Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is straining from climate change but ‘controversial’ research could help save it

Some experience extra heat or more light, water contaminants and changes in salinity. Three million litres of seawater can be pumped through this system every day. While the natural environment outside has never been more unpredictable, here, everything is controlled.

“The long term outlook for the reef is not great, unfortunately. And the main reason is climate change,” said Dr Paul Hardisty, the chief executive officer of AIMS, which is the country’s tropical marine research agency. “We're not talking about some of the small coral gardening efforts that are happening around the world where divers go down and try to regenerate by hand small areas of reef that have been degraded. It’s an automated, major, almost industrial-scale effort to help the reef adapt to climate change.”

“It's certainly a challenge. But the alternative is we don't do anything. What we're trying to do is push the envelope. But for them to stand a chance, he says that stabilising global temperatures must be the most urgent priority. Having this damaging situation during a La Nina cycle is particularly alarming. However, bleaching is not a death sentence and corals can rebound given the right conditions.

“There are still really critical areas of fundamental science that's missing. And so, we don't know that much about the bleaching phenomenon. We don't know the genes that control it. We don't know how inheritable those genes are,” said Andrew Baird, a professor at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

With reefs supporting a quarter of the entire world’s marine life, their loss and damage would have major environmental and economic impacts. “If it's struggling, then, you know, other reefs around the world are going to be struggling too,” he said. Yet, not everybody involved in the tourism industry seemed concerned about the conditions, short or long term.

Meantime, tourist numbers to the Queensland coast have been decimated in recent years by a combination of seasonal flooding, the COVID-19 pandemic and this season’s weather conditions.

Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

7 great biking cities you can explore on two wheels while on a holiday (and which trails to ride)Planning a holiday and considering exploring on two wheels? From Paris to San Francisco to Copenhagen, we’ve got you covered.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Australia greats, former team mates honour Symonds at public memorialMELBOURNE : Former Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds was remembered as a rare cricket talent and 'mischievous character' at a public memorial in the north Queensland city of Townsville on Friday.Symonds, who played 238 internationals, including 26 tests, for Australia between 1998-2009, died at the age
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Climate change effect on Peruvian glaciers debated in German courtHUARAZ: German judges and experts have arrived at the edge of a melting glacier high up in the Peruvian Andes to examine a complaint made by a local farmer who accuses energy giant RWE of threatening his home by contributing to global warming. The visit by the nine-member delegation to the region is t
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

UN rights envoy defends controversial China visitBEIJING: The UN rights envoy on Saturday (May 28) said her contentious visit to China was \u0022not an investigation\u0022, and insisted she had unsupervised access during meetings in Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses. Michelle Bachelet\u0027s long-planned trip this week has taken Of course, no ones in the West need to knows the truth... They just prefer to speculate and accuse...
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »

Horror Maestro Mick Garris On How His Career Began In A Galaxy Far, Far Away — As A Receptionist On The First Star Wars Movie“Star Wars, how may I help you?”
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »

Ian Fang Says Reverting To Original Chinese Name Is Like “Reincarnation”, Hopes To “Make Up For Things In The Past [He] Didn’t Handle Well”The Mediacorp actor tells 8days.sg he wants a 'new start' in his career. However, he is not changing his English name 'cos it's a 'great name'.
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »