Livelihood of 70,000 people is at risk, according to scientists
by Ciara Linnane
Market Watch
One of Australia’s greatest natural wonders and a valuable tourism attraction is in grave danger from global warming, experts say.
As much as 93% of the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by coral bleaching, Australian scientists revealed this week, in a report based on extensive aerial and underwater surveys. The report was published just days after researchers found coral bleaching far south of the Great Barrier Reef in Sydney Harbour and ahead of Earth Day on Friday.
[…] “We’ve never seen anything like this scale of bleaching before,” said Professor Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and head of the National Coral Bleaching Task Force that produced the report. “In the northern Great Barrier Reef, it’s like 10 cyclones have come ashore all at once.”