Amazing Drone Footage Captures Thousands of Turtles Migrating Near Great Barrier Reef
12 June
Animals
Australian researchers captured a stunning scene that looks like something out of Finding Nemo. The drone the scientists used recorded approximately 64,000 green turtles migrating near Australia's Great Barrier Reef for nesting season, as CNN reported.
<p>The footage from the Queensland Government's Department of Environment and Science (DES) spotted the turtles congregating at the world's largest green turtle rookery at Raine Island, a vegetated coral cay approximately 385 miles northwest of Cairns in Queensland, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/world/green-turtle-drone-nesting-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The sheer number of turtles surprised the scientists who realized they had underestimated the number of green turtles in the area by 50 percent, according to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVk4jvWzDw" target="_blank">Voice of America's YouTube</a> post showing the footage.</p>
<p>"We were underestimating that a lot. We're finding 1.73 times as many turtles with the drone ... when we directly compare with the observer counts," Dr. Andrew Dunstan, from the DES, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/world/green-turtle-drone-nesting-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> Tuesday, adding that the team can now go back and adjust historic population estimates.</p><p>Prior to using drones, researchers would count turtles as they landed on the beach to lay eggs. They would then mark the turtles with a non-toxic paint to track them in the ocean. However, accurately counting thousands of painted and unpainted turtles from a boat in the water proved difficult and unreliable, according to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVk4jvWzDw" target="_blank">Voice of America</a> post.</p>
<p>Using a drone is easier, safer, much more accurate, and the data can be immediately and permanently stored," Dunstan, senior research scientist and lead author of a paper about the turtles published in PLOS ONE on Thursday, said in a <a href="https://www.des.qld.gov.au/our-department/news-media/mediareleases/drone-technology-helps-count-turtles-gbr" target="_blank">statement</a>, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/world/green-turtle-drone-nesting-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"What previously took a number of researchers a long time can now be by one drone operator in under an hour," said researcher Richard Fitzpatrick from the Biopixel Oceans Foundation, as <a href="https://www.prevention.com/life/a32839141/sea-turtles-australia-raine-island-drone-video/" target="_blank">Prevention</a> reported.</p><p>Green sea turtles are a <a href="https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/threatened-species/vulnerable/green-turtle" target="_blank">vulnerable species</a> in Queensland since they are hunted for their flesh and eggs, are often trapped in trawler fishing nets, and choke on discarded plastic bags, according to the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/drone-footage-shows-twice-the-number-of-green-turtles-at-rookery-than-previously-thought-20200610-p5516p.html" target="_blank">Sydney Morning Herald</a>. Eleven species of green turtles <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/green-turtle#:~:text=Green%20turtles%20are%20protected%20under,significant%20portion%20of%20its%20range." target="_blank">are listed as either endangered or threatened</a> in the Endangered Species Act in the U.S.</p>
<p>"We sort of became aware that although there's these massive aggregations, the actual reproduction isn't working so well," said Dunstan to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/world/green-turtle-drone-nesting-intl-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, explaining that his team noticed turtles were falling off cliffs, becoming trapped in the heat and suffering flooding in their nests.</p><p>In their <a href="https://www.des.qld.gov.au/our-department/news-media/mediareleases/drone-technology-helps-count-turtles-gbr" target="_blank">statement</a>, as <a href="https://www.prevention.com/life/a32839141/sea-turtles-australia-raine-island-drone-video/" target="_blank">Prevention</a> noted, the DES said they're "taking action to improve and rebuild the island's nesting beaches and building fences to prevent turtle deaths, all working to strengthen the island's resilience and ensure the survival of our northern green turtles and many other species."</p>
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As restoration managers repair damaged corals, sound recordings can help jumpstart the process of restoring vibrant – and noisy – coral reef ecosystems. CC by 2.0
A healthy coral reef is a noisy place.
<p><br/></p>
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<p>"You've got this constant crackling sound. … That's the sound of snapping shrimp," says Steve Simpson of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. "Then on top of that, pops, grunts, growls, trumpeting sounds, whooping sounds … and these are generally made by fish that are communicating with each other."</p><p>But Simpson says after damaging coral bleaching events – which are growing more common as oceans warm – that soundscape changes.</p><p>He says that when his team visited part of the Great Barrier Reef after a major bleaching event, "really to our shock, we found that the reef had gone quiet."</p>
<p>It was a sign that many sea creatures had left the area. Now Simpson's team is using sound to draw some of that life back.</p><p>At 11 locations in the Great Barrier Reef, they played recordings of a healthy reef ecosystem. After six weeks, they compared the fish life in those places with that in other areas. They found that twice as many fish had returned to the audio-enriched sites.</p><p>So Simpson says that as restoration managers repair damaged corals, sound recordings can help jumpstart the process of restoring vibrant – and noisy – coral reef ecosystems.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/06/scientists-use-recorded-sounds-to-lure-fish-back-to-great-barrier-reef/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Australia Throws Great Barrier Reef a $300 Million Lifeline, but Will It Cut Emissions?
20 April
Science
Australia's Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program will further investigate 43 potential fixes for the Great Barrier Reef in a wide-scale rescue effort. Australian Institute of Marine Science
The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble. The Australian government is trying to buy its crown jewel some time, but is it willing to support what the reef needs most — a reduction in emissions?
