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Great Barrier Reef Report a Global Warming Alert SYDNEY, Australia, August 12, 2003 (ENS) - Corals on the world's longest reef are likely to suffer increased bleaching in coming years if reef waters continue to warm due to global climate change, says a report on Australia's Great Barrier Reef released Monday by the government of Queensland. Coral bleaching could occur on 100 days a year within the next 50 years if climate change is not slowed, the report says. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Minister for Natural Resources Stephen Robertson said the report underlines the urgent need for action to protect the reef and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Climate change is a threat to the Great Barrier Reef, which earns more than A$2 billion per year, supports industries including tourism and fishing, and may hold the keys to prevention and cure of a range of illnesses," Beattie said.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie (Photo courtesy Office of the Premier)The Queensland Department of Natural Resources commissioned the report, "Global Climate Change and Coral Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef" in 1999, with funds from the Greenhouse Special Treasury Initiative. It has been peer reviewed by experts. Robertson said the study examined three reefs - a coastal reef at Magnetic Island, a mid-shelf reef called Davies Reef, and an off-shore reef known as Myrmidon Reef.The research was done by scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Science together with the CSIRO Atmospheric Research Group and the Cooperative Research Centre. The project’s principal scientist, Dr. Terry Done, said the researchers found evidence that "the waters of the Great Barrier Reef are warming and are predicted to continue to do so at an accelerating rate throughout the 21st century," if greenhouse gas emissions are to remain at current levels or increase. "The increasing temperatures will lead to increased levels of coral bleaching, coral mortality and biodiversity depletion that could have serious consequences for the reef’s biodiversity, ecology, appearance and dependent recreational use and economic activity," Dr. Done said. Coral bleaching occurs when coral colonies lose their color because the corals expel their colorful symbiotic algae due to extreme stress, such as unusually hot water, the Australian Institute of Marine Science explains.
Normally dark blue staghorn Acropora coral on a mid-shelf reef shows pale blue, white and dead patches of bleached corals. (Photo courtesy AIMS)Much of the recent increase in coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is attributed to the warming of the Pacific Ocean by the Australian scientists. During the 20th century, maximum average monthly sea surface temperatures have increased by almost 0.5 degrees Celsius (.9 degrees Fahrenheit)."This emerging trend is significant," Dr. Done said, "because it means a progressive increase in the extreme temperature conditions associated with episodes of coral bleaching." Greenhouse gas emissions are currently increasing in most places throughout the world, including Australia. Scientific predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecast a further increase in concentrations of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) by the end of this century, with some scenarios predicting a doubling or even tripling of today's CO2 levels. The impacts of these emissions on the Great Barrier Reef were assessed based on a high and a low global greenhouse gas emission scenario. Under the high emission scenario, "bleaching impacts on coastal, mid-shelf and offshore reefs are very likely to become catastrophic for corals," the report states. Under the low greenhouse gas emission scenario, coral bleaching impacts by 2050 would be much more likely to remain at low to moderate levels in all cases. "The upper temperature limit of both scenarios would be reached if global carbon dioxide concentrations doubled by about 2080," said Premier Beattie. The report calls for government action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to improve reef resilience. "We believe that current initiatives of federal and state governments in relation to protected areas, fishing and water quality should all work to promote ecological resilience in coral communities," the authors write. Australian Environment Minister Dr. David Kemp said the government has two key programs aimed at improving reef resilience - the joint Commonwealth-Queensland Water Quality Protection Plan, and the Commonwealth's Representative Areas Program, which aims to protect more of the reef in "no-take" zones. "Current efforts to protect biodiversity, improve water quality and promote sustainable fisheries are critical to the future health of the reef," Kemp said. "The report recommends that the best thing the government can do is to maintain the resilience of the reef, and that is exactly what we are doing." Queensland Premier Beattie said, "This report, which was considered by Cabinet today, hardens my resolve to forge ahead with the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan we are undertaking jointly with the Commonwealth."
Bleached corals on the Great Barrier Reef (Photo courtesy AIMS)Dr. Done said episodic disturbances and population turnover in corals and associated communities were normal aspects of the ecological dynamics in coral reefs. "There can be little doubt, however, that global climate change has made previously infrequent coral bleaching disturbances commonplace."He said while the scientific record indicated that loss of color by corals is a natural phenomenon, observations in the last 20 years suggest that its extent, severity and rates of resultant coral death are increasing. Although Australia has sided with the United States in rejecting ratification of the Kyoto climate protocol and its targeted reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized countries, Dr. Kemp said today that Australia is committed to meeting Kyoto targets for greenhouse gas reductions, and to an improved global approach to emission reductions. The Kyoto Protocol, which has not yet taken effect, requires that Australia limit its increase in greenhouse gas emissions to eight percent over 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012. Greenpeace Australia warns that the report on the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef "clearly demonstrates why the government should not approve the expansion of the highly greenhouse polluting Stuart Shale Oil Project near Gladstone." The Queensland Government is expected to make a decision shortly on the proposed expansion of the Stuart Project, a joint venture between Southern Pacific Petroleum NL, Central Pacific Minerals NL and Suncor Energy. More than 14,000 people and 27 environment, tourism and fishing groups have called on Queensland to reject the expansion. The development of a shale oil industry could increase Australia's greenhouse emssions to more than 200 percent of 1990 levels warns Greenpeace Australia, which has been campaigning against the development of a shale oil industry since 1998 because of its environmental impacts. The report, "Global Climate Change and Coral Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef," is available online at: http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/ |
