Climate Skeptics Dismiss the Severity of Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef

Ridd, a Signatory of a letter from 2008 (archived here) dispute the science on climate changehas previously made similar statements about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and recent ones growth of Acropora corals.

The region experienced its worst bleaching in the summers of 2023 and 2024, as water temperatures rose and corals expelled microscopic algae to survive.

Ridd is right when he says coral Covers have been growing in the Great Barrier Reef in recent years, but scientists told AFP it painted an overly rosy picture of the situation.

“Dr. Ridd has used this claim as evidence that the threats to the Great Barrier Reef are overstated, which is misleading,” said Sara Cannon, a Postdoctoral fellow research fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries (archived here) said on April 23: 2024.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said in a statement on April 23 that the mass bleaching events of the last decade were unprecedented.

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

“Prior to these years, there is no evidence of such widespread events in the 500-year coral recorded history of the Great Barrier Reef.”

Coral growth?

A report sent by AIMS to AFP shows Coverings of coral grew into it all three regions of the Great Barrier Reef between 2012 and 2023.

“In 2012, coral cover appeared to be very low due to storms/disease outbreaks,” said Jennifer Smith, director of the Navy biology Scripps Institution of Oceanography Research Department (archived here). “But it has since recovered. So yes, it’s more common now than it was back then.”

However, on April 24, 2024, it noted that coral abundance “can change rapidly in association with disturbance.” Cannon said the recent uptick is “likely temporary” because affected species are more sensitive to disruption from storm-related waves.

And although coral cover is a reliable measure of reef conditions and trends, it does not take into account biodiversity Changes.

“A lot of the very quick recovery that happened “After previous bleaching events just a few years ago, these were very fast-growing but fairly heat-sensitive staghorn corals,” said Andrew Baker, a marine biologist at the University of Miami (archived here), on April 24. Acropora corals also belong to this species.

He added: “It is very likely that the high coral cover is hiding a cryptic loss of resilience, meaning the system is much less robust than before, and which could explain why we are experiencing the worst bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef. ” at the moment.”

Even if such corals recover, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists Jacqueline De La Cour and Derek Manzello (archived here and here) said that the reefs in general would face lasting effects such as slower growth, higher susceptibility to disease and deterioration will have reproductive capacity output.

“Recovery is certainly possible, but is becoming increasingly difficult as bleaching events become more frequent and severe,” they told AFP on April 23.

No reef loss?

On his YouTube channel, Ridd highlights the “brilliant” state of the Great Barrier Reef, noting that “we haven’t lost a single reef since Captain Cook sailed along this coast in 1770” (archived here).

Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (archived here), told AFP on April 23, 2024 that reefs are “geological structures that have persisted for millennia” but it is important to study how “the mix The number of species found on or near reefs has changed recently just.”

Hughes said many of the Great Barrier Reef’s iconic species – including turtles and dugongs (archived here and here) – were affected endangered due to human-caused disturbances in their environment.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says: “Further degradation of reefs due to future climate change now appears to be inevitable, with serious consequences for other marine and coastal areas.” Ecosystems” (archived here).

AFP has reviewed more misleading claims about the impact of global warming on reefs here.