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https://theconversation.com/is-the-great-barrier-reef-reviving-or-dying-heres-whats-happening-beyond-the-headlines-210558>
"The Great Barrier Reef is not dead. Nor is it in good health. The truth is
complex. To understand what’s going on takes more than a headline.
For the last 37 years, our organisation has monitored the health of the world’s
largest reef. Each year, we add our findings to our dataset, the Reef’s longest
running and largest coverage. This lets us produce annual updates for the
northern, central and southern regions of the Reef. That makes us perhaps the
team best qualified to answer the question many people have – how is the Reef
going?
Released today, this year’s update paints a complex picture. It wasn’t long ago
the Great Barrier Reef was reeling from successive disturbances, ranging from
marine heatwaves and coral bleaching to crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and
cyclone damage, with widespread death of many corals especially during the
heatwaves of 2016 and 2017.
Since then, the Reef has rebounded. Generally cooler La Niña conditions mean
hard corals have recovered significant ground, regrowing from very low levels
after a decade of cumulative disturbances to record high levels in 2022 across
two-thirds of the reef.
The Reef has shown an impressive ability to recover from widespread
disturbances, when it gets a chance – it’s not all just bleaching and death.
But it’s also true we’re heading towards a future where hotter water
temperatures will likely cause bleaching every year, along with ongoing threats
of cyclones and coral-eating starfish. Recovery requires reprieve – and those
opportunities will diminish as climate change progresses.
Last year, for instance, parts of the Reef experienced bleaching in the middle
of La Niña – the first time that’s happened on record."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
