{"id":27565,"date":"2024-04-26T17:14:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T21:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/climate-skeptic-dismisses-severity-of-great-barrier-reef-bleaching\/26\/04\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T17:14:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T21:14:25","slug":"climate-skeptic-dismisses-severity-of-great-barrier-reef-bleaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/climate-skeptic-dismisses-severity-of-great-barrier-reef-bleaching\/26\/04\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate skeptic dismisses severity of Great Barrier Reef bleaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Screenshot of a video on Facebook taken April 24, 2024<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Ridd<\/a>, a signatory of a 2008 letter<\/a><\/span> (archived here<\/a>) disputing the science on climate\u00a0change<\/span>, has previously<\/a> made similar statements<\/a>\u00a0about Australia’s\u00a0Great Barrier Reef<\/a>\u00a0and the recent growth <\/span>of acropora corals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The region experienced its\u00a0worst bleaching event<\/a> during the summers of 2023 and 2024, when water temperatures rose and corals expelled microscopic algae<\/a> to survive.<\/p>\n

Ridd is correct in saying coral covers <\/span>have grown in the Great Barrier Reef over the past several years, but scientists told AFP he paints an overly rosy picture of the situation.<\/p>\n

“Dr Ridd has used this claim as evidence that the threats to the Great Barrier Reef are overstated, which is misleading,” Sara Cannon<\/a>, a postdoctoral<\/span> research fellow at the Institute for Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia\u00a0(archived here<\/a>), said April 23, 2024<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Australian Institute of Marine Science<\/a> (AIMS) said in an April 23 statement that the mass bleaching events of the past decade are unprecedented.<\/p>\n

“Previous mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef have occurred in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and this year, 2024,” the agency told AFP.<\/p>\n

“Prior to these years, there is no evidence of such widespread events in the Great Barrier Reef’s 500-year coral record history.”<\/p>\n

Coral growth?<\/h3>\n

A report AIMS sent to AFP\u00a0shows <\/span>coral covers grew in\u00a0all\u00a0<\/span>three regions of the Great Barrier Reef between 2012 and 2023.<\/p>\n

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This screenshot taken April 25, 2024 shows a table from a report sent to AFP by the Australian Institute of Marine Science<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

“In 2012, it looks like coral cover was very low due to storms\/disease outbreaks,” said\u00a0Jennifer Smith<\/a>, director of the Marine Biology <\/span>Research Division of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (archived here<\/a>). “But it has recovered since then. So yes, it is more abundant now than it was then.”<\/p>\n

However, she noted April 24, 2024 that coral abundance can “change rapidly in association with disturbances.” Cannon said the recent upward trend is “likely temporary,” as the species involved are more sensitive to breakage from storm-driven waves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And while coral cover is a robust measure of reef conditions and trends, it does not take into account biodiversity changes<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“Much of the very rapid recovery that occurred <\/span>following previous bleaching events just a few years ago was of the very fast-growing but rather heat-sensitive staghorn corals<\/a>,” said\u00a0Andrew Baker<\/a>, a marine biologist at the University of Miami (archived here<\/a>), on April 24. That species includes acropora corals.<\/p>\n

He added: “It’s very likely that the high coral cover masks a cryptic loss of resilience that means that the system is much less robust than it previously was, and which might help explain why we are having the worst bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef right now.”<\/p>\n

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Graphic explaining the process of coral bleaching which can occur following higher than normal ocean temperatures<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan WALTER<\/span>Jean-Michel CORNU<\/span>AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Even if such corals recover, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists Jacqueline De La Cour<\/a> and Derek Manzello<\/a> (archived here<\/a> and here<\/a>) said the reefs will generally suffer lasting effects such as slower growth, higher vulnerability to diseases and compromised reproductive output<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“Recovery is certainly possible but becomes increasingly challenging as bleaching events become more frequent and more severe,” they told AFP on April 23.<\/p>\n

No reef loss?<\/h3>\n

On his YouTube channel, Ridd emphasizes the “brilliant” state of the Great Barrier Reef, noting that “we haven’t lost a single reef since Captain Cook<\/a> sailed down this coast in 1770″ (archived\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Terry Hughes<\/a>, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (archived here<\/a>), told AFP on April 23, 2024 that reefs “are geological structures that persist for millennia,” but it is key to examine how “the mix of species that occur on or near reefs changed in recent times<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

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This underwater photo taken April 5, 2024 shows a green turtle swimming at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef <\/span><\/p>\n

DAVID GRAY<\/span>AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Hughes said many iconic species of the Great Barrier Reef — including\u00a0turtles<\/a> and dugongs<\/a> (archived here<\/a> and here<\/a>) — are endangered <\/span>due to human-caused disturbances in their environments.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/a> says “further reef degradation due to future climate change now seems inevitable, with serious consequences for other marine and coastal ecosystems<\/span>” (archived\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

AFP has fact-checked other misleading claims about global warming’s impact on reefs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Screenshot of a video on Facebook taken April 24, 2024 Ridd, a signatory of a 2008 letter (archived here) disputing the science