Australia's Great Barrier Reef status lowered to critical and deteriorating

 

FILE PHOTO: Branching staghorn coral grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The health of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem, is in a critical state and deteriorating as climate change warms up the waters in which it lies, an international conservation group said.

 

The World Heritage-listed site off Australia's northeastern coast has lost more than half its coral in the past three decades.

 

Coral-bleaching in 2016, 2017 and 2020 has further damaged it health and affected its animal, bird and marine population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a report.

 

Such bleaching occurs when hotter water destroys the algae which the coral feeds on, causing it to turn white.

 

The union moved the reef's status to critical and deteriorating on its watchlist.

 

Some activities which threaten it, like fishing and coastal development, can be tackled by the management authorities, the union said.

 

"Other pressures cannot be addressed at the site level, such as climate change, which is recognized as the greatest threat," it said.

 

Progress towards safeguarding the reef under a long-term sustainability plan through to 2050 has been slow and it has not been possible to stop its deterioration, it said.

 

The turtle populations - including loggerhead, hawksbill and northern green - as well as the scalloped hammerhead shark, many seabird populations and possibly some dolphin species are declining.

 

Efforts to safeguard the reef are rising, however. HSBC and the Queensland government said in October they would buy "Reef Credits", a tradable unit that quantifies and values the work undertaken to improve water quality flowing onto the reef.

 

Similar to the carbon offset market which incentivises the reduction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the scheme pays landholders for improved water quality.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-03

 

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14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Some activities which threaten it, like fishing and coastal development, can be tackled by the management authorities, the union said.

This isn't new, so why have they not been doing what they could have long ago?

 

The reef is on my bucket list, but I doubt I'll ever get to see it.

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

This isn't new, so why have they not been doing what they could have long ago?

 

The reef is on my bucket list, but I doubt I'll ever get to see it.

 

27 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

This isn't new, so why have they not been doing what they could have long ago?

 

The reef is on my bucket list, but I doubt I'll ever get to see it.

This fake news as it has been proven many times over that the outer shell of the coral seems to die off and regrowth then occurs.

 

When have I heard this before, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's etc etc.

7 minutes ago, Barry343 said:

 

This fake news as it has been proven many times over that the outer shell of the coral seems to die off and regrowth then occurs.

 

Not nearly at this frequency or to this extent

5 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

When have I heard this before, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's etc etc.

Imaginary voices don't count.

Apparently the reef affected the opening of a coal mine (some 700km inland ) by 7 yrs

Conservationists said it may hurt the reef 

26 minutes ago, BEVUP said:

Apparently the reef affected the opening of a coal mine (some 700km inland ) by 7 yrs

Conservationists said it may hurt the reef 

They were apparently going to destroy some of the reef so ships could load the coal. A bad idea.

the question I can't seem to get an answer to is this:  what happens if the reef totally collapses?

1 minute ago, 1Gringo said:

the question I can't seem to get an answer to is this:  what happens if the reef totally collapses?

For one thing a lot less animals. Reefs are typically the nurseries for juveniles.

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

They were apparently going to destroy some of the reef so ships could load the coal.

 

No they weren't.

 

12 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

A bad idea.

 

Yes, I agree the mine is a bad idea.

19 minutes ago, 1Gringo said:

the question I can't seem to get an answer to is this:  what happens if the reef totally collapses?

Have a look around Thailand where the reefs have died from over fishing and pollution. Maya Bay was closed, I understand, because the tourist boats destroyed the coral.

Alarmist NGO fodder. The Great Barrier Reef is alive and going through ongoing adaptations just like the reefs closer to the equator which have always been warmer. Divers and tourists still enjoy GBR as they have for decades.

The righteous ecological trained pour out study after study, always saying they need to do more studies, so they're happy as well. Multi million dollars spent on these studies and always much the same conclusion.

Let's do what we reasonably can, but some objectivity, especially in water testing please. You'll find they do don't much of this as they're always forecasting the worst, without disclosing how the water has actually been effected out by the reef. Why don't they release water purity details?

Edited December 4, 20205 yr by Donga

7 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

They were apparently going to destroy some of the reef so ships could load the coal. A bad idea.

Did that happen. You need to update yourself.

7 hours ago, 1Gringo said:

the question I can't seem to get an answer to is this:  what happens if the reef totally collapses?

Coral reefs are made of dead coral. Go back to school.

The best holiday I ever had was sailing around the reef for two weeks on a chartered yacht with a few friends. You can still do that today and it is the only way to see the true beauty of it in the flesh. Go to the typical tourist sites and you are better off looking at videos as you will never see it as it truly is.

 

And it is still there despite all of the negative propaganda.

6 hours ago, Donga said:

Alarmist NGO fodder. The Great Barrier Reef is alive and going through ongoing adaptations just like the reefs closer to the equator which have always been warmer. Divers and tourists still enjoy GBR as they have for decades.

The righteous ecological trained pour out study after study, always saying they need to do more studies, so they're happy as well. Multi million dollars spent on these studies and always much the same conclusion.

Let's do what we reasonably can, but some objectivity, especially in water testing please. You'll find they do don't much of this as they're always forecasting the worst, without disclosing how the water has actually been effected out by the reef. Why don't they release water purity details?

And no one seems to recognize that the Australian continent,and the reef, is actually rising so the surface water should be warmer. But as I said earlier coral must die to make a coral reef.

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

This isn't new, so why have they not been doing what they could have long ago?

 

The reef is on my bucket list, but I doubt I'll ever get to see it.

I went a few years ago absolutely magnificent.

Off-topic, troll posts removed.

 

Breaking news: it's only critical now.

Salerno where  do you live ?You have no ideas keep posting this,