Environmental groups yesterday urged greater action on climate change after the Australian government declared the highest alert level over an epidemic of coral bleaching in the pristine northern reaches of the nation’s Great Barrier Reef.
The Australian government on Sunday said that corals had turned white and grey in parts of the World Heritage-listed marine park, with the bleaching “severe” in northern areas.
Environmental group the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) said large sections of coral near Lizard Island were drained of all color and fighting for survival.
Photo: Reuters
“The reef can recover, but we must speed up the shift to clean, renewable energy and we must build reef resilience by reducing runoff pollution from farms and land clearing,” WWF spokesperson Richard Leck said. Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their color.
Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonize them.
“The pictures we are seeing coming out of the northern Great Barrier Reef are devastating,” said Shani Tager of Greenpeace Australia Pacific. “The Queensland and federal governments must see this as a red alert and act accordingly.”
Tager called on the government to reconsider coal mining, saying the burning of the fuel is “driving climate change, warming our waters and bleaching the life and color out of our reef.”
Australian Minister of the Environment Greg Hunt, who inspected the area by air on Sunday, said three-quarters of the reef is experiencing “minor to moderate bleaching.”
He said that while the bleaching is nowhere near as bad as in 1998 or 2002, in the top quarter, north of Lizard Island, it was severe.
Jodie Rummer, a senior research fellow at James Cook University, said after spending 40 or so days at Lizard Island that the situation is “not good at all.”
Rummer said that while the northern parts of the reef are among its most beautiful and pristine, they have also been hard hit by cyclones in recent years, which have caused structural damage to the coral.
“Certain areas that are typically 100 percent coral cover — which is a really healthy reef — are almost 100 percent bleached now; so it is quite disturbing,” she said. “It is quite sobering to think that this is the wake up call that we are getting to take better care of our environment.”
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS