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Coral bleaching is a serious and widespread problem, with two global bleaching events in the past decade. But it’s only going to get worse if we don’t rapidly curb greenhouse gas emissions.
New research using supercomputing to process daily data on sea surface temperatures around the world has produced grim projections: coral bleaching due to marine heatwaves is set to become more common. By 2080 it will start in spring rather than summer, and will last longer into autumn. This means bleaching will start to affect the annual mass coral spawning in spring, which could lead to large-scale coral loss.
As Camille Mellin and Damien Fordham explain, the risk of coral bleaching will be greatest near the Equator, which is where the most biodiverse coral reefs are found. These are also the regions where people rely most heavily on coral reefs for their food and livelihoods.
The upside of the research is that it also identifies areas of lower bleaching risk. These coral “havens” can become the focus of strategies to conserve coral species and help maximise their adaptation to climate change.
In the shorter term, there are grave fears for the Great Barrier Reef following last summer’s mass bleaching, after new drone imagery emerged showing 97% of coral at a reef off Lizard Island has died. As Jane Williamson writes, Australia must act immediately to prevent more coral deaths if it wants to preserve this natural wonder.
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John Watson
Cities Editor and Deputy Energy + Environment Editor
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Camille Mellin, University of Adelaide; Damien Fordham, University of Adelaide
Increasing coral bleaching will be worst for the most biodiverse reefs along the equator, impacting the livelihoods and nutrition of the people who depend on them.
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Jane Williamson, Macquarie University; Karen Joyce, James Cook University; Vincent Raoult, Griffith University
If Australia wants to maintain the world-heritage status of the Great Barrier Reef – indeed, if it wants to preserve the reef at all – we must act now to prevent more coral deaths.
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Holly Cullen, The University of Western Australia
In pleading guilty to one count under the US Espionage Act as part of a plea deal, the WikiLeaks founder’s case has left some large legal concepts unresolved.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
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Isaac Gross, Monash University
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Ray Fells, The University of Western Australia
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
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Amin Naeni, Deakin University
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Susan Hutchinson, Australian National University
The Afghans is powerful account of the rise of the Taliban, told through the lives of three very different people.
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Anthony Waddle, Macquarie University
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Cher McGillivray, Bond University
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Susan Broomhall, Australian Catholic University
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Carol Maher, University of South Australia; Johanna Badcock, The University of Western Australia
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Health + Medicine
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Cassy Dittman, CQUniversity Australia; Govind Krishnamoorthy, University of Southern Queensland; Marg Rogers, University of New England
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Vincent Ho, Western Sydney University
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Environment + Energy
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Rosemary Hill, James Cook University; Ian Lowe, Griffith University
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Glenn Banks, Massey University
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Natasha Szuhan, Australian National University
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