Scientists: Damage To Great Barrier Reef From Repeated Bleachings Since 1998 "Irreversible"

[hatrack]

EDIT

Scientists said that if nations honored global commitments in the Paris climate accord aimed at preventing temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, Australia would still have the Great Barrier Reef in 50 years. It would still look very different from today.

But if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, the reef will be unrecognizable, they said.

“We’re in unchartered territory,” Professor Hughes said, adding, “Where we end up depends completely on how well or how badly we deal with climate change.”

The Great Barrier Reef has bleached four times since 1998, according to scientists. Record high temperatures in 2016 were followed by another bleaching event last year.
“We’re now at a point where we’ve lost close to half of the corals in shallow-water habitats across the northern two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef due to back-to-back bleaching over two consecutive years,” said Sean Connolly, also with the center for coral reef studies at James Cook University.

EDIT/END

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/world/australia/australia-barrier-reef.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

[SHRED]

1. Not just there

I know people on the Tongan Islands and many coral reefs are dead or dying there.