<p>A few weeks ago, the world's greatest coral reef suffered its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-2645576557.html" target="_self">third major bleaching event</a> in five years, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-2020-2645655957.html" target="_self">most widespread to date</a>. The frequency and severity of the bleachings have caused some scientists to speculate whether the reef has reached a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-reef-bleaching-frequency-2645625927.html" target="_self">tipping point</a> of no return.</p><p>On Thursday, Minister of the Environment Susan Ley announced the launch of the <a href="https://www.gbrrestoration.org/rrap-r-d-program" target="_blank">research and development (R&D) phase</a> of the government's <a href="https://www.gbrrestoration.org/home" target="_blank">Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP)</a> to combat the declines the reef is experiencing.</p>
<p>Following a <a href="https://www.gbrrestoration.org/investment-case-reports" target="_blank">two-year feasibility study</a> led by the <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/" target="_blank">Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)</a>, a list of 160 potential fixes was whittled down to 43 promising concepts that will be funded for further investigation.</p><p>AIMS Chief Executive Paul Hardisty described how the R&D phase will "provide the scientific basis to help the reef survive in the coming decades," noted a <a href="https://app.wipster.io/Review/CYd0JQB8xsdI6pVHEelJXg9d9n6MKF2hFwrJS8xnAHVqhhilgA#asset=1" target="_blank">media statement</a>. The program is designed to uncover adaptations for the reef that are cost-effective, safe, and acceptable to the public and regulators, Hardisty said.</p><p>But how effective can an adaptation and resilience program really be against the backdrop of ever-increasing global emissions and ocean temperatures?</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzE0NjE0NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTkyNDg1OH0.FDEh9YBEUzrdku4Jvq4_EzR6VBEvcYJDmcQJgqHFyI4/img.png?width=980" id="22914" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="16bd31453bd95bfc997c1ccbfd4b9efe" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem. Stretching 2,300 km along Australia's northeast coastline, this complex of shallow water reefs and islands is home to thousands of species of fish, invertebrates, algae, reptiles, birds and algae. This image, taken by the VIIRS sensor on the Suomi NPP satellite on Aug.19, 2017 uses the high resolution SVI 3, 2, and 1 bands, commonly referred to as "natural color" RGB. NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
<p>The feasibility study found that global warming might kill the entire Great Barrier Reef by as early as 2050, reported Hack.</p><p>Most tropical coral reefs will disappear even if <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">heating can be limited to 1.5°C</a>, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-3/" target="_blank">said</a>, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/16/brightening-clouds-and-coral-larvae-study-picks-best-great-barrier-reef-rescue-ideas" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. Reefs will still be "at very high risk" at 1.2°C warming, and the globe is already over 1°C since the Industrial Revolution, The Guardian explained.</p><p>The feasibility report concluded, "We are facing the very real prospect that, within a generation and without concerted action to reduce emissions and help drive adaptation and faster recovery from damage, the Great Barrier Reef as we have known it will cease to exist," reported <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/australias-daring-attempt-to-save-great-barrier-reef-has-begun/12155326" target="_blank">Hack</a>.</p><p>To avoid this, the scientists are calling for an intervention at a scale never seen before, and they're trying to find adaptation solutions before climate change destroys what remains of the reef, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/18/rebuild-it-shade-it-breed-it-three-tactics-to-buy-time-for-the-great-barrier-reef" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p>
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<p>Daniel Harrison, a biological oceanographer at Southern Cross University, led one of the 43 experimental trials being funded for further research.</p><p>"This is a race against time," he said to The Guardian. "If we can go really hard on emissions and meet or beat the Paris [climate] targets, then these interventions have the potential to help get the reef to a sustainable future – but only under that very aggressive emissions reduction scenario."</p><p>Therein lies one of the historically sticky points for environmentalists when it comes to Australia's "hypocritical" environmental protection efforts contrasted against its broader, coal-friendly environmental policies, reported <a href="https://fortune.com/2018/04/30/australia-great-barrier-reef-climate-change/" target="_blank">Fortune</a>.</p><p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/news/governments-coal-crush-real-threat-great-barrier-reef/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a> called the government's "coal crush" the real threat to the Great Barrier Reef because it "[ignored] the simple reality of climate change." In 2018, Australia invested $379 million into saving the reef. The government <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/usda-removing-safeguards-on-food-2645756313.html" target="_self">concurrently promoted the building of new coal mines</a>, which fuel global warming that harms the reef.</p><p>In 2019, Australia continued its "love affair with fossil fuels," setting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-emissions-record-high-2639152810.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">new record highs for emissions pollution</a>. That same year, the marine park authority approved plans to dump one million tonnes (approximately 1.1 million U.S. tons) of sludge onto the reef.</p><p>As recently as December 2019, coal advocate and current Prime Minister Scott Morrison received backlash for vacationing in Hawaii and seeming "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-fires-michael-mann-2644442561.html" target="_self">remarkably indifferent</a>" while bush fires devastated the country, reported <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/as-fires-devastate-australia-a-coal-loving-leader-faces-an-early-test/2020/01/08/a7827ebc-3178-11ea-91fd-82d4e04a3fac_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. The fires were exacerbated by climate change and the spike in greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels, explained The Washington Post.</p><p>In response, Morrison said, "Our emissions reductions policies will both protect our environment and seek to reduce the risks and hazards we are seeing today," reported The Washington Post.</p>
<p>The realities of climate change and coral bleaching have led even the scientists spearheading this latest effort to save the reef to characterize the RRAP as a long shot, reported <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/australias-daring-attempt-to-save-great-barrier-reef-has-begun/12155326" target="_blank">Hack</a>.<br></p><p>AIMS principal research scientist Ken Anthony told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/18/rebuild-it-shade-it-breed-it-three-tactics-to-buy-time-for-the-great-barrier-reef" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, "It's a bit like the Apollo 11 mission. It really is on that scale."</p><p>Hardisty also metaphorically compared the new program to the "high-risk but successful U.S. mission to put a man on the moon before the end of the '60s," reported <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/australias-daring-attempt-to-save-great-barrier-reef-has-begun/12155326" target="_blank">Hack</a>. He agreed that success might seem like a "moonshot," given the current situation on the reef and global emissions, but optimistically added, "If we work hard and are smart and are courageous we can turn this around," reported Hack.</p><p>The R&D phase will be funded by the Australian government and a consortium of universities and marine studies institutes. The government committed $150 million for the next five years, and that figure could jump to $300 million with promised donations from the private sector and in-kind investments from R&D providers, noted a <a href="https://minister.awe.gov.au/ley/media-releases/150-million-drive-innovations-boost-reef-resilience" target="_blank">government press release</a>.</p><p>The feasibility study found that the efforts could result in a net benefit to Australia of tens of billions of dollars, much greater than the initial investment, the <a href="https://www.gbrrestoration.org/investment-case-reports" target="_blank">investment case</a> said.</p>
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Coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef in 2016. Oregon State University / CC BY-SA 2.0
The Great Barrier Reef's third mass bleaching event in five years is also its most widespread, according to new data released Tuesday.
<p>Professor Terry Hughes, director of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, spent nine days in a plane surveying 1,036 reefs from the air, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/07/great-barrier-reefs-third-mass-bleaching-in-five-years-the-most-widespread-ever?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR1-d44F2zLeqzTlILpNyrT7E7TWHMxYd5eMYvFOGnHaVFwx-tN1EQyQf2Q" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. He found that 25 percent of the overall reef was severely bleached. What's more, he observed bleaching in the north, center and south of the reef for the first time.</p><p>"It's the first time we've seen severely bleached reefs along the whole length of the reef, in particular, the coastal reefs," Hughes told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/australia/great-barrier-reefs-bleaching-dying.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20200407&instance_id=17430&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=88631294&section=whatElse&segment_id=24116&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<div id="7fa36" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="18a3fd14e9b6d517b7cc3bed9b62bc51"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1247271799613603840" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#GreatBarrierReef research: First the north, then the middle, now widespread #coral bleaching including in the sout… https://t.co/7O3D47sbrv</div> — Terry Hughes (@Terry Hughes)<a href="https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/statuses/1247271799613603840">1586207744.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef has <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/climate-change/coral-bleaching/bleaching-events.html" target="_blank">suffered six mass bleaching events</a> due to warmer than normal ocean temperatures: in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2016, 2017 and now 2020. While the 1998 and 2016 bleachings occurred during El Niño events, a natural climate variation that brings warmer than average ocean temperatures to the region, the 2002 and 2017 events did not, The Washington Post pointed out. Neither did this year's, but it is the second most intense after 2016's. This suggests warmer temperatures caused by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> are ultimately driving these events.</p><p>"It's now clear that we can have major bleaching events caused by global climate change alone with no tropical forcing," Mark Eakin, coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch program, told The Washington Post.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching" target="_self">Coral bleaching</a> occurs when heat stress causes corals to expel the algae that live within them, providing them both with food and their bright colors. When the algae leave, the corals lose those colors. If the algae stay away for too long, the corals can die.</p>
<p>2016 and 2017's bleachings together killed around half of the corals in the reef. But Hughes told <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-07/great-barrier-reef-most-widespread-coral-bleaching-on-record/12107054" target="_blank">Australia's ABC News</a> that he didn't know how deadly this year's bleaching would be. He told The Guardian that the north and central portions of the reef would probably see less death because the less heat-resistant corals had already died off in 2016 and 2017.</p><p>But the south, which remained relatively untouched in previous years, was a different story.</p><p>"They hadn't bleached before, which means there are more corals and more of the corals that are particularly susceptible to heat stress," he told ABC News.</p>
<div id="4320a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a0e8364a0be8b2cb46e3c4770be57cb7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1247367294029672448" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I'm not sure I have the fortitude to do this again. It's heartbreaking to see the #GreatBarrierReef decline so fast. https://t.co/LHgP5cIAQW</div> — Terry Hughes (@Terry Hughes)<a href="https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/statuses/1247367294029672448">1586230512.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>This means the makeup of the reef is changing, but some of the losing corals include branching corals, which provide important habitat for many fish.</p><p>"Branching corals make all of the nooks and crannies that the rest of the biodiversity — the fish and so on — depend on," he told ABC News. "So having fewer and fewer corals is having a much broader effect, not just on the corals themselves, but in the broader ecosystem."</p><p>Hughes told The Guardian that only urgent climate action could save the reef.</p><p>"It's not too late to turn this around with rapid action on emissions," he said. "But business-as-usual emissions will make the Great Barrier Reef a pretty miserable place compared to today."</p>
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Coral Reef Tipping Point: ‘Near-Annual’ Bleaching May Occur Globally, Scientists Say
03 April
Climate
The Great Barrier Reef, where record-high sea temperatures in February caused its most widespread coral bleaching event. JAYNE JENKINS / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK
Tropical coral reefs are at a critical tipping point, and we've pushed them there, scientists say. Climate change may now cause previously rare, devastating coral bleaching events to occur in tropical coral reefs around the globe on a 'near-annual' basis, reported The Guardian.
<p>In February 2020, record-high sea temperatures at <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Australia's Great Barrier Reef</a> caused the most widespread coral bleaching event at the reef ever, reported <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. Unfortunately, this was also the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-2645576557.html" target="_self">third such major bleaching in five years</a>, raising concerns over the fragile corals' ability to keep rebounding against worsening marine conditions.</p><p>To put it into perspective, there have only ever been five recorded bleaching events at the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Great Barrier Reef</a>, explained Terry Hughes, director of the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/" target="_blank">Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a> at James Cook University in North Queensland, to NBC News. The first two were in 1998 and 2002, and then there was a 14-year gap before the 2016 and 2017 events. The latter two resulted in the death of almost half of the famed reef's corals in just two years, NBC News reported.</p>
<p>Scientists weren't expecting another bleaching event so soon, explained Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's <a href="https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.php" target="_blank">Coral Reef Watch</a> program in College Park, Maryland to NBC News. "This has never happened before. We're in completely uncharted territory."</p><p>Now, Eakin warns that the accelerating frequency may indicate something far worse. "The real concern is with this much bleaching without tropical forcing," Eakin told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/climate-crisis-may-have-pushed-worlds-tropical-coral-reefs-to-tipping-point-of-near-annual-bleaching" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "This may be a sign we've now tipped over to near-annual bleaching in many locations."</p>
<p>Historically, tropical coral reefs bleach more often when the Pacific Ocean is in a phase known as El Niño, reported The Guardian. This latest bleaching on the reef has hit during a neutral phase in the cycle.</p><p>Eakin told The Guardian, "It's quite concerning that we are getting this much heat stress across the Great Barrier Reef in an Enso [El Niño southern oscillation]-neutral year."</p><p>Eakin's agency, Coral Reef Watch, monitors coral reefs across the globe, not just in Australia. Their research led Eakin to additionally conclude that there was a risk that this mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef could mark the start of another global-scale event, reported The Guardian.</p><p>"If we get another El Niño, the odds are almost 100% that we will see another global bleaching event," Eakin told The Guardian.</p><p>"The gap between one event and the next is shrinking, not just for the Great Barrier Reef, but reefs throughout the tropics," Hughes told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "That's important, because it takes a decade or so for a half-decent recovery of even the fastest-growing corals. The slowest ones take several decades."</p>
<p>Given their long recovery time, Eakin warned <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/climate-crisis-may-have-pushed-worlds-tropical-coral-reefs-to-tipping-point-of-near-annual-bleaching" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, "We are seeing these events far too frequently" for reefs to recover from mass mortality of corals due to bleaching.</p><p>The news report explained that corals bleach when they sit in abnormally hot water for too long. While corals can recover from mild bleaching, severe and prolonged heat stress can kill corals.</p><p>Eakin added, "What we are seeing on the Great Barrier Reef and potentially elsewhere is really being driven just by anthropogenic climate change," reported The Guardian.</p>
<p>Increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cause the planet to warm, and 90 percent of that extra heat is taken up by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a>, explains the news report. According to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-coral-reef-habitat/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>, because corals are extremely sensitive to ocean temperatures, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-reefs-climate-crisis-predictions-2645201373.html" target="_self">raising the water temperature by even a couple of degrees can still result in mass coral bleaching</a>. And while bleaching does not kill the coral, it weakens them, making them vulnerable to disease, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/climate-crisis-may-have-pushed-worlds-tropical-coral-reefs-to-tipping-point-of-near-annual-bleaching" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> explained.</p><p>Eakin concluded, "There's so much heat that has been absorbed in the upper ocean that all the coral reefs are much closer now to their bleaching threshold. As result, it's very easy to tip them over," reported The Guardian.</p>
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Branching staghorn coral, acropora, is completely bleached during the 2017 coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef. Picture was taken on Pixie Reef. Brett Monroe Garner / Moment / Getty Images
The Great Barrier Reef, a natural wonder that once teemed with life, just experienced a major coral bleaching event, according to scientists who conducted aerial surveys over hundreds of individual reefs, as The Guardian reported.
<p>According to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a>, the entire Great Barrier Reef is suffering a period of unprecedented heat stress. This bleaching event is the third one in five years and questions remain about the corals' ability to recover from the constant onslaught from changing marine conditions. </p>
<p>"This has never happened before," Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch program in College Park, Maryland, said as the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News reported</a>. "We're in completely uncharted territory."</p>
<p>Bleachings don't necessarily kill the corals, but it does leave them extremely vulnerable to disease from bacteria or viruses. Bleaching, which occurs in response to abnormal conditions like heat or increased acidity in the water, forces the corals to release the tiny photosynthetic algae that live in their tissue and are responsible for their color, according to NBC News.</p>
<p>The previous two heat stress related bleaching events were in 2016 and 2017. Scientists say the frequency of the heat-induced bleaching is a direct result of the climate crisis, which spells trouble for the vitality of the reef since the corals do not have enough time to recover and to grow back, according to NBC News. </p>
<p>The scientists conducting the aerial surveys are from the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/for-managers/coral-bleaching-and-the-great-barrier-reef" target="_blank">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University</a> in Queensland, Australia. </p>
<p>Terry Hughes, who runs the center, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/25/great-barrier-reef-suffers-third-mass-coral-bleaching-event-in-five-years" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, that after three days of the planned nine-day survey, "We know this is a mass bleaching event and it's a severe one. We know enough now that [the bleaching] is more severe than in 1998 and 2002. How it sits with 2016 and 2017 we are not sure yet."</p>
<p>Global warming is an enormous threat to the future of coral reefs around the world. As The Guardian reported, The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded from published evidence that a majority of tropical coral reefs would disappear even if heating was limited to the Paris agreement's target of 1.5 degrees Celsius and would be "at very high risk" at 1.2 degrees Celsius.</p>
<p>Hughes told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a> there have been only five recorded Great Barrier Reef bleaching events. The first was in 1998, followed by 2002, then in 2016, 2017 and this year, setting up a disturbing pattern. </p>
<p>"The gap between one event and the next is shrinking, not just for the Great Barrier Reef, but forreefs throughout the tropics," Hughes said to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "That's important, because it takes a decade or so for a half-decent recovery of even the fastest-growing corals. The slowest ones take several decades."</p>
<p>While past bleaching events, like the ones in 2002 and 2016, were driven by El Niño weather events, this one happened just because the Australian summer was too hot. </p>
<p>"We no longer need an El Niño to trigger a bleaching event — we just need a hot summer," Eakin said to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/great-barrier-reef-hit-third-major-bleaching-event-five-years-n1166676" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. "And the summers are getting hotter and hotter because of global warming. That is astounding in itself."</p>
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'The Great Barrier Reef is on a Knife Edge': Reef Faces Third Major Bleaching Event in Five Years
21 February
Oceans
Half half bleached coral, great barrier reef. JAYNE JENKINS / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK
Australian wildlife cannot catch a break.
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-wildfires-contained-nsw-2645149309.html" target="_self">Rains have only recently started</a> dousing the historic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> that killed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-wildfire-deaths-2644394434.html" target="_self">more than one billion animals</a> on land. Now, scientists and environmentalists are warning that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Great Barrier Reef</a> could see its third major <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching" target="_self">coral bleaching</a> event in five years if <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> temperatures remain high for the next two weeks, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/great-barrier-reef-on-brink-of-third-major-coral-bleaching-in-five-years-scientists-warn" target="_blank">The Guardian reported Thursday</a>.</p><p>"The Great Barrier Reef is on a knife edge," head of oceans at <a href="https://www.wwf.org.au/" target="_blank">WWF-Australia</a> Richard Leck told The Guardian. 'We will know in the next couple of weeks whether we now have a mass coral bleaching event for the third time in only five years."</p>
<div id="c5bb3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W0AGKS1582297512"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230298736984612864" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A mass coral bleaching event could unfold across the Great Barrier Reef during the coming weeks, where sea surface… https://t.co/DJFezqwbxg</div> — Ben Domensino (@Ben Domensino)<a href="https://twitter.com/Ben_Domensino/statuses/1230298736984612864">1582161051.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Scientists with the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/" target="_blank">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</a> have already found "significant bleaching" at three reefs in the far north, the authority's chief scientist David Wachenfeld told <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/concerns-rise-for-great-barrier-reef-health-as-corals-start-to-bleach-20200220-p542lx.html" target="_blank">The Sydney Morning Herald</a>. Wachenfeld said the reefs in the north were relatively protected from most human activity, but not from the rising of ocean temperatures caused by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"Climate change is the great leveller," he said. "There is nowhere that is not affected by it."</p><p>Coral bleaching occurs when corals expel the algae that give them their color and nutrients in response to heat stress. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-2353658528.html" target="_self">Back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017</a> killed as many as half of the corals in the reef.</p><p>Currently, temperatures across the reef are around two to three degrees Celsius above normal, and summer temperatures do not usually peak until mid March, professor Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, told The Guardian.</p>
<p>"We are down to the wire," he said.<br></p><p>What happens will ultimately depend on the "vagaries of the weather," he said.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> has placed the reef on Alert Level 1 for the next seven days, which means a significant bleaching event is likely, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/scientists-warn-potential-bleaching-great-barrier-reef/11984626" target="_blank">ABC News reported</a>. However, the agency's Coral Reef Watch also forecast that the bleaching would not be as intense as the bleaching in 2016 and 2017.</p>
<div id="e9fc7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="XZCJJW1582297513"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230497465905766406" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Based on current heat stress, temperature trends, and our Four-Month Bleaching Outlook model, @CoralReefWatch is ex… https://t.co/atlvgwaZz5</div> — Coral Reef Watch (@Coral Reef Watch)<a href="https://twitter.com/CoralReefWatch/statuses/1230497465905766406">1582208432.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gasses from the burning of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a>, which is responsible for heating ocean temperatures, has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-fires-michael-mann-2644442561.html?rebelltitem=2" target="_self">also been blamed for Australia's more extreme wildfire season</a>. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticized for his pro-<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_self">coal</a> policies and his seeming dismissal of climate concerns.</p><p>"Surely after this summer of bushfires, and this marine heatwave hitting the reef, we cannot keep burying our heads in the sand," Leck told The Guardian. "We need a reef-safe climate policy that's consistent with a 1.5C global warming target, or less. No more excuses will be tolerated."</p>
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Coral Reefs Could Be Completely Lost to the Climate Crisis by 2100, New Study Finds
20 February
Climate
A coral and fish community at the Great Barrier Reef, northeast of Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia, on Aug. 28, 2018. Francois Gohier / VWPics / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Researchers released a sobering study this week showing that all of the world's coral reefs may be lost to the climate crisis by 2100.
