Barrier reef doing great???

[PBcatfish]

I just stumbled across this article:

Record Coral Cover Of Great Barrier Reef Shames Climate Alarmists, Media

According to it, the barrier reef is doing great & coral growth rate is at a long time high. This would seem to run contrary to reporting I have been receiving for the past several years.

What say the locals? Is the reef really doing that well?

 

[Jak G]

Perhaps the information from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, part of the Federal Government of Australia, is a better source for news. Coral bleaching 101.
The reef is not doing that well, and it's status needs to be viewed over a number of years. Hope this helps.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

As a Cairns local and Pro up here for decades the Reef shows remarkable resilience. Whilst still bleached in many areas the cooler months and frequent heavy rains made a good impact.
Also lots of studies including one from Australian Institute of Marine Science showing new more tolerant species are showing up.
So I remain optimistic and its still a bloody amazing place to dive

 

[tridacna]

Bloody BS site. Serious religious anti-science agenda.

From their own website.

“As noted below, CCD does not believe in consensus science. Beliefs belong in church, in prayers, but not in the scientific method.”

 

[boulderjohn]

It takes only a few minutes of research to see that the site has a very specific agenda of fighting against science related to climate change.

Here is the pedigree of the man who runs it, from their "who we are" page:

The site is managed and edited by Thomas Richard, a freelance semi-retired writer who has been published in LifeZette, Breitbart, the now-defunct Examiner.com, and other news outlets.​

 

[CuzzA]

As a Cairns local and Pro up here for decades the Reef shows remarkable resilience. Whilst still bleached in many areas the cooler months and frequent heavy rains made a good impact.
Also lots of studies including one from Australian Institute of Marine Science showing new more tolerant species are showing up.
So I remain optimistic and its still a bloody amazing place to dive

The coral will evolve. In reef keeping I would much prefer a strain that hasn't been in the ocean in decades because they become very resilient to lesser quality water and temperature fluctuations. Scientists have replicated what has occurred in the hobby and use that info to grow stronger corals for reef rebuilding. As long as the ocean doesn't become to acidic from too much co2, or tainted by too much run off pollution, I do believe the reefs will adapt to warmer oceans.

 

[PBcatfish]

It takes only a few minutes of research to see that the site has a very specific agenda of fighting against science related to climate change.

Here is the pedigree of the man who runs it, from their "who we are" page:

The site is managed and edited by Thomas Richard, a freelance semi-retired writer who has been published in LifeZette, Breitbart, the now-defunct Examiner.com, and other news outlets.​

I'm not particularly interested in the "pedigree" of the author. I'm looking for first hand accounts from people who dive the area. ...but thank you for your opinion.

 

[boulderjohn]

I'm not particularly interested in the "pedigree" of the author. I'm looking for first hand accounts from people who dive the area. ...but thank you for your opinion.

It's pretty important if you are trying to decide whether you trust the source of the information.

 

[kelemvor]

Perhaps the information from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, part of the Federal Government of Australia, is a better source for news. Coral bleaching 101.
The reef is not doing that well, and it's status needs to be viewed over a number of years. Hope this helps.

Nice try, either you're deliberately trolling him or you're just ignorant. That page was created before the lockdowns. If you click "past reef health reports" you will immediately see that GBRMPA has not published survey results since before march 2020. The "March - May" report simply says

Reef health

There continues to be a limited amount of post-bleaching surveys being conducted due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Since GBRMPA isn't publishing reef health reports, they must be obtained from elsewhere. It seems highly likely that far less diving, fishing, human activity resulted in at least some recovery. That is, unless you subscribe to the thought that humans have no impact on reef health. If you think humans do have an impact then you must concede that few humans translates into improved health. You can't have it both ways.

You will notice that the data source in the aforementioned article is Long-Term Monitoring Program - Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2020/21 | AIMS Perhaps you don't trust the Austrailian Institute of Marine Science?

The summary written by AIMS seems to be somewhat similar to what that "Climate Change Dispatch" says, although a bit less dramatic as they're probably not trying to drive clicks.

Personally I've never heard of Climate Change Dispatch. That doesn't mean they are or aren't drawing correct conclusions.

Usually the actual scientific papers can be summed up as "the climate might change by one degree or more, but we're not the slightest bit certain of that"



When you beat a single drum so long that you lose objectivity, it's time to re-evaluate what your goal in beating the drum actually is.

 

[PBcatfish]

It's pretty important if you are trying to decide whether you trust the source of the information.

I am not trusting the source of the information. I am looking for first hand accounts from boots on the ground, or in this case, fins in the water. I do not trust that source. I do not trust the interested sources that present the opposing views. I am looking for information from real people who actually dive the area. I wish to avoid all shills on both sides of the "debate".

So far, I have received only two first hand replies from locals. Thank You Aqua Pro & Jak G.

I had expected more replies from locals. That has to be an incredible place to dive. Surly plenty of people have taken that plunge.