More Than A Third Of The Coral Is Dead In Parts Of The Great Barrier Reef

[LebaneseDude 6,146]

Via HuffPo

Credit: Michael McWilliam/ARC Centre of Excellence

Scientists have called on the Australian government to tackle emissions in an effort to curb global warming and save the planet’s reefs.

The worst bleaching event ever seen on the Great Barrier Reef has killed more than a third of corals across wide swaths of the region, scientists announced on Sunday.

Those numbers continue a streak of horrifically bad news for the largest living structure on the planet. Just a month ago, researchers said 93 percent of the reef had been affected by the mass bleaching event.

The latest statistics apply specifically to the northern and central parts of the Great Barrier Reef, where scientists said they had “never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before.”

Terry Hughes, convenor of the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce and the scientist responsible for the latest aerial surveys of the reef, said in a press release this was the “third time in 18 years that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass bleaching due to global warming, and the current event is much more extreme than we’ve measured before,” spurred by an unusually strong El Nino weather event.

Coral becomes bleached most frequently when water becomes too warm. During such times, the colorful algae that live in the coral leave it, causing it to turn bright white. Reefs are able to recover from bleaching if temperatures drop again, but if water remains warm for too long, the coral can die in droves. This is the case with the latest bleaching event.

Scientists have been ringing warning bells about the state of the Great Barrier for months, after Hughes and his team first reported the scale of the bleaching. UNESCO had planned to list the World Heritage site as “in danger” just last year, but the Australian government successfully lobbied to avoid such embarrassment, claiming the reef was still mostly healthy.

[Michelle 2,056]

I was just reading this and it's so awful. 

[Didymus 34,380]

[Klou 2,414]

You guys should travel and see the world while you can. It likely won't be he same again.

[venusfly 17,885]

Good luck. Right wing politicians are attempting to revert global warming reversing policies. 

I fear for what we're doing to this planet

[Bad Bromance 5,809]

3 minutes ago, LG said:

Good luck. Right wing politicians are attempting to revert global warming reversing policies. 

I fear for what we're doing to this planet

This planet is not going to be the way we know it now in the next 50 years.  It's unfortunate that mankind has gained so much knowledge and has technologically advanced unprecedentedly over the last 100 years but at the same time has wreaked so much havoc on our planet.  It's a real shame, indeed.

[venusfly 17,885]

Just now, Bad Bromance said:

This planet is not going to be the way we know it now in the next 50 years.  It's unfortunate that mankind has gained so much knowledge and has technologically advanced unprecedentedly over the last 100 years but at the same time has wreaked so much havoc on our planet.  It's a real shame, indeed.

It wouldn't be so bad if we at least took steps on a legislative level to do some help but its now becoming popular among conservative parties to deny global warming exists in order to maximise profits on oil. Makes me really upset 

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

7 minutes ago, LG said:

Good luck. Right wing politicians are attempting to revert global warming reversing policies. 

I fear for what we're doing to this planet

Right wing politicians are going to have an uprising and possibly a global civil war on their ass if they make changes to the global warming reversing policies. I hope it happens, they need to be whooped HARD. 

[Bad Bromance 5,809]

1 minute ago, LG said:

It wouldn't be so bad if we at least took steps on a legislative level to do some help but its now becoming popular among conservative parties to deny global warming exists in order to maximise profits on oil. Makes me really upset 

Politicians are to blame if this planet goes to sh!t.

[LebaneseDude 6,146]

3 minutes ago, Bad Bromance said:

Politicians are to blame if this planet goes to sh!t.

No they aren't. Their constituencies who elect them are.

[Bad Bromance 5,809]

1 minute ago, LebaneseDude said:

No they aren't. Their constituencies who elect them are.

They are both equally guilty, let's not kid ourselves.

[Ray of Light 8,134]

The Great Barrier Reef ha Glitter era  Ready for ha Emanciption of Mimi 

[LebaneseDude 6,146]

9 minutes ago, Bad Bromance said:

They are both equally guilty, let's not kid ourselves.

Well sure they all share the guilt, but people tend to use politicians as scapegoats when the real drivers are those who elect and support them.

[Morphine Prince 109,683]

Sad. 

[Lion Heart 15,041]