<p>The bleak outlook means that restoration efforts will face Herculean challenges, according to the research presented by researchers at this week's <a href="https://www.agu.org/Ocean-Sciences-Meeting/" target="_blank">Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020</a> in San Diego, California.</p><p>Rising sea temperatures, acidic water and pollution are proving too much for the reefs to handle. About 70 to 90 percent of the world's existing coral reefs are predicted to disappear in the next two decades, according to scientists from the University of Hawaii Manoa, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/world/coral-reefs-2100-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"By 2100, it's looking quite grim," said Renee Setter, a biogeographer at the University of Hawaii Manoa in a <a href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/warming-acidic-oceans-may-nearly-eliminate-coral-reef-habitats-by-2100/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>While pollution poses a large threat to many <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> creatures, corals seem most at risk from emissions, according to the researchers.</p>
<p>"Trying to clean up the beaches is great and trying to combat pollution is fantastic. We need to continue those efforts," Setter said in a <a href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/warming-acidic-oceans-may-nearly-eliminate-coral-reef-habitats-by-2100/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "But at the end of the day, fighting climate change is really what we need to be advocating for in order to protect corals and avoid compounded stressors."</p><p>To make their predictions, the scientists mimicked future ocean conditions like sea surface temperature, wave energy, acidity, pollution and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing" target="_self">overfishing</a> in areas where corals are today. Looking at those models, the scientists found that most parts of the ocean will not sustain habitats for corals by 2045, and almost no suitable habitats will exist by 2100, according to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-coral-reef-habitat/" target="_blank">CBS News</a>.</p><p>"Honestly, most sites are out," said Setter in the <a href="https://news.agu.org/press-release/warming-acidic-oceans-may-nearly-eliminate-coral-reef-habitats-by-2100/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<p>Coral reefs nurture about 25 percent of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a> and support local economies worldwide. As <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-coral-reef-habitat/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> noted, the new research is disheartening for efforts to restore corals by growing them in labs and then putting them back into the ocean. While those efforts have had a 60 percent success rate, the research suggests that lab-grown corals will not stand up to warming oceans and increased acidification.</p><p>Corals are extremely sensitive to ocean temperatures. When the temperature rises just a couple of degrees, corals experience mass <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching" target="_self">bleaching</a>, where coral turns white as it sheds the algae it relies on not only for survival, but also for its magnificent colors, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-coral-reef-habitat/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported. Bleaching does not kill the coral, but it does weaken them, making them vulnerable to disease.</p>
<p>Scientists are predicting a mass bleaching within the next couple of weeks in Australia's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Great Barrier Reef</a>. The reef, which is nearly the length of Italy, is undergoing heat stress right now, with patches starting to bleach. While a major widespread bleaching has not occurred yet, scientists have warned that it is likely if high ocean temperatures around the reef do not drop in the next two weeks, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/great-barrier-reef-on-brink-of-third-major-coral-bleaching-in-five-years-scientists-warn" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Already, temperatures across two-thirds of the reef are about two to three degrees Celsius above normal, with typical peak temperatures still one month away.</p><p>"We are down to the wire," said professor Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/20/great-barrier-reef-on-brink-of-third-major-coral-bleaching-in-five-years-scientists-warn" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has placed the Great Barrier Reef on Alert Level 1 for the next week, meaning significant bleaching is likely, according to the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/scientists-warn-potential-bleaching-great-barrier-reef/11984626" target="_blank">Australian Broadcasting Company</a>.<br></p><p>"Unfortunately we are a whisker away from bleaching disaster yet again because of global warming-driven marine heatwaves," said Shani Tager from the Australian Marine Conservation Society to the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/scientists-warn-potential-bleaching-great-barrier-reef/11984626" target="_blank">Australian Broadcasting Company</a>.</p><p>"As underwater heatwaves threaten once again to cook our corals, our politicians must move beyond half-baked plans to tackle global warming."</p>
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Trending
Climate Activists Outraged as Siemens Backs Adani Coal Mining Project in Australia
13 January
Business
A rally organized by Extinction Rebellion and Parents for Future in front of the Australian Embassy on Jan. 10, 2020. The Australian government plans the huge coal mine project Adani, despite devastating bushfires and rising emissions worldwide. Jörg Carstensen / picture alliance via Getty Images
Siemens has announced it will remain involved in a controversial coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country continues to be ravaged by bushfires.
<p>The German engineering conglomerate has a contract worth roughly €18 million ($20 million) which requires Siemens to supply rail infrastructure for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, near the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef">Great Barrier Reef</a>.</p><p>But <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate</a> activists from Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion staged protests last week in a dozen German cities against the mine, including outside Siemens' Munich headquarters, hoping to change the firm's stance on the project.</p><p>But on Sunday, Siemens' CEO Joe Kaeser tweeted: "We have just finished our special meeting .... We have evaluated all the options and have concluded that we must fulfill our contractual obligations."</p><p>Kaeser did promise, though, that the company would better "manage in the future the questions of protecting the environment."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just finished our extraordinary Managing Board Meeting. We evaluated all options and concluded: We need to fulfil our contractual obligations. Also, we will establish an effective Sustainability Board to better manage environmental care in the future. <a href="https://t.co/uPgjPgwFrr">https://t.co/uPgjPgwFrr</a></p>— Joe Kaeser (@JoeKaeser) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeKaeser/status/1216452638017048576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The proposed Carmichael mine, owned by India's Adani group, has long sparked controversy. Opposition to the multibillion-euro enterprise has worsened in the wake of Australia's recent devastating bushfires.</p><h3>'Inexcusable' Project</h3><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-would-rather-save-the-coalition-than-the-climate-says-activist/a-51295110" target="_blank">German climate activist Luisa Neubauer</a>, of Fridays for Future, has called the decision by Siemens an "inexcusable mistake."</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/thunberg-calls-on-siemens-to-nix-australia-coal-mine-project/a-51966937" target="_blank">She joined Swedish activist Greta Thunberg</a> in her condemnation of the German company as she told news agency dpa: "We asked Kaeser to do everything possible to prevent the Adani mine," referring to a meeting with the Siemens boss last week. "Instead, he will now profit from this disaster project."</p><p>On Friday, Kaeser offered Neubauer a seat on the supervisory board at Siemens Energy, a new conventional and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> company, but she turned it down.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australia-activists-outraged-as-siemens-backs-adani-mining-project/a-51977565?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Australia, Your Country Is Burning — Dangerous Climate Change Is Here With You Now
07 January
Insights + Opinion
Tourists watch and photograph the floodlit popular destination Three Sisters during a bushfire on an unknown date in Jamison Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, Australia. Andrew Merry / Moment / Getty Images
By Michael Mann
After years studying the climate, my work has brought me to Sydney where I'm studying the linkages between climate change and extreme weather events.
<p>Prior to beginning my sabbatical stay in Sydney, I took the opportunity this holiday season to vacation in Australia with my family. We went to see the Great Barrier Reef — one of the great wonders of this planet — while we still can. Subject to the twin assaults of warming-caused bleaching and ocean acidification, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2014/mar/great-barrier-reef-obituary" target="_blank">it will be gone</a> in a matter of decades <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-49520949" target="_blank">in the absence of</a> a dramatic reduction in global carbon emissions.</p>
<p>We also travelled to the Blue Mountains, another of Australia's natural wonders, known for its lush temperate rainforests, majestic cliffs and rock formations and panoramic vistas that challenge any the world has to offer. It too is now threatened by climate change.</p><p>I witnessed this firsthand.</p><p>I did not see vast expanses of rainforest framed by distant blue-tinged mountain ranges. Instead I looked out into smoke-filled valleys, with only the faintest ghosts of distant ridges and peaks in the background. The iconic blue tint (which derives from a haze formed from "terpenes" emitted by the Eucalyptus trees that are so plentiful here) was replaced by a brown haze. The blue sky, too, had been replaced by that brown haze.</p><p>The locals, whom I found to be friendly and outgoing, would volunteer that they have never seen anything like this before. Some even uttered the words "climate change" without any prompting.</p><p>The songs of Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil I first enjoyed decades ago have taken on a whole new meaning for me now. They seem disturbingly prescient in light of what we are witnessing unfold in Australia.</p>
<p>The brown skies I observed in the Blue Mountains this week are a product of human-caused climate change. Take <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/19/419c-australia-records-hottest-ever-day-one-day-after-previous-record" target="_blank">record heat</a>, combine it with unprecedented <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/you-count-your-blessings-farm-families-battling-drought-photo-essay" target="_blank">drought</a> in already dry regions and you get unprecedented bushfires like the ones engulfing the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/28/australian-bushfires-out-of-control-as-heatwave-expected-to-peak-on-new-years-eve" target="_blank">Blue Mountains</a> and spreading <a href="https://time.com/5756714/australia-wildfires/" target="_blank">across the continent</a>. It's not complicated.</p>
<div id="94db3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QWI2D71578489863"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1211494876610613253" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The smoke is so thick in Katoomba tourists are opting for photos with billboards, rather than the Three Sisters the… https://t.co/YbKl0daL8g</div> — Tom Lowrey (@Tom Lowrey)<a href="https://twitter.com/tomlowrey/statuses/1211494876610613253">1577677861.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The warming of our planet — and the changes in climate associated with it — are due to the fossil fuels we're burning: oil, whether at midnight or any other hour of the day, natural gas, and the biggest culprit of all, coal. That's not complicated either.</p><p>When we mine for coal, like the controversial planned Adani coal mine, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/aug/16/why-adanis-planned-carmichael-coalmine-matters-to-australia-and-the-world" target="_blank">would more than double</a> Australia's coal-based carbon emissions, we are literally mining away at our blue skies. The Adani coal mine could rightly be renamed the Blue Sky mine.</p><p>In Australia, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/more-than-900-nsw-homes-confirmed-razed-from-bushfires-20191230-p53nj6.html" target="_blank">beds are burning</a>. So are entire towns, irreplaceable forests and endangered and precious animal species such as the koala (arguably the world's only living plush toy) are perishing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/australias-environment-minister-says-up-to-30-of-koalas-killed-in-nsw-mid-north-coast-fires" target="_blank">in massive numbers</a> due to the unprecedented bushfires.</p><p>The continent of Australia is figuratively — and in some sense literally — on fire.</p><p>Yet the prime minister, Scott Morrison, appears <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/27/mural-mocking-scott-morrison-for-hawaii-holiday-during-bushfires-painted-over" target="_blank">remarkably indifferent</a> to the climate emergency Australia is suffering through, having chosen to vacation in Hawaii as Australians are left to contend with unprecedented heat and bushfires.</p>
<p>Morrison has shown himself to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/09/scott-morrison-brings-coal-to-question-time-what-fresh-idiocy-is-this" target="_blank">beholden to coal interests</a> and his administration is considered to have conspired with a small number of petrostates <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/morrison-s-big-failure-is-his-lack-of-leadership-on-climate-change-20191220-p53lxz.html" target="_blank">to sabotage</a> the recent <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop25" target="_blank">UN climate conference</a> in Madrid ("COP25"), seen as a last ditch effort to keep planetary warming below a level (1.5C) considered by many to constitute <a href="https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/why-15-degrees-danger-line-global-warming" target="_blank">"dangerous" planetary warming</a>.</p><p>But Australians need only wake up in the morning, turn on the television, read the newspaper or look out the window to see what is increasingly obvious to many — for Australia, dangerous climate change is <em>already here</em>. It's simply a matter of how much worse we're willing to allow it to get.</p><p>Australia is experiencing a climate emergency. It is literally burning. It needs leadership that is able to recognise that and act. And it needs voters to hold politicians accountable at the ballot box.</p><p>Australians must vote out fossil-fuelled politicians who have chosen to be part of the problem and vote in climate champions who are willing to solve it.</p>
<p><em>Michael E Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University. His most recent book, with Tom Toles, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Madhouse-Effect-Threatening-Destroying-Politics/dp/0231177860/" target="_blank">The Madhouse Effect</a>: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy (Columbia University Press, 2016).</em></p><p><em> <em>This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/02/australia-your-country-is-burning-dangerous-climate-change-is-here-with-you-now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen coverage of the climate story.</em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A loudspeaker on a damaged reef attracts fish. Tim Gordon / University of Exeter
A team of British and Australian scientists have discovered an innovative way to help coral reefs recover from the climate crisis and other human-caused damage: loudspeakers.
