<
https://theconversation.com/humanity-is-failing-official-report-warns-our-chance-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-is-fast-closing-237441>
"The Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate, largely due to climate
change, and the window to secure its future is rapidly closing. That is the
sobering conclusion of a major new report into the state of the reef.
The report was released by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It
confirms what scientists have long known: humanity is killing the Great Barrier
Reef, and other reefs around the world, by failing to curb the greenhouse gas
emissions that cause global warming.
Earlier this year, I visited parts of the southern Great Barrier Reef where
mass coral bleaching and death had just occurred. The picture was devastating.
Vast swathes of coral were bleached a ghostly white. It was interspersed with
bright flashes of pink and blue: a final, heartbreaking release of coral
pigment as the organism makes a last-ditch effort to survive. I’ve since
learned much of that coral is now dead.
Anyone who knows anything about coral reefs would have been upset by what I
saw. The world’s largest reef was in very, very bad shape. As I swam, in the
back of my head was the knowledge that 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record.
In fact, the Great Barrier Reef is the warmest it has been for at least 400
years.
Unless humanity takes dramatic action to halt climate change, we will lose the
beautiful, complex reefs that have existed on Earth for millennia. As this
latest report shows, even governments and officials now acknowledge this fact."
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
