Great Barrier Reef Damaged by Severe Coral Bleaching; Australian Government Not Doing Anything?

The Great Barrier Reef was damaged last year as people know. Surprisingly, new reports have emerged stated that another damage to the reef happened this year due to massive bleaching. This time, the overall damage on the reef had already reached two-third out of the entire Great Barrier Reef.

According to Gizmodo, Terry Hughes and James Kerry with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies had investigated Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The two scientists then found out that after three events had damaged the reef, another happened this year.

In a video of ARC Director Hughes, he mentioned that the damage this year to the Great Barrier Reef was due to the “record breaking” temperature that global warming had brought. He then mentioned that the previous drastic events that led to the reef’s damage were caused by something like last March was caused by Tropical Cyclone Debbie.

Yet, this 2017 there was no reason aside from global warming as no El Niño conditions were found to cause it. “It takes at least a decade for a full recovery of even the fastest growing corals, so mass bleaching events 12 months apart offers zero prospect of recovery for reefs that were damaged in 2016,” senior research officer Kerry explained.

The Guardian then reported the findings of the damage of the Great Barrier Reef this year. The investigation then found out by Hughes and Kerry that 800 individual coral reefs across 8,000km were damaged.

Water quality expert, Jon Brodie who had taken care of the Great Barrier Reef was reported to already lost hope on saving it. He stated that aside from the reef being on “terminal” stage, they already had spent a lot of money but they haven’t achieved success. Brodie also drastically shared that amid being his life focused on managing water quality, they’ve “failed” and “given up.”

“The federal government is doing nothing really, and the current programs, the water quality management is having very limited success,” Brodie said. It was then concluded that the northern 1,500 km stretch of the Great Barrier Reef was damaged last year, and its middle section this year. A lot of attention and concern are now given into its southern portion, nonetheless, many still remain optimistic upon saving the reef.