<p>A healthy fish population can help fight the degradation of coral reefs, the study's authors explained in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-13186-2" target="_blank">Nature Communications Friday</a>, but damaged reefs don't attract as many fish because they don't smell or sound like healthy reefs.</p><p>"Healthy coral reefs are remarkably noisy places – the crackle of snapping shrimp and the whoops and grunts of fish combine to form a dazzling biological soundscape," senior author and University of Exeter professor Steve Simpson explained in a press release received by EcoWatch. "Juvenile fish home in on these sounds when they're looking for a place to settle."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjExNjUwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjA2MDAwNn0.LwTN9nfKYrt58HKicUuXxQshgverP-s8aVbAH5m3_pk/img.jpg?width=980" id="426bf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="27ca05c15d1df537e4733ebc958f3d3e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A loudspeaker on a coral reef. Tim Gordon / University of Exeter
<p>So a team of researchers from the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol in the UK, and Australia's James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science spent October to December of 2017 in the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Great Barrier Reef</a> trying to see if they could replicate these healthy reef sounds in damaged environments.<br></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/12/01/scientists-used-loudspeakers-make-dead-coral-reefs-sound-healthy-fish-flocked-them/?fbclid=IwAR0Ny2b3DK_qz34i2AlxXc1PHVzaRaDIBPlbd_21Bd9LUTkYFMLw53v2nbA" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> explained their process:</p><blockquote>At the start of fish recruitment season, when fish spawn and mature, the team built 33 experimental reef patches out of dead coral on open sand about 27 yards from the naturally occurring reef. They then fixed underwater loudspeakers to the center of the patches, angling them upward to ensure the sound was distributed evenly in all directions.<br><br>Over 40 nights, the team played recordings from a healthy reef in some of the patches. In other patches, they used dummy speakers that emitted no sounds, and they left a third group of patches untouched.</blockquote><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjExNzU0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTExMzg4MH0.uTGQ67mf4qlJtyunuOhXTCCLzFttRCr710hY1pPg_dc/img.jpg?width=980" id="4a8e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1204eb080f0f85c49d3a59c0fd4a5a02" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Tim Gordon deploys an underwater loudspeaker on a coral reef. Harry Harding / University of Bristol
<p>The result? The reef patches that broadcasted the healthy reef sounds attracted double the number of fish as the other patches, and the fish species drawn to them were 50 percent more diverse. That diversity included species from every section of the food web, from plankton eaters to predators, which is important for reef health.</p><p>"Reefs become ghostly quiet when they are degraded, as the shrimps and fish disappear, but by using loudspeakers to restore this lost soundscape, we can attract young fish back again," Simpson said in the press release.</p><p>The scientists called this process "acoustic enrichment" and think it could be one tool for helping reef ecosystems recover more quickly.</p><p>"Of course, attracting fish to a dead reef won't bring it back to life automatically, but recovery is underpinned by fish that clean the reef and create space for corals to regrow," Australian Institute of Marine Science fish biologist and study author Dr. Mark Meekan said in the press release.</p><video controls id="138a7" width="100%" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba1b96ff2dd5b7031e23f4be22db1d69" expand="1" feedbacks="true" mime_type="video/mp4" shortcode_id="1575294501265" url="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F15228-Summary-video.mp4" videoControls="true"> <source src="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F15228-Summary-video.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video><p>However, the researchers urged that it is also important to tackle reef threats like the climate crisis or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing" rel="noopener noreferrer">overfishing</a> directly. And in this they were backed up by scientists not involved in the study.</p><p>"Using acoustic enrichment to help recolonise degraded reefs with essential reef fish is a novel tool which can add to the reef conservation toolbox," Dr. Catherine Head of the Zoological Society of London and the University of Oxford told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/29/sonic-youth-healthy-reef-sounds-lure-young-fish-to-degraded-areas" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "Our biggest tool in the fight for coral reefs is the 2016 Paris climate change agreement to curb global CO2 emissions, and we must continue to put pressure on governments to fulfil this agreement alongside doing our bit to reduce our own carbon footprints."</p>
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Environmental scientists say they need help coping with grief about the decay of nature. Pexels
By Marlene Cimons
Scientist Tim Gordon studies how rising temperatures are damaging corals in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, where intense cyclones and warm waters have caused extensive damage in recent years. What he sees brings him to tears.
