Environment & Energy

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts) Sun Apr 14, 2019, 09:01 PM Apr 2019

Radical climate action 'critical' to Great Barrier Reef's survival, government body says

https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/radical-climate-action-critical-to-great-barrier-reef-s-survival-government-body-says-20190413-p51dul.html

Radical climate action 'critical' to Great Barrier Reef's survival, government body says

By Nicole Hasham
April 13, 2019 — 11.00pm

Australia's top Great Barrier Reef officials warn the natural wonder will virtually collapse if the planet becomes 1.5 degrees hotter – a threshold that scientists say requires shutting down coal within three decades.

This federal election campaign is a potential tipping point for Australia's direction on climate action, as the major parties pledge distinctly different targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

…

In response to the threat, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority – the federal government's lead agency for managing the reef – has prepared a climate change position statement.

The document, obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age under freedom of information laws, has not been released to the general public despite being in development for the past 15 months.

…

10 replies

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Radical climate action 'critical' to Great Barrier Reef's survival, government body says (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 OP

I don't believe there is anything we can do at this point lapfog_1 Apr 2019 #1

That advice may kill it sooner OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #2

most scuba divers lapfog_1 Apr 2019 #3

Will they fly there? OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #4

A Scuba Diver's Impact On A Coral Reef OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #5

I'm well aware of the damage done to coral lapfog_1 Apr 2019 #6

Responsible Reef Practices OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #7

but not the people I've told to visit the GBR in the next year or so lapfog_1 Apr 2019 #8

A maxim I learned and embraced... OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #10

Scuba diving damage and intensity of tourist activities increases coral disease prevalence OKIsItJustMe Apr 2019 #9

lapfog_1

(29,205 posts)

1. I don't believe there is anything we can do at this point

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Original post)

Sun Apr 14, 2019, 09:25 PM

Apr 2019

even if every person on earth produced no more methane and CO2, the GBR is likely to die almost completely, sadly.

I've been telling any scuba divers I meet to go see it now, within the next year or so.

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

2. That advice may kill it sooner

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #1)

Sun Apr 14, 2019, 11:55 PM

Apr 2019

How will they get there? Will they wear sunscreen?

lapfog_1

(29,205 posts)

3. most scuba divers

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Reply #2)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 07:02 AM

Apr 2019

wear diveskins or wet suits. no need of sunscreen in the water.

this has many advantages over diving in swim suits.

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

4. Will they fly there?

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 10:51 AM

Apr 2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/12/10/we-study-climate-we-chose-not-fly-dc-conference-it/

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

5. A Scuba Diver's Impact On A Coral Reef

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 11:08 AM

Apr 2019

https://www.divein.com/articles/a-scuba-divers-impact-on-a-coral-reef/

A Scuba Diver’s Impact On A Coral Reef

by Torben Lonne

Coral reef diving is an all-time favorite to most scuba divers. But like it or not, scuba divers are causing substantial damage to the world’s coral reefs.

Scientific evidence shows that divers are directly and/or indirectly responsible for damaging the reef life with some of their thoughtless behaviors.

Not to say that all divers are harming reef life intentionally. But due to some divers’ lack of proper training, it is done unknowingly at times.

Coral reef diving possesses some unique challenges compared to other methods of diving.

…

lapfog_1

(29,205 posts)

6. I'm well aware of the damage done to coral

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Reply #5)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 11:16 AM

Apr 2019

by thoughtless divers.

when I was teaching diving in the Caribbean 39 year ago...

1. the dive boats did not "drop anchor" wherever, we tied up to established anchorages.

2. we never brought food with us to feed any fish

3. NO TOUCHING anything was the rule.

4. anyone breaking the rule was beached and my diving company would not take them diving again.

The damage at the GBR is not done by divers... it is from climate change.

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

7. Responsible Reef Practices

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #6)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 11:37 AM

Apr 2019

While I'm glad you followed responsible practices, you know there are plenty of novices who do not.

lapfog_1

(29,205 posts)

8. but not the people I've told to visit the GBR in the next year or so

Reply to OKIsItJustMe (Reply #7)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 11:54 AM

Apr 2019

mankind is killing all the coral reefs everywhere because we have steadfastly refused to stop emitting greenhouse gases... despite the warnings from scientists for decades now.

And I was one of the people that tried to help get the message out in the 1990s as I worked for NASA then and I stored all of the remote sensing data for MTPE (the project that gathered the proof that climate change was real). The data that Hansen and the others used to prove their hypothesis and to start providing modeling data on what would happen if we continued.

The majority (probably vast majority) of scuba divers are acutely aware of the damage done to coral reefs over the years by a minority of thoughtless divers... and more damage done by fishermen who use bleach to fish (look it up)... and by people who just drop a boat anchor on the reef... and, finally, by the billions of us who use fossil fuels directly or indirectly every day.

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

10. A maxim I learned and embraced...

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #8)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 12:06 PM

Apr 2019

… “Statistically speaking, ‘the people I know,’ makes a lousy sample.”

The vast majority of SCUBA divers you know may be responsible. However, how many tourist operations exist where they teach people how to breathe using a regulator, and then drop them into the water?

OKIsItJustMe

(19,938 posts)

9. Scuba diving damage and intensity of tourist activities increases coral disease prevalence

Reply to lapfog_1 (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 15, 2019, 11:56 AM

Apr 2019

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.06.027

Biological Conservation
Volume 178, October 2014, Pages 88-96

Scuba diving damage and intensity of tourist activities increases coral disease prevalence

…

Abstract

Recreational diving and snorkeling on coral reefs is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors globally. Damage associated with intensive recreational tourist use has been documented extensively on coral reefs, however other impacts on coral health are unknown. Here, we compare the prevalence of 4 coral diseases and 8 other indicators of compromised coral health at high and low use dive sites around the island of Koh Tao, Thailand. Surveys of 10,499 corals reveal that the mean prevalence of healthy corals at low use sites (79%) was twice that at high use sites (45%). We also found a 3-fold increase in coral disease prevalence at high use sites, as well as significant increases in sponge overgrowth, physical injury, tissue necrosis from sediment, and non-normally pigmented coral tissues. Injured corals were more susceptible to skeletal eroding band disease only at high use sites, suggesting that additional stressors associated with use intensity facilitate disease development. Sediment necrosis of coral tissues was strongly associated with the prevalence of white syndromes, a devastating group of diseases, across all sites. We did not find significant differences in mean levels of coral growth anomalies or black band disease between high and low use sites. Our results suggest that several indicators of coral health increase understanding of impacts associated with rapid tourism development. Identifying practical management strategies, such as spatial management of multiple reef-based activities, is necessary to balance growth of tourism and maintenance of coral reefs.

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