<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/08/great-barrier-reef-ocean-temperatures-hottest-record>
"Ocean temperatures in the Great Barrier Reef are now the hottest in at least
400 years and are an “existential threat” to the planet’s unique natural
wonder, according to new scientific research.
Scientists analysed long-lived corals in and around the reef that keep a record
of temperature hidden in their skeleton and matched them to modern
observations.
The research, published in the prestigious journal
Nature, used climate
models to find the extreme temperatures of recent decades could not have
happened without the extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere caused mostly by
burning fossil fuels.
The “existential threat” to the reef from the climate crisis was “now
realised”, the scientists wrote, and without ambitious and rapid cuts to
greenhouse gas emissions “we will likely be witness to the demise of one of the
Earth’s natural wonders.”
The research comes two weeks after the world heritage committee decided not to
place the reef, which covers an area larger than Italy, on its list of sites
“in danger”, saying it would consider the question again in 2026.
Global heating drove a fifth mass coral bleaching event in eight years across
the reef this summer that scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine
Science called the most extensive and extreme on record this week."
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
