The Great Barrier Reef also appears to be dying

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced a third mass coral bleaching event in five years, according to the scientist carrying out aerial surveys over hundreds of individual reefs.

With three days of a nine-day survey to go, Prof Terry Hughes told Guardian Australia: “We know this is a mass bleaching event and it’s a severe one.”

It follows the worst outbreaks of mass bleaching on record killing about half the shallow water corals on the world’s biggest reef system in 2016 and 2017.

[...]

Global heating caused by escalating atmospheric greenhouse gases is a major threat to the world’s coral reef ecosystems. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found the published evidence suggested a majority of tropical coral reefs would disappear even if heating was limited to 1.5C and would be “at very high risk” at 1.2C. The globe has warmed about 1C since the industrial revolution.

[...]

Not all bleached corals die. Corals bleach when they sit in waters that are unusually hot for too long. They can recover if temperatures fall, but are often killed when high temperatures are sustained.

[...]

Hughes said he was worried about corals in areas yet to be surveyed in the south. Those reefs had higher proportions of corals that were more susceptible to bleaching. “If they do bleach severely, we will see significant losses,” he said.

In 2016 and 2017, there was no severe bleaching south of Hydrographers Passage, a natural shipping channel north-east of Mackay. Hughes said by late Tuesday they had surveyed about 10 reefs south of the passage and found all were severely bleached.

  Guardian

Destroyers R Us

Two U.S. AV-8B Harrier jets accidentally bombed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during a training exercise on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

The jets launched from USS Bonhomme Richard and accidentally released an inert bomb and an unarmed explosive bomb from 164 feet above the water, according to a statement released from U.S. 7th Fleet on Saturday. Neither of the bombs exploded and they possibly caused minimal damage to the reef.

  Raw Story

”Possibly.” I am having doubts.

US officials said the pilots of two AV-8B Harrier jets were forced to jettison the unarmed devices on Tuesday because both aircraft were running low on fuel and could not land with the bombs on board.

The pilots intended to drop the munitions on a designated bombing range on Townshend Island but aborted the mission when controllers reported the area was not clear of hazards.

Instead, they jettisoned two bombs from each aircraft on the World Heritage-listed marine park off the coast of Queensland state.

  New Sky

Low on fuel? Both of them?  Somebody forget to fill up the tanks? Somebody failed to calculate the amount of fuel needed correctly? And how many bombs were there?  Two?

The four bombs, weighing a total 1.8 metric tons (4,000 pounds), were dropped in more than 50 meters (164 feet) of water away from coral that was supposed to have minimized possible damage to the reef, the statement said. None of the bombs exploded.

[...]

The pilots [...] went ahead with an emergency jettison as they were not allowed to land with bombs on board and both were low on fuel, the navy said.

  RT

Oh. Two EACH.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, and pulling away from it, and viewing it from a greater distance, you can understand why. It is larger than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.

[...]

The Great Barrier Reef is a breeding area for humpback whales, migrating from the Antarctic and is also the habitat of a few endangered species including the Dugong (Sea Cow) and large Green Sea Turtle. In recognition of its significance, UNESCO listed the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

  GreatBarrierReef.org

One of these things doesn’t belong here. Can you guess which one?



Actually, perhaps two of these things.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Great Barrier Reef:  A Fragile Empire  (BBC)