![]() "Recovery rates are being overwhelmed by more frequent and severe mass coral bleaching. "Reefs need time, around 15 years, to completely recover from a coral bleaching event of this magnitude," Hoegh-Guldberg said. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, from the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, who published a controversial study in 1999 forecasting such an event, said his predictions were now looking conservative. "For this reason, we felt it was vital to get our findings out as quickly as possible."Įarlier this month, researchers at Australia's James Cook University said only seven percent of the huge reef had escaped the whitening, following extensive aerial and underwater surveys. The damage ranges from minor in the southern areas-which are expected to recover soon-to very severe in the northern and most pristine reaches of the 2,300 kilometre (1,430 miles) site off Australia's east coast. ![]() We have loaded the odds against the survival of one of the world's greatest natural wonders." "Our research showed this year's bleaching event is 175 times more likely today than in a world where humans weren't emitting greenhouse gases. "These extreme temperatures will become commonplace by the 2030s, putting a great strain on the ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef," said lead author Andrew King. Researchers found climate change had added 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming to the ocean temperatures off the Queensland coast in March, when corals were first noted turning white. Given reefs need some 15 years to completely recover from bleaching of this magnitude, the centre said "we are likely to lose large parts of the Great Barrier Reef in just a couple of decades". On Thursday of that week, Col McKenzie went on the attack. Used to catch species such as barramundi and mackerel, the nets are capable of trapping any of the hugely diverse creatures that dwell among the Great Barrier Reef. The World Heritage-listed reef is currently suffering its worst bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of corals affected due to warming sea temperatures.Įxperts from the government-backed ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science said in a study that if greenhouse gases keep rising, similar events will be the new normal, occurring every two years by the mid-2030s. They announced that 35 of the corals are now dead or dying in the northern and central sections of the Great Barrier Reef.
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