According to a survey, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has recovered from storms and bleaching events to record levels. As per officials, though this is great news, the new coral is extremely vulnerable and can quickly tarnish by climate change and other environmental threats. The northern and central parts of the reef have the highest amount of coral cover. This stands true since coral monitoring began, roughly 36 years ago. However, the southern part of the coral cover reef has decreased. The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) scans the reef to check its health, each year. They do so by using divers slowly towed by a boat, as well as aerial surveys.
The fourth mass bleaching was confirmed in March and since then, AIMS had grave concerns, especially ahead of this year’s study. The chief executive of AIMS, Paul Hardisty said, “In our 36 years of monitoring the condition of the Great Barrier Reef we have not seen bleaching events so close together”.
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As per the latest results, the reef cover can recover if suitable conditions persist, but acute and severe disturbances are becoming more frequent and longer at the Great Barrier Reef.
A major threat to the Great Barrier Reef is posed by the damaging waves of tropical cyclones and coral-eating crown-of-thorns- starfish. In fact, much of this new coral growth that belongs to a species called Acropora is exposed to this threat.
Due to its enormous scientific and intrinsic importance, the Great Barrier Reef has been listed on the World Heritage list for 40 years, as one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. According to UNESCO, the UN’s scientific and cultural body, “not enough” is being done to protect the reef.
If the authorities that manage the Great Barrier Reef, i.e. the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority are to be believed, the outlook for the icon is “very poor” due to climate change.
Though this news comes as a ray of hope for conserving biodiversity, the challenges that lie ahead are significant.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Dead corals are being recorded in aerial surveys across the Great Barrier Reef in what the marine park’s chief scientist says is a widespread and serious bleaching event on the world heritage icon.
Aerial surveys have covered half of the 2,300km reef, with the worst bleaching observed in the park’s central region off Townsville, where corals on some reefs are dead and dying.
The unfolding bleaching comes ahead of a 10-day UN monitoring mission to the reef due to start on Monday.
Leading reef scientist Prof Terry Hughes said this week a sixth mass bleaching event was now unfolding on the reef, adding to events in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2020.
Dr David Wachenfeld, chief scientist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, told Guardian Australia: “There is certainly a risk we are seeing a mass bleaching event, but we aren’t in a position to confirm that yet.
“We want to finish the aerial surveys to really understand this before we make a call on the extent and severity of this bleaching.”
Lobbying last year by the Morrison government saw the 21-country world heritage committee go against UN advice to put the reef on a list of sites in danger. The committee will consider the reef again at a meeting in June, armed with a report from the UN visit.
Aerial surveys from helicopters that started last Saturday have revealed mild to moderate bleaching driven by rising ocean temperatures on reefs in the remote far north, with the most badly hit reefs across a 250km stretch to the north and south of Townsville.
Most reefs in that central region, between Hinchinbrook Island and Bowen, were severely bleached and there were still reefs not yet surveyed there.
Bleaching is considered minor if less than 10% of corals on an individual reef are bleached. Levels up to 30% are categorised as moderate, up to 60% is major and beyond that, bleaching is considered severe.
“We certainly have widespread bleaching. It’s variable,” Wachenfeld said.
“The fact that at the very least, from Hinchinbrook to Bowen, most reefs are severely bleached – this is a very serious event. There is no question about that. Some of the observations in that region have been of coral mortality.
“That is where the heat stress has been worst. We haven’t yet surveyed all that area, but I would expect that situation of most reefs being severely bleached would go north and south of Bowen.”
Aerial surveys started while the heat stress was still building across large parts of the reef. Wachenfeld said rather than wait until the heat had peaked, the flights had started because “we are starting to see coral die.”
When a coral bleaches, the transparent flesh and white skeleton are easy to see from the air. But if it dies, the flesh begins to rot and is quickly taken over by algae which is darker in colour.
“You then can’t see from the air that a living coral was there a week ago,” said Wachenfeld.
Flights are expected to continue until the end of next week. Planes will be used to survey outer reefs in the south.
Surveys have not yet been conducted over the major tourism areas around Cairns and Port Douglas, but heat stress has been lower in those areas.
In the remote north, Wachenfeld said some reefs had not recovered from a severe 2016 bleaching event. Reports of “no bleaching” from this week’s flights were down to there being little live coral left.
Dr Britta Schaffelke, director of Great Barrier Reef research at the Australian Institute of Marine Science – a partner in the survey effort – told Guardian Australia it was too early to know how the current event compared to previous ones.
“At the moment, what we see is widespread and in some parts it is severe and that is worrying. There is no doubt about it,” she said.
While some bleached corals can recover, those badly hit can take weeks or months to die from bleaching, so the full impact of the current event will take a long time to fully understand.
“It’s a major stress event for corals even if they don’t die from it. There is no historical record of such stress events happening so frequently,” Schaffelke said.
Richard Leck, head of oceans at WWF Australia, said bleaching was directly attributable to global heating caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions.
“Reducing Australia’s domestic and exported emissions fast, this decade, is the main solution within our control,” he said.
