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https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-barrier-reef-australias-3-other-world-heritage-reefs-are-also-in-trouble-234268>
"The Great Barrier Reef is world famous – it’s the largest coral reef system in
the world and home to tens of thousands of species. No wonder it is World
Heritage listed.
But Australia has three lower profile reefs which are also World Heritage
listed – Ningaloo and Shark Bay in Western Australia, and Lord Howe Island,
600 kilometres off the New South Wales coast, the southernmost coral in the
world. Ningaloo has 260km of coral reef, while the reefs of Shark Bay have less
coral but are home to ancient stromatolites, vast seagrass beds and iconic
species such as dugongs.
This month, the World Heritage Committee will meet in New Delhi. On the agenda
will be how the world’s natural World Heritage sites are faring. The Australian
government will be under increased scrutiny to prove it has upheld its
international commitments to protecting these reefs.
Our new research has found all four of these reefs are in greater danger than
we thought – even those in subtropical waters, such as Lord Howe Island. Our
two Indian Ocean reefs at Shark Bay and Ningaloo actually face more species and
function loss than the Great Barrier Reef.
At 1.5°C of warming, we are likely to lose about 20% of the 400-odd coral
species which currently live across these four reefs (equating to about 70
extinctions). At 2°C warming, our modelling of species abundance and ecosystem
functions predict an almost complete collapse in reef ecosystems – even for the
subtropical reefs. This aligns with predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change for the future of coral reefs.
We believe our work adds to the need to consider whether Australia’s four
iconic reefs should be on the list of World Heritage sites in danger."
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
