One of Australia’s top tourism icons – the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef – is under renewed threat from coral bleaching.
Aerial surveys have revealed severe bleaching to 60% of the corals along a 500-kilometre stretch of the reef in Queensland with corals and reef life losing colour, dying and looking bleached.
Higher temperatures, low tides, too much sunlight and pollution are blamed for the damage to the reef.
The latest findings come as a delegation from UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and scientists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature are in Australia to inspect the reef before they vote on downgrading its World Heritage status.
Tourism visitation to the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park for the financial year ending 30 June 2021 was reported at 1,134,500 visitor days. This is a decrease of around 52% when compared to the previous 8-year, pre-Covid average.
Last year was the warmest year on record for the world’s oceans, with current water temperatures around parts of the reef up to four degrees higher than average.
The Australian government has announced a A$63.6 million (US$47.8 million) investment in science and research infrastructure to protect the Great Barrier Reef, but climate change activists claim this will not solve the problem.
Australian Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said, “Last year was the warmest year on record for the world’s oceans. Unfortunately, as more severe bleaching is reported across our beloved Great Barrier Reef, we can see these devastating events are becoming more common under the continuing high rate of greenhouse gas emissions.
“To give our reef a fighting chance, we must deal with the number one problem: climate change. No amount of funding will stop these bleaching events unless we drive down our emissions this decade."