The environment group released analysis on Friday showing that for Australia to be part of efforts to keep global heating to 1.5C, the country should release no more than 4bn tonnes of CO2 between now and mid-century.
But the analysis, carried out by scientists, said the Morrison government’s current strategy to reach net zero would release 9.6bn tonnes.
“We’re going to blow our emissions budget by more than double,” said Leck.
Dr Zebedee Nicholls, one of the scientists that carried out the analysis, said: “The science is clear: the outlook for coral reefs around the world is bad at 1.5C, and their fate is all but sealed at 2C.”
Greenpeace Australia climate impacts campaigner Martin Zavan said: “This latest bleaching event has once again exposed the Morrison government’s failure to protect the Great Barrier Reef, throwing billions at band-aid measures while failing to address climate change, the biggest driver of catastrophic coral damage.”
Kelly O’Shanassy, chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said: “If the federal government is serious about its claim of wanting to protect the Great Barrier Reef it must rapidly phase out coal, oil and gas and stop encouraging the growth of fossil fuel industries.”
Dr Lissa Schindler, reef campaigner at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the unfolding bleaching was “disastrous news” for the marine and communities that relied on the reef.
“What is most concerning is that this widespread bleaching is happening during a La Niña weather event, which is normally characterised by rain and cloud cover on the east coast of Australia often helping to cool waters. It shows the consistent pressure our reef is now under from global heating.”
Guardian Australia has approached the environment minister, Sussan Ley, for comment about the bleaching.
One of the world’s leading coral scientists claims a sixth mass bleaching event is unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, with official monitoring flights now under way all along the Queensland coastline.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has confirmed monitoring flights are being conducted “along the length and breadth” of the 2,300km world heritage reef.
But the authority is not due to make a formal update on conditions over the reef, or the initial findings from those flights, until Friday.
The development comes less than a week before the start of a 10-day United Nations monitoring mission to the reef ahead of a crucial meeting of the world heritage committee in June.
Prof Terry Hughes, a leading expert on coal bleaching at James Cook University, said he had received a “flood of reports from the field” of bleached corals in the last two weeks.
Rising ocean temperatures driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases have caused five mass bleaching events along the reef in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2020.
Hughes told the Guardian he believes a sixth mass bleaching event is now unfolding, and that it was not mild or local.
The amount of heat stress over the reef tends to peak in early to mid-March each year but scientists began to worry as early as December after water temperatures rose to record levels for that month.
Hughes said: “We all breathed a sigh of relief because corals that were pale in December regained their colour in January and February. But in the last three weeks there have been reports of moderate to strong bleaching all along the reef.”
Observations from the Bureau of Meteorology show water temperatures at between 1C and 2C above average across wide areas of the reef.
During the last three mass bleaching events, Hughes has led aerial surveys across the length of the marine park to record the condition of corals from a low-flying aircraft.
Hughes said that task had now been passed on to GBRMPA.
He said water temperatures and the accumulated heat stress alone was not enough to say for sure if corals had bleached.
“We won’t have a full picture until the flights are done,” he said. “We have to see those maps [of bleaching] so it is premature to say how this ranks next to the other five bleaching events.”
GBRMPA has been collating information on bleaching from flights, in-water surveillance and reports for weeks.
A week ago the authority said there had been “low to moderate bleaching” reported in many areas.
In a statement on Thursday, the authority said it was “conducting aerial surveys along the length and breadth of the reef, to get a clearer picture of any bleaching in the Marine Park this summer. The status of reef health is updated each Friday.” Flights began last weekend.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science has previously said a recovery in coral cover over the reef since the last bleaching event in 2020 has been driven by fast-growing acropora corals that were also susceptible to bleaching.
Hughes said northern parts of the reef were “halfway to recovery” but a lot of “vulnerable corals” were now bleaching.
Corals can recover from mild bleaching, but if heat stress is too severe the coral can die.
While there is no formal definition of a mass bleaching event, Hughes said: “Most people would describe bleaching that includes severe levels of bleaching at a scale of hundreds of kilometres would qualify as a mass bleaching.”
Last week, environment groups said it was vital that a UN mission to the reef – requested by Australia and starting on Monday – should be able to see bleaching.
No details have been released either by Unesco or the Australian government about where the mission will go or who it will meet.
A report from the mission is expected by early May ahead of a scheduled world heritage committee meeting in June.
Last year, UN science advisors recommended the committee place the reef on a list of world heritage sites “in danger” because of the impacts of bleaching and a lack of progress in improving pollution levels.
Australia reportedly struck at least one quid pro quo – a deal with Spain to back a world heritage inscription for a site in Madrid, despite UN advisors opposing it, in exchange for Spain’s support to block an “in danger” listing for the reef.
But many reef scientists have said efforts like finding more heat-tolerant coral species, improving water quality and removing coral-eating starfish will be overrun by global heating unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut rapidly.
The Great Barrier Reef could be bleaching every year by 2044 potentially costing Australia 10,000 jobs and $1 billion annually, the latest climate report says.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made dire forecasts for the world’s largest coral reef system ahead of an expected visit by UNESCO to help determine if it should be listed as a World Heritage site in danger.