<p>"They used to be some of the most colorful, vibrant, bustling, noisy ecosystems in the world, but now many of them are eerily quiet, empty gray rubble fields," Gordon said. "It's haunting. The place is a ghost of its former self."</p><p>At times when diving at the reef, he stops for a minute and just floats, gazing helplessly at the wreckage around him. "It gets quite overwhelming," said Gordon, a marine biologist at the University of Exeter. "This sense of complete powerlessness sets in — this used to be the most beautiful place in the world, but now it's crumbling into ruins around me."</p><p>Gordon was, and is, experiencing something that the public does not typically expect from scientists — grief.</p>
<p>Although researchers are expected to distance themselves from their subject to ensure their work is free of bias, scientists — much like physicians, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/suicides-among-veterinarians-has-become-a-growing-problem/2019/01/18/0f58df7a-f35b-11e8-80d0-f7e1948d55f4_story.html" target="_blank">veterinarians</a>, disaster relief workers, service members and others — often have strong emotional reactions to things they see and experience at work. Some of these professions have recognized the psychic toll of the job and are taking steps to help people cope. But scientists have not received the same level of support and frequently feel isolated or unable to express their feelings.</p><p>"It's not just me," Gordon said. "All around the world, from the rainforests to the poles, environmental scientists are measuring similar devastation, with similar consequences for both natural systems and the people that rely on them. We're recording the most severe destruction of the natural world in human history. It's really important that we are able to work with those feelings — and through those feelings — rather than being choked or paralyzed by them."</p><p>He and two other researchers, Stephen D. Simpson, also a marine biologist at Exeter, and Andrew N. Radford, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Bristol, described the dilemma in a <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6462/193.1" target="_blank">letter</a> recently published in the journal <em>Science. </em>In it, they call for greater understanding of scientists' responses to environmental damage, and permission for them to, well, cry if they need to.</p>
<p>Denying, ignoring or suppressing these emotions impairs their ability to conduct science effectively, the authors said, writing that forcing scientists to be "dispassionate observers" would be "dangerously misguided." Rather, they "must be allowed to cry and be supported," quoting Charles Darwin who declared that one "who remains passive when overwhelmed with grief loses [the] best chance of recovering elasticity of mind."</p><p>"It's really important that both doctors and environmental scientists stay objective and clear-minded in their work to make sure it's done rigorously and accurately. But at the same time, in both professions, there are really hard moments watching patients and ecosystems get sick and die, and not being able to stop it from happening," Gordon said. "Grief can either stop us in our tracks or galvanize and inspire us to move forward, [but] that depends on how we process and react to those feelings."</p><p>Gordon says he personally knows several scientists who moved away from researching environmental degradation to guard their emotional health. "Some moved into different professions entirely, and some altered their research focus to address restoration processes, rather than measuring degradation," he said.</p>
<p>Gordon said scientists will need help processing their grief. "If we only allow scientists to respond to their ecological grief in private, then we're limiting their options for working through these feelings effectively," he said, adding scientists may need to seek counseling or talk with colleagues working through the same feelings, strategies deployed by professionals in other stressful jobs. Veterinarians, for example, now have access to "well-being" workshops and emotional support seminars, "pet loss" counselors and other resources.</p><p>"The veterinary community has been quite responsive," said Elizabeth Schooley, a veterinarian in Columbia, Virginia who struggled with many of these issues when she began practicing. "I wanted to help everyone and the money wasn't available to help the patients. I took a lot of emotional stress from the pet owners… and it really affected my health and wellbeing."</p><p>Tracey Shors, a neuroscientist at Rutgers University, who studies trauma, said one approach to managing stress might be for scientists to speak out about their findings and share their grief.</p><p>"If more scientists could get their findings out to the world, they would feel like they have more control," she said. "If nothing else, they would know they are waking up others to the problem. Most of the [scientists] I know got into the field because they love nature. Then they are trained to distance themselves for the sake of objectivity. It must be breaking their hearts. It breaks my heart, and I am not a field scientist."</p>
<p>Gordon said they have received a great deal of positive feedback from environmental scientists. "Some are people we know as current and previous colleagues, and some of them we've never met before," he said. "They've all been thanking us for expressing a view that they strongly agree with, and have been relieved and comforted to see shared publicly."</p><p>Not every scientist, however, agrees that it's a good idea for researchers to share their grief, at least not publicly. "It does deeply hurt to see Arctic and Antarctic wildernesses being invaded and ravaged by plastic, but indeed it is crucial for scientists to be independent," said David Barnes, a marine ecologist with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Antarctic_Survey" target="_blank">British Antarctic Survey</a> who <a target="_blank" href="https://nexusmedianews.com/plastic-pollution-has-increased-a-hundredfold-in-the-south-atlantic-d74a82644802">studies ocean plastic pollution</a>. "I wince at the hundredfold increase in plastic washing ashore on the remote islands I work around. [But] we are not policymakers. We are key providers of evidence." He added, "When scientists express strong views it is unsurprising that concern of bias is likely to emerge."</p><p>Gordon and his colleagues said they appreciate this point of view. "Many people understand and support emotional responses from scientists to what they study happening in the environment," he said. "Others dismiss it as scientists being overly sensitive, unprofessional or letting their emotions get in the way of their work. I think the split in public opinion goes to show it's a discussion that needs to be had if we're serious about moving forward and working for a better future for the natural world. That's why we wrote this letter — to provoke discussion about these feelings and how we can support each other to use them for positive change."</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/environmental-scientists-want-help-coping-with-their-grief-5650a69c1240" target="_blank">Nexus Media</a>.</em><em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Half bleached coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. JAYNE JENKINS / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK
The government agency that manages Australia's Great Barrier Reef on Friday downgraded its outlook for the condition of the coral system from "poor" to "very poor."
<p>The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's (GBRMPA) report blamed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> for coral bleaching, which occurs as a result of <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coral-reefs-rapidly-die-from-marine-heat-waves-study/a-49960345" target="_blank">rising sea temperatures</a>.</p><p>"Significant global action to address climate change is critical to slowing the deterioration of the reef's ecosystem and heritage values and supporting recovery," said the five-year review of the world's largest coral reef system.</p><h2>Bleaching and other factors</h2><p>But the agency added that the threats to the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) reef were "multiple, cumulative and increasing." </p><p>Agricultural runoff, coastal land clearing and coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish were also to blame for its woes, the report said.</p><p>GBRMPA's Chief Scientist David Wachenfeld told reporters in Sydney that despite the threat, "with the right mix of local actions to improve the resilience of the system and global actions to tackle climate change ... we can turn that around."</p><p>Located off the northeast Australian coast, the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef">Great Barrier Reef</a> is home to 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusks.</p><p>Scientists have been concerned about the health of the coral network for decades. In 2012, a study found the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.</p><p>A 2017 study published in the journal <em>Nature</em> found that 91 percent of the reef had been bleached at least once during three bleaching events of the past two decades.</p><p>A fourth significant bleaching struck later in 2017 after the report was published.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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</p><h2>Australia: Mining prioritized<br></h2><p>Australia's conservative government has faced criticism for favoring an expansion of its massive <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" rel="noopener noreferrer">coal mining</a>, the country's biggest export, over action to curb climate change.</p><p>New government data released this week showed that Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases, blamed for climate change, continued a four-year rising trend during the first half of 2019.</p><p>Environment Minister Sussan Ley said she was not surprised by the downgrade given the damage done by recent cyclones and latest bleaching events.</p><p>But she insisted that the Great Barrier reef "is the best-managed reef in the world."</p><h2>Resilience-building program</h2><p>The Canberra government earlier this year announced a $380 million (€312 million) <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australia-to-spend-half-a-billion-to-protect-great-barrier-reef/a-43581057" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">program</a> to breed more resilient coral.</p><p>However, the downgrade has boosted calls for UNESCO to revoke the reef's status as a World Heritage site, which would be an embarrassment for the government.</p><p>The reef <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/great-barrier-reef-last-chance-tourists-flock-to-world-wonder-as-coral-disappears/a-46076098" target="_blank">is estimated</a> to be worth at least $4 billion a year to Australia's economy.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-causes-australia-to-downgrade-great-barrier-reefs-outlook/a-50224028" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>
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