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Why current?
2020-11-28
A new study describing the rapid decline of the Great Barrier Reef recently appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Journal. The study, which looked at the conditions of the reef from 1995 to 2017, found that because of several mass bleaching events that took place in rapid succession, a large portion of corals on the Great Barrier Reef have died.
Mass bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures rise beyond the comfort zone of coral. Stressed corals expel the algae inside of them. This algae is their main source of food, and it gives them their spectacular colors. Bleached coral is not necessarily dead; it can recover. But this process takes at least 10 years for even the most resilient species. If mass bleaching events occur too close together, the coral does not have time to repair itself, and it dies.
1998 saw the first mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef. That had been the hottest year on record at the time. The next major bleaching of the reef occurred just four years later in 2002. But the worst shock came when two mass bleaching events took place back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. And now, in 2020, another mass bleaching event, which hit a stretch of the reef that had previously been spared, has further alarmed scientists. It’s unlikely that the large sections of the Great Barrier Reef that were recently damaged will have enough time to recover before the next event hits. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, which began gathering ocean temperature data in 1900, the February 2020 sea temperatures were the highest ever recorded.
Terry Hughes, a co-author of the recently published study and professor at James Cook University in North Queensland, Australia, said that he and his fellow researchers were astounded by the speed at which mass-bleaching and the subsequent deterioration of the Great Barrier Reef were occurring. He said that there is little reason to believe that those changes will not accelerate in the coming years, unless the world addresses the increasingly devastating impact of climate change.
More about the Great Barrier Reef
- The Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, stretches for 1,600 miles (2,600 km) along the northeastern coast of Australia.
- 3,000 reefs (structures of coral colonies) and 900 islands make up the huge expanse called the Great Barrier Reef. It covers an area roughly the size of Italy.
- Coral reefs are made of many, many coral polyps. Each polyp is a tiny individual animal. It has a soft sac-like body, a mouth, and tentacles. To protect itself, the coral polyp generates a hard outer shell made of calcium carbonate. These creatures are nocturnal – only active at night – and stay within their rocky armor during the day. At night, they emerge and use their tentacles to grab food.
- The body of a coral polyp is clear, and its bones are white. Thriving coral is colorful thanks to the algae that lives inside its body. This algae is vital to the survival of the coral.
- The corals that comprise the thousands of reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are actually sitting on the hard remains of dead corals that scientists believe to be some 20 million years old.
- A multitude of organisms live in and around the corals of the Great Barrier Reef. The area is home to more than 400 species of coral, 30 species of whale, dolphin, and porpoise, 1,500 fish species, 4,000 types of mollusk, a huge variety of sponges, anemones, crustaceans, turtles, and sea snakes, and – above the sea – 240 bird species. The ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef with its diversity of lifeforms is one of the most intricate on the planet.
- Large table-shaped and branching corals provide the perfect habitat for many fish, so when they vanish, the ecosystem is fundamentally damaged. The mass bleaching events of recent years have laid waste to areas that were home to these particular corals, which have now largely disappeared from the northern sections of the reef.
- Scientists have discovered that due to the ocean warming that occurred between 1995 and 2017, populations of almost every type of coral along the Great Barrier Reef have shrunk significantly. Colonies are now smaller, as there are fewer baby corals and fewer breeding adults. Fewer corals means a steep decline in the amount of overall life in this vast underwater community. One scientist commented that while 20 years ago the Great Barrier Reef was teeming with life, it’s now teeming with death.
- The warming of the seas is attributed to human-caused climate change. Coal burning contributes greatly to carbon emissions, which speed up global warming, and Australia is the biggest coal exporter in the world. Despite calls to scale down the coal industry and work harder to address the problems of climate change, the government has resisted. Droughts, bush fires, periods of extreme heat, and the decline of the Great Barrier Reef do not seem to be reason enough for the government to take more drastic action to address Australia’s role in the climate crisis.
- Tourism to the Great Barrier Reef both helps and hurts this vast, yet fragile, ecosystem. On the one hand, the billions of dollars that the tourism industry brings to the reef, along with the educational opportunities that abound when people from all over the world witness what is happening to the area, are positives that can help in the revitalization of the Great Barrier Reef. On the other hand, too many visitors exploring the reefs can damage them, as people touch the coral, leave litter behind, and dirty the water with sun screen and other chemicals.
- Local, direct action is being taken to try to bring devastated sections of the Great Barrier Reef back to a healthier state. Researchers take corals and nurture them in nurseries until they are strong and thriving. Then they return them to the reef, in hopes that they will start a cycle of rejuvenation in the area. Local polluting of the reefs can also be addressed if there is the will to do so. But scientists agree: all such efforts will be for naught if the Great Barrier Reef has another mass bleaching event within the next few years. Without urgent climate action, through the collaboration of government, industry, and individuals, there will most likely be just such an event in the near future. This will spell doom for one of the most iconic, beloved wonders of our planet, and will in fact, affect marine life – and life in general – everywhere.
Source: Aljazeera, “Global heating kills half the corals on the Great Barrier Reef,” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/great-barrier-reef, October 14, 2020; Cramer, Maria, The New York Times, “The Great Barrier Reef Has Lost Half Its Corals,” https://www.nytimes.com/great-barrier-reef-climate-change.html, October 14, 2020; Regan, Helen, edition.cnn, “Great Barrier Reef suffers third mass bleaching event in five years,” https://edition.cnn.com//australia/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-2020.html, April 7, 2020; Sightseeing Tours Australia, “11 Amazing Facts About The Great Barrier Reef,” https://greatbarrierreeftourscairns.com.au/blog/amazing-facts-about-the-great-barrier-reef/.