The IPCC report bluntly says the Great Barrier Reef is in “crisis” and at very high risk of crossing a critical threshold where further warming might cause irreversible damage.
It also notes the reef’s limited scope for adaption and warns of the potential for a dramatic escalation in the frequency of bleaching events like the one in 2016, which affected more than 90 per cent of the reef.
Under a high emissions scenario modelled in the report, such events could occur twice each decade from 2035, and annually after 2044.
Scientists have long warned the reef won’t survive that, given it takes about a decade for a decent recovery of the fastest growing corals, and longer for slow-growing species.
The IPCC report said that if bleaching continues, Australia stands to lose an estimated 10,000 jobs and $A1 billion in revenue every year from tourism alone.
“Increased heat exposure also affects the abundance and distribution of associated fish, invertebrates and algae,” it said.
Cyclone intensity will also increase, putting coral reefs further at risk.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society says the world stands to lose an asset of outstanding global significance without a rapid reduction in emissions this decade.
“We know the problem, we know the solution,” says the group’s reef campaign manager Lissa Schindler.
“Australia must rapidly phase out its relationship with coal and gas and embrace a renewable future.”
UNESCO’s Reef Monitoring Mission is expected to visit soon to review how the federal and Queensland governments are managing the reef.
UNESCO will then provide a draft decision to the World Heritage Committee about whether a World Heritage in Danger listing is warranted.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee told the federal government accelerated action, at all possible levels, was needed to address climate change threats to the reef.
“The Morrison government is yet to increase their climate ambition to what is needed for coral reefs to survive into the future,” Dr Schindler says.
“With a 2030 emissions reduction target that remains at 26 to 28 per cent, and a 2050 net zero target that relies on technology that hasn’t yet been invented, it is hard to see how UNESCO would not recommend the reef be listed (as in danger).”
The Morrison government has responded to the IPCC report by saying Australia has reduced emissions faster than many comparable countries, and pointing to $4 billion in joint federal and state funding for reef adaptation and resilience.
“This is the best managed reef in the world and we have invested a further $1 billion in its protection,” a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said on Tuesday.
“We are addressing water quality, coral regeneration, predator eradication and fishing in ways that are strengthening the reef, while at the same time working domestically and internationally to address emissions.
“We are optimistic about the future of the reef, the communities and 64,000 jobs which depend on it.”
The Great Barrier Reef could be bleaching every year by 2044 potentially costing Australia 10,000 jobs and $1 billion annually, the latest climate report says.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made dire forecasts for the world’s largest coral reef system ahead of an expected visit by UNESCO to help determine if it should be listed as a World Heritage site in danger.
The IPCC report bluntly says the Great Barrier Reef is in “crisis” and at very high risk of crossing a critical threshold where further warming might cause irreversible damage.
It also notes the reef’s limited scope for adaption and warns of the potential for a dramatic escalation in the frequency of bleaching events like the one in 2016, which affected more than 90 per cent of the reef.
Under a high emissions scenario modelled in the report, such events could occur twice each decade from 2035, and annually after 2044.
Scientists have long warned the reef won’t survive that, given it takes about a decade for a decent recovery of the fastest growing corals, and longer for slow-growing species.
The IPCC report said that if bleaching continues, Australia stands to lose an estimated 10,000 jobs and $A1 billion in revenue every year from tourism alone.
“Increased heat exposure also affects the abundance and distribution of associated fish, invertebrates and algae,” it said.
Cyclone intensity will also increase, putting coral reefs further at risk.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society says the world stands to lose an asset of outstanding global significance without a rapid reduction in emissions this decade.
“We know the problem, we know the solution,” says the group’s reef campaign manager Lissa Schindler.
“Australia must rapidly phase out its relationship with coal and gas and embrace a renewable future.”
UNESCO’s Reef Monitoring Mission is expected to visit soon to review how the federal and Queensland governments are managing the reef.
UNESCO will then provide a draft decision to the World Heritage Committee about whether a World Heritage in Danger listing is warranted.
Last year, the World Heritage Committee told the federal government accelerated action, at all possible levels, was needed to address climate change threats to the reef.
“The Morrison government is yet to increase their climate ambition to what is needed for coral reefs to survive into the future,” Dr Schindler says.
“With a 2030 emissions reduction target that remains at 26 to 28 per cent, and a 2050 net zero target that relies on technology that hasn’t yet been invented, it is hard to see how UNESCO would not recommend the reef be listed (as in danger).”
The Morrison government has responded to the IPCC report by saying Australia has reduced emissions faster than many comparable countries, and pointing to $4 billion in joint federal and state funding for reef adaptation and resilience.
“This is the best managed reef in the world and we have invested a further $1 billion in its protection,” a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said on Tuesday.
“We are addressing water quality, coral regeneration, predator eradication and fishing in ways that are strengthening the reef, while at the same time working domestically and internationally to address emissions.
“We are optimistic about the future of the reef, the communities and 64,000 jobs which depend on it.”
