Great Barrier Reef Experts Likening This Year's Summer To Record Bleaching Year Of 1998

[hatrack]

Satellite images show sea surface temperatures in the Coral Sea are already higher than average and the Bureau of Meteorology and the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have both forecast a high risk of coral bleaching.

Dr Russell Reichelt, the chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, says scientists are comparing this year's summer to another devastating time for the world's reefs. "They're likening the conditions that we're looking at this summer now to be same as they were in 1998, when a very large global event occurred where 16 per cent of the world's coral reefs died from coral bleaching," he said.

Half of the Great Barrier Reef was affected by coral bleaching in that year, but only 5 per cent suffered permanent damage. Dr Reichelt says reefs can recover from bleaching if they do not face further stresses from pollution, over-fishing or repeated hot weather events. "Things like poor water quality running off the land should be cleaned up," he said. "Things like damaging ... from anchoring on corals should be prevented.

"We want a healthy reef to be able to withstand the pressures that are happening from global warming." Professor Terry Hughes, the director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, says if the warmer temperatures persist for more than two months there is a serious risk of coral dying.

EDIT

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/19/2451325.htm