefs that we surveyed along the northern and central sections of the Great Barrier Reef, between Townsville and Papua New Guinea,\u201d says Professor Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (JCU).\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSome reefs are in much better shape, especially from Cairns southwards, where the average mortality is estimated at only 5%. This year is the third time in 18 years that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass bleaching due to global warming, and the current event is much more extreme than we\u2019ve measured before.”\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThese three events have all occurred while global temperatures have risen by just 1 degree C above the pre-industrial period. We\u2019re rapidly running out of time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d concluded Terry Hughes.\n<\/p>\n

\nCoral bleaching is caused when abnormal environmental conditions such as much warmer waters occurrs for a lengthy period. Warmer waters cause the coral polyps to expel their symbiotic tiny photosynthetic algae, called \u2018zooxanthellae\u2019. It is this algae that creates the vivid colours of the coral. Once the zooxanthellae is gone, the coral takes on a white or bleached appearance. The coral polyps can survive if the abnormal conditions don’t last too long and the conditions allow the zooxanthellae to recolonise.\n<\/p>\n

\nSurveys of the southern region reefs show that more than 95 percent of the corals have survived. They are expected to regain their normal colours in coming months. But the bleaching is likely to slow down their reproduction and growth rates.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt is critically important now to bolster the resilience of the Reef, and to maximise its natural capacity to recover,\u201d says Professor John Pandolfi from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at The University of Queensland.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBut the reef is no longer as resilient as it once was, and it\u2019s struggling to cope with three bleaching events in just 18 years. Many coastal reefs in particular are now severely degraded,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

\nWatch a short interview with Professor John Pandolfi tweeted<\/a> by ABC News 24<\/i>:\n<\/p>\n

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\nOver 50% of #coral<\/a> north of Cairns is now dead or dying according to @CoralCoE<\/a> #GreatBarrierReef<\/a> #bleaching<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/nuKLP6yinO<\/a><\/p>\n

— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) May 30, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n