River run-off threatens Great Barrier Reef - Reuters

[Eugene]

River run-off threatens Great Barrier Reef
21 Feb 2007 05:24:49 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Suheil Damouny

SYDNEY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Satellite images of Australia's Great
Barrier Reef show that sediment from river run-off is threatening
the reef at a greater rate than previously realised, Australia's
peak scientific body said on Wednesday.

The images, taken this month by NASA and U.S. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration satellites, show sediment creating
a hazy cloud over the reef, blocking sunlight and hindering
photosynthesis, the process that keeps coral alive.

"The run-off from torrential rainfall goes into the Great Barrier
Reef lagoon and straight into the ocean at speeds which were not
thought to occur before we saw the images," said Arnold Dekker,
from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO).

-snip-

Global warming is also expected to result in more frequent storms,
such as cyclones that lash Australia's tropical north and flood
rivers flowing into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD20911.htm