How dead is the Great Barrier Reef?

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world and the only living structure visible from space. Although ecosystem managers in Australia have worked hard to preserve the reefs, the past couple of decades have brought a new threat that can't be solved by any one country alone: human-induced global warming. Rising ocean temperatures have caused mass coral bleaching in coral reefs around the world, in every tropical ocean from the Caribbean to the South Pacific. This is now considered to be the biggest threat that coral reefs face, and they face many, including overfishing, pollution, storm damage, and invasive species.
siftbotsays...

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, May 22nd, 2017 6:08pm PDT - promote requested by nanrod.

newtboysays...

So...by 2050 corals will bleach yearly, but they cannot recover with a bleaching event happening once every 10 years (a level we've already long ago passed in many areas). This means those bleached now have almost zero chance of survival/recovery.

As a main base food source for the oceans from gametes to polyps, as well as a habitat for over 25% of species (and probably a higher percentage of bio mass), the loss of reefs will be the death of the already struggling oceanic food web.

transmorphersays...

Skip the beef, and save the reef :-)
Choose the bean pattie instead.

"Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.


Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”

Goodland, Robert & Anhang, Jeff. "Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs and chickens?". WorldWatch. November/December 2009

Hickman, Martin. "Study claims meat creates half of all greenhouse gases". Independent. November 2009

Hyner, Christopher. "A Leading Cause of Everything: One Industry That Is Destroying Our Planet and Our Ability to Thrive on It". Georgetown Environmental Law Review. October 23, 2015. (New)"

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