The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years. The loss was due to storm damage (48%), crown of thorns starfish (42%), and bleaching (10%). No matter how you wrap this up, half of it is gone and that is bad. To lose half the coral cover due to storms implies that storm damage has increased in the last 27 years compared to the period prior to that. This is to be expected in changed climate conditions which we drive with fossil fuel burning and in particular coal. Doubling our coal production just exacerbates that impact. Bleaching of course is caused by higher temperatures and acidification due to higher CO2 levels also plays a role in that. Approvals of the massive coal projects in the Galilee Basin can only be seen for what it is: destruction of our reef. The remaining 42% of the cause is assigned to crown of thorns attack which in turn is precipitated by nutrient enriched water causing the juveniles to explode in numbers. We clearly have our anthropogenic clodhopping footprint all over this one as well. Algal blooms are directly associated with dredge spoil dumping in Gladstone harbour. Bioavailable metals and nutrient resuspended by dredging is exactly the condition to stimulate the crown of thorns. In a pathetic abrogation of responsibility the government (and most of the major political candidates) have latched onto direct control of crown of thorns outbreaks. This of course is dealing with the symptom and not the cause. It is akin to controlling a locust plague with butterfly nets. Bloody fools I say. - Jan
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 05:56:11 +0000
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