Great Barrier Reef Suffers Worst Coral Decline on Record
- Reference: 0178595638
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/06/2011230/great-barrier-reef-suffers-worst-coral-decline-on-record
- Source link:
> Northern and southern branches of the sprawling Australian reef both suffered their most widespread coral bleaching, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) found.
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> Reefs have been battered in recent months by tropical cyclones and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish that feast on coral, but heat stress driven by climate change is the predominant reason, AIMS said. AIMS warns the habitat may reach a tipping point where coral cannot recover fast enough between catastrophic events and faces a "volatile" future. AIMS surveyed the health of 124 coral reefs between August 2024 and May 2025. It has been performing surveys since 1986.
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> Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300km (1,429-mile) expanse of tropical corals that houses a stunning array of biodiversity. Repeated bleaching events are turning vast swaths of once-vibrant coral white. Australia's second largest reef, Ningaloo -- on Australia's western coast -- has also experienced repeated bleaching, and this year both major reefs simultaneously turned white for the first time ever. Coral is vital to the planet. Nicknamed the sea's architect, it builds vast structures that house an estimated 25% of all marine species.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3pp52m65o
Cull the problem? (Score:2)
> Reefs have been battered in recent months by..outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish that feast on coral..
In other parts of the world, invasive species have been targeted for culling with legal harvesting programs. Lionfish in Florida is a prime example.
Is there an opportunity to do something similar to the crown-of-thorns starfish to help with this problem?
dead in many places (Score:5, Interesting)
I took a vacation in the Caribbean a couple of months ago, visited three islands and did a fair amount of snorkeling. The reefs there were fairly healthy 10 years ago and now they are 90% dead as a doornail. I saw acres of bleached-out coral heads that used to be thriving habitat for large vivid fish communities, now dead, crumbling, and the fish are gone.
There's no need to track carbon though (Score:3)
As read so many folks saying Trump was OK to cancel and destroy those CO2 tracking satellites because "why do we need that data anyway" and "Trump is just trying to save money where he can, he's being so frugal!"
So obviously this is nothing to worry about, nothing so much we could stand to things above the atmosphere to track the atmosphere.
Here's a fact the mainstream wont tell you: The atmosphere is made of gas. The ocean is made of liquid. Why do we care about if they go together? They're two different things. Checkmate libs.
A large annual decline is kind of what you expect (Score:2)
... one year after a large annual growth, which was reported one year ago: [1]https://www.sciencedaily.com/r... [sciencedaily.com]
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240807122637.htm
Re: (Score:1)
100% tariff on the Not-So-Great So-Called Reef.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow, one post in.. that would make rsilverfag blush.