Bleaching is Killing a Third of Coral in the Great Barrier Reef's North

Bleaching is Killing a Third of Coral in the Great Barrier Reef's North by Kristen Gelineau/ AP/ World/ Australia/ time.com

"This is the third and most extreme mass bleaching event in 18 years to strike the Great Barrier Reef.

(SYDNEY) — Mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, though corals to the south have escaped with little damage, scientists said on Monday.

Researchers who conducted months of aerial and underwater surveys of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) reef off Australia’s east coast found that around 35% of the coral in the northern and central sections of the reef are dead or dying, said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland state. And some parts of the reef had lost more than half of the coral to bleaching.

The extent of the damage, which has occurred in just the past couple of months, has serious implications, Hughes said..."



Mature stag-horn coral bleached at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of northern Australia. Photo released May 30, 2016.
Richard

This is really sad. Once the coral is dead, it will not come back.

If you want to know more about this problem, this article does it. It is probable longer and more detailed than most people want to read, but here is what for me is the key paragraph ...

Can 'Super Coral' Save the Great Barrier Reef? - From BBC News/ News/ World/ Australia/bbc.com

"As fears mount over the Great Barrier Reef's worst coral bleaching event in recorded history, biotechnologists in Australia are looking at ways to grow "super coral" that is more tolerant of global warming, writes Ian Lloyd Neubauer.

Heat-resistant coral is not an artificial construct. The mutation occurs naturally in the remote Kimberley region of north-west Australia, where the world's longest tropical tides create super-heated tide pools where corals have found ways to adapt and survive.

"The coral of the Kimberley is very unique because it's exposed to extreme temperature swings on a daily basis and to direct sunlight," says Dr Verena Schoepf, a University of Western Australia researcher and lead author on the first peer-reviewed study on heat-resistant coral.

"They can tolerate conditions most corals can't, which makes them very interesting to study because they're already coping with climate change," she says.

Coral bleaching occurs when changes in temperature, light or nutrients make coral eject tiny photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae that live on their exoskeletons. The absence of zooxanthellae - coral's primary food source - kicks off a downhill spiral that turns coral white and brittle, and makes it vulnerable to disease and colonisation by seaweed.

Bleaching is not necessarily fatal for coral. When record-high sea temperatures saw more than half the Great Barrier Reef affected by mass bleaching events in 1998 and 2002, 95% of all affected coral recovered once sea temperatures normalised..."


Warm currents have left huge swathes of the Great Barrier Reef affected by bleaching


Richard

Global Coral Beaching Event Expected to Last Through 2016 - by Caleb Jones, Associated Press/ AP/ apnewsarchive.com

"HONOLULU (AP) — After the most powerful El Nino on record heated the world's oceans to never-before-seen levels, huge swaths of once vibrant coral reefs that were teeming with life are now stark white ghost towns disintegrating into the sea.

And the world's top marine scientists are still struggling in the face of global warming and decades of devastating reef destruction to find the political and financial wherewithal to tackle the loss of these globally important ecosystems.

The International Coral Reef Symposium convenes Monday to try to create a more unified conservation plan for coral reefs.

Federal officials said Monday the global coral bleaching event that began in 2014 with a super-charged El Nino is ongoing and is now the longest-lasting and largest such event ever recorded.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said that the event is expected to continue for its third year, lasting at least until the end of 2016...."


In a Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 photo, rare species of Hawaiian coral being used to create a seed bank grows in a tank at the Anuenue Fisheries Research Center’s coral nursery in Honolulu. Most of Hawaii’s species of coral is unlike other coral around the world in that it grows very slowly, making restoration projects for endangered reefs in the state difficult. But state officials have come with a plan to grow large chunks of coral in a fraction of the time it would normally take. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)


Richard

Australia to Fund Great Barrier Reef Restoration and Protection
From BBC News/ World/ Australia/ bbc.com

"Australia has pledged A$500 million (£275m; $379m) to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

In recent years, the reef has lost 30% of its coral due to bleaching linked to rising sea temperatures and damage from crown-of-thorns starfish.

The funding will be used to reduce the runoff of agricultural pesticides and improve water quality.

Some of the money will be used to help farmers near the reef modify their practices.

Threats to the reef include "large amounts of sediment, nitrogen and pesticide run-off" as well as the crown-of-thorns starfish species, Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said.

The reef can be seen from space and was listed as a world heritage site in 1981 by the United Nations cultural body Unesco...."


AFP
Image caption The Great Barrier Reef is under threat from coral bleaching and damage from crown-of-thorns starfish



Richard