Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
hawkesburygazette.com.au
Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
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Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#2I felt this article left some things unexplained, like what is a mass bleaching event? The wikipedia article on Coral
Bleaching is excellent.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching
Also, cool note on the economics: “Experts estimate that coral reef services are worth up to $1.2 million per hectare which translates to an average of $172 billion per year.”
Someone do the math, what is the value of this comeback in USD?
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#3I felt this article left some things unexplained, like what is a mass bleaching event? The wikipedia article on Coral Bleaching is excellent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching Also, cool note on the economics: “Experts estimate that coral reef services are worth up to $1.2 million per hectare which translates to an average of $172 billion per year.” Someone do the math, what is the value of this comebac…
https://www.google.com/search?q=172aud+in+usd
I'd add that the recent recovery has been used by some climate change deniers as justification for ignoring the bigger picture, a sad situation given Australia's emissions per capita.
I too dove on the reef in the early 1990s and have seen no reef of that caliber since, anywhere.
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#4I felt this article left some things unexplained, like what is a mass bleaching event? The wikipedia article on Coral Bleaching is excellent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching Also, cool note on the economics: “Experts estimate that coral reef services are worth up to $1.2 million per hectare which translates to an average of $172 billion per year.” Someone do the math, what is the value of this comebac…
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Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#5Coincidentally I went diving on the GBR last week, and from personal observation, it's in way, way, way worse condition that it was 20 years ago.
There are massive sections of bleached coral, huge dead patches and way less fish life.
Here's how it looked last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0h0j0PSqaY
In 2015 the Aussie government tried to have it de-listed as a UNESCO site so they could dredge it (Nobody had ever asked UNESCO to be removed before). Though they failed, they are dredging all around it as close as possible, and the run-off from all the intensive mono-crop farming on the mainland is not helping either.
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#6Coincidentally I went diving on the GBR last week, and from personal observation, it's in way, way, way worse condition that it was 20 years ago. There are massive sections of bleached coral, huge dead patches and way less fish life. Here's how it looked last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0h0j0PSqaY In 2015 the Aussie government tried to have it de-listed as a UNESCO site so they could dredge it (Nobody had…
Incredibly depressing. Wow
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#7Coincidentally I went diving on the GBR last week, and from personal observation, it's in way, way, way worse condition that it was 20 years ago. There are massive sections of bleached coral, huge dead patches and way less fish life. Here's how it looked last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0h0j0PSqaY In 2015 the Aussie government tried to have it de-listed as a UNESCO site so they could dredge it (Nobody had…
And in the meantime, Victoria passes laws raising penalties for environmental protesters at logging sites.
For the safety of workers they say.
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#8I felt this article left some things unexplained, like what is a mass bleaching event? The wikipedia article on Coral Bleaching is excellent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching Also, cool note on the economics: “Experts estimate that coral reef services are worth up to $1.2 million per hectare which translates to an average of $172 billion per year.” Someone do the math, what is the value of this comebac…
https://www.google.com/search?q=172aud+in+usd I'd add that the recent recovery has been used by some climate change deniers as justification for ignoring the bigger picture, a sad situation given Australia's emissions per capita. I too dove on the reef in the early 1990s and have seen no reef of that caliber since, anywhere.
> a sad situation given Australia's emissions per capita.
While I understand per capita for fairness, etc, for systems like the GBR this is meaningless compared to absolute output. Australians could individually emit 4x what a Chinese person does and would matter very little given the low population of Australia.
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#9When I was last in Australia, back in 2019, I spent a bit of time out at the reef with local-run dive boat. On the way out, I was chatting with the crew, and they were talking about how exciting it was that some of the conservation efforts were really paying off finally.
They were saying that some of the spots they visit were finally visibly improving over time rather than bleaching over time basically for the first time since they started running trips out on the reef.
Of course, if the water temperature rises enough, or if the ocean acidifies enough, the conservation efforts will stop being enough to make a difference, but for now it's nice to see the recovery underway.
Re: Coral makes comeback on Great Barrier Reef
#10Could it be adapting?
Standard wisdom has always seemed to be it's a sensitive niche of incredible biological complexity.
Couldn't such a system be smarter than we think and evolve to meet climate change?