In the past days, reports on the death of the Great Barrier Reef surfaced in social media. But scientist said that the news “are greatly exaggerated despite mass bleaching” after the circulation of a published “obituary” about the reef ecosystem.
Rowan Jacobsen, food and travel writer for Outside magazine wrote “most catastrophic bleaching event in its history, from which it would never recover”. He was discussing the Great Barrier Reef situation. Various obituary newscasts followed the footsteps of the magazine to mourn the death of the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living entity in the world, located on the east coast of Australia. The vastness of the reef’s ecosystem can be seen from outer space.
According to scientists, the Great Barrier Reef is not yet dead but is under severe stress, like any another coral ecosystem in the world.
Kim Cobb, a coral reef expert at Georgia Tech said, “This is a fatalistic, doomsday approach to climate change that isn’t going to engage anyone and misinforms the public. There will be reefs in 2050, including portions of the Great Barrier Reef, I’m pretty confident of that. I’m put off by pieces that say we are doomed.”
Cobb studied the corals in Christmas Island in the Pacific where he calculated that 85% of the corals died. He describes the coral ecosystem like a “graveyard”. But he was surprised to see the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef, although the bleaching event surrounds the ecosystem, there are still areas left untouched by the disease.
He also added that “there is a lot we can do to minimize climate change and we need to get going on that. To say reefs are finished and we can’t do anything about it isn’t the message we need going forward.”
Climate change due to global warming affected the coral reefs in a massive bleaching effect. The event can be seen in corals worldwide but devastated the Great Barrier Reef the most. Nearly a quarter of the northern part of the reef had died due to the bleaching event.
The corals when exposed to prolonged high temperatures, release their symbiotic algae hence, giving them the “snow-white skeleton” appearance. Divers on the Great Barrier Reef describe the degraded corals with a rotting smell upon surfacing.
There is still hope
According to scientists, there is still hope, corals can still recover from the bleaching disease but others just die. Most of the coral reef suffered from the bleaching effect but not all have perished. The long-term warming and acidity of the oceans present a threat to the coral reef worldwide.
Research shows that some corals affected by the bleaching effect are able to adapt to the new environment. However, the pace of the warning proved to be deadly to the corals.
Scientists are considering genetic engineering as a solution to repopulate the reefs. The Great Barrier Reef is home to thousands of marine species and attracts millions of tourists.
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