Crumby news about the Great Barrier Reef

[+FluxCapacitor]

https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/10/the-endangered-great-barrier-reef-is-not-in-danger-says-unesco/

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had voted not to add Australia's

Great Barrier Reef to its list of sites in danger. The baffling decision was taken despite the reef's currently perilous state, where back-to-back coral bleaching events threaten more than two thirds of its length. Even worse, is that UNESCO published a paper just last month, saying that if nothing was done, the Reef would die in a century. The cause of this spectacular act of cognitive dissonance is political, thanks to hard lobbying from Australia's government.

The Great Barrier Reef is a wonder of the natural world, and is pegged to benefit Australia's economy to the tune of $56 billion. If it was added to the danger list, the country would be forced to take drastic action to protect it, which could threaten its short-term profitability. Not to mention that Australia is building a $4 billion coal mine which will ship tonnes of climate change-causing material through the Reef itself. Building the mine, and cutting a shipping canal through the reef to support it, is likely to cause extraordinary harm to the local ecosystem.

As Reuters explains, UNESCO's decision prevents "political embarrassment and potential damage to the country's lucrative tourism industry." It also serves as an endorsement of Australia's current plan to maintain the Reef's ecosystem through its own, lighter-touch methods. UNESCO did, however, say that it held some concerns about the health of the Reef, urging the country to improve water quality in the surrounding area. Although, given that climate change is the biggest factor as to its current condition, backing a coal project next door will seem like adding insult to injury.

[Isaac]

UNESCO's relevance has become a joke.  They are too focused on anti-israel things than the rest of the world, its appalling (for both reasons). 

[mFrame]

http://www.snopes.com/scientists-pronounce-great-barrier-reef-dead/

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ausandpacific/great-barrier-reef-endangered-demise-exaggerated-locals-claim-australia-queensland-unesco-world-a7827796.html

and a pretty decent summary:

 

[Timfish]

Just so sad!   Throw in over fishing, especially sharks, and it may take just years, not decades to destroy it.

[Neon Reefer]

[+FluxCapacitor]

I think too much of the population take the coral reefs for granted.  I know that I did before getting into this hobby, I had no idea how exact the parameters had to be.  It's almost like the stars lining up to make this happen in the ocean and I believe many people just don't realize that.  I've met several people that think coral is the white skeletons of dead coral that scrape up surfers.... not having any idea that it's actually an animal that can eat meaty foods.

[mFrame]

21 hours ago, FluxCapacitor said:

I think too much of the population take the coral reefs for granted.  I know that I did before getting into this hobby, I had no idea how exact the parameters had to be.  It's almost like the stars lining up to make this happen in the ocean and I believe many people just don't realize that.  I've met several people that think coral is the white skeletons of dead coral that scrape up surfers.... not having any idea that it's actually an animal that can eat meaty foods.

? I don't think the conditions in the ocean have to be so exact.  Study after study I've seen show corals surviving in drastically different conditions.  I'll see if I can find some videos of the coral beds on the west coast of Australia.  Duncans and many types of SPS are exposed directly to air for several hours each day during low tide and they all do fine.

The biggest issue I've read about with the barrier reef isn't anything that is directly targeted at the reef or even global climate change, but rather the outflow of fertilizers from the mainland.  They promote algae growth, and the algae just simply out-competes the corals and chokes them out.  That and the crown of thorns star infestation mean the reefs are just getting hit from all angles.  

[victoly]

The reality is that it is a confluence of issues. Any single out of whack parameter can be dangerous, but the layers of the onion are manifold in this case. Another big one is the increase in dissolved CO2 in the ocean. Coral's ability to precipitate skeleton is finely tuned to the amount of carbonate in the water (i.e., alkalinity as HCO3) and pH. The amount of dissolved CO2 has a direct effect on pH, which is the biggest control on aragonite precipitation. An interesting study was completed that artificially raised pH in an area of a reef, which resulted in something like 10% growth rate increase akin to pre-industrial ocean pH conditions.