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http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifes...s/news-story/577da5e2ed497c7c8977a128a182a030
Great Barrier Reef in grave dangers as third global bleaching epidemic looms in the next couple of weeks
March 1, 2016 6:00am
Craig HendersonNews Corp Australia Network
Coral bleaching occurs when coral turns white when they expel the algae that nourishes them due to heat stress — in 1998, coral bleaching killed 16 per cent of the world’s coral reefs. Picture: Supplied.
CORAL reefs — the multicoloured jewels in the planet’s crown — are turning white in an alarming symptom of rising sea temperatures.
The damage could have major economic consequences and effects on food supply.
The first recorded global coral bleaching — so-named because corals turn white when they expel the algae that nourishes them when subjected to heat stress — occurred in 1998, killing 16% of the world’s coral reefs.
Half of the Great Barrier Reef bleached in ‘98 and 5-10 per cent of that coral died.
The reef was spared in the second global bleaching in 2010 because storms kept temperatures lower. But scientists are tracking the third global bleaching — and it’s expected to impact heavily on Australia’s world heritage-listed reef within weeks.
A before and after image of the bleaching in American Samoa. The first image was taken in December 2014. The second image was taken in February 2015. Picture: Supplied.
“We saw significant bleaching in Hawaii late last year and Fiji’s reefs are bleaching,” says Dr Tyrone Ridgway from Queensland University’s Global Change Institute.
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“The Barrier Reef is on a bleaching warning and the next three to four weeks will be telltale to what happens.”
While climate change is gradually driving average sea temperatures up, coral bleaching occurs when that is overlaid by pulses of warmer water driven by El Niño events. “Basically it’s a double whammy for the corals,” says Dr Ridgway.
Scientists say the current El Niño is closely mirroring the warming seen in the lead-up to ‘98. “In that bleaching event the temperatures persisted for long periods of time,” says Dr Ridgeway. “If temperatures remain high for weeks and months, that’s when you start to see corals dying.”
The potential fallout is immense, says Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Global Change Institute.
While heat stress is a major cause of bleaching, other stressors — including pollution, changes in salinity and human use of reefs — also play a role in bleaching. Picture: Queensland Tourism
“Coral reefs occupy less than one per cent of the ocean floor yet there’s an estimated one million species that live in and around them,” he says.
“About 500 million people — those who live along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere — rely solely on reefs for their food and income so the stakes are quite high.”
Particularly if the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is correct in its estimate that 38 per cent — or 12,000 square km — of reefs worldwide could be wiped out this year.
But Professor Hoegh-Guldberg says we can limit the damage. While heat stress is a major cause of bleaching, other stressors — including pollution, changes in salinity and human use of reefs — also play a role in bleaching.
“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is world class at minimising others stress factors on the reef,” he says. “It’s important that we share technologies and ideas with developing countries to help them better manage their reefs.
Fundamentally though, he says humanity must rapidly reduce Co2 emissions consistent with keeping temperatures below 2 degrees C and 1.5 degrees C in the long run. “We must keep pressure on our leaders to act on that commitment,” he says.
Sustaining Our Seven Seas is a series about protecting the future of Earth’s oceans, created by News Corp Studios, in partnership with John West.
Originally published as Great Barrier Reef in grave danger
Great Barrier Reef in grave dangers as third global bleaching epidemic looms in the next couple of weeks
March 1, 2016 6:00am
Craig HendersonNews Corp Australia Network
Coral bleaching occurs when coral turns white when they expel the algae that nourishes them due to heat stress — in 1998, coral bleaching killed 16 per cent of the world’s coral reefs. Picture: Supplied.
CORAL reefs — the multicoloured jewels in the planet’s crown — are turning white in an alarming symptom of rising sea temperatures.
The damage could have major economic consequences and effects on food supply.
The first recorded global coral bleaching — so-named because corals turn white when they expel the algae that nourishes them when subjected to heat stress — occurred in 1998, killing 16% of the world’s coral reefs.
Half of the Great Barrier Reef bleached in ‘98 and 5-10 per cent of that coral died.
The reef was spared in the second global bleaching in 2010 because storms kept temperatures lower. But scientists are tracking the third global bleaching — and it’s expected to impact heavily on Australia’s world heritage-listed reef within weeks.
A before and after image of the bleaching in American Samoa. The first image was taken in December 2014. The second image was taken in February 2015. Picture: Supplied.
“We saw significant bleaching in Hawaii late last year and Fiji’s reefs are bleaching,” says Dr Tyrone Ridgway from Queensland University’s Global Change Institute.
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“The Barrier Reef is on a bleaching warning and the next three to four weeks will be telltale to what happens.”
While climate change is gradually driving average sea temperatures up, coral bleaching occurs when that is overlaid by pulses of warmer water driven by El Niño events. “Basically it’s a double whammy for the corals,” says Dr Ridgway.
Scientists say the current El Niño is closely mirroring the warming seen in the lead-up to ‘98. “In that bleaching event the temperatures persisted for long periods of time,” says Dr Ridgeway. “If temperatures remain high for weeks and months, that’s when you start to see corals dying.”
The potential fallout is immense, says Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Global Change Institute.
While heat stress is a major cause of bleaching, other stressors — including pollution, changes in salinity and human use of reefs — also play a role in bleaching. Picture: Queensland Tourism
“Coral reefs occupy less than one per cent of the ocean floor yet there’s an estimated one million species that live in and around them,” he says.
“About 500 million people — those who live along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere — rely solely on reefs for their food and income so the stakes are quite high.”
Particularly if the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is correct in its estimate that 38 per cent — or 12,000 square km — of reefs worldwide could be wiped out this year.
But Professor Hoegh-Guldberg says we can limit the damage. While heat stress is a major cause of bleaching, other stressors — including pollution, changes in salinity and human use of reefs — also play a role in bleaching.
“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is world class at minimising others stress factors on the reef,” he says. “It’s important that we share technologies and ideas with developing countries to help them better manage their reefs.
Fundamentally though, he says humanity must rapidly reduce Co2 emissions consistent with keeping temperatures below 2 degrees C and 1.5 degrees C in the long run. “We must keep pressure on our leaders to act on that commitment,” he says.
Sustaining Our Seven Seas is a series about protecting the future of Earth’s oceans, created by News Corp Studios, in partnership with John West.
Originally published as Great Barrier Reef in grave danger
