Dear editors and journalists,
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is experience severe
coral bleaching, expected to be the worst on record. Greenpeace has secured some
early, and shocking stills and footage of bleached white coral near Port Douglas
in the state of Queensland.
Photo and video can be accessed
here.
(Select photos to add to lightbox, create account, download lightbox using
'actions' tab.)
Best regards,,
Tristan
---------------------
Greenpeace releases images showing Great Barrier Reef
suffering coral bleaching for the second year in a row
Sydney, 10
March 2017 - Greenpeace Australia Pacific today releases shocking photos and
footage documenting the Great Barrier Reef’s first severe coral bleaching to
happen two years in a row. The bleaching is the result of 12 months of
above-average sea temperatures, which is “cooking the reef alive”.
Brett Monroe Garner, a conservation photographer and marine
biologist documenting the bleaching with Greenpeace, said:
“I've been
photographing this area of the reef for several years now and what we’re seeing
is unprecedented.
“In these photos nearly 100% of the corals are
bleaching, and who knows how many will recover. Algae is already beginning to
overgrow many of the corals.
“Just a few months ago, these corals were
full of colour and life. Now, everywhere you look is white. The corals aren't
getting the chance to bounce back from last year's bleaching event. If this is
the new normal, we're in trouble.”
In 2015, UNESCO placed the Great
Barrier Reef on its watchlist due to concerns about the Australian Government’s
management of the World Heritage Area. Despite this, the Australian Government
is considering giving AU$1 billion (US$700 million) to the biggest coal mine
ever built in the country. The Carmichael mine in the state of Queensland is set
to be a climate bomb that endangers the reef and defies the Paris climate
agreement.
“Climate change is fuelling warmer waters, cooking the reef
alive. Once a coral is dead, it’s gone forever,” said Alix Foster Vander Elst,
Campaigner for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
“We have on our doorstep the
clearest signal that climate change is happening, and that governments aren’t
moving fast enough to stop it. We can still stop the Reef’s destruction if we
dramatically reduce global emissions.
“While the reef is fighting for its
life, the Australian government is funding its destruction. Tackling climate
change is the only real solution here, and that starts by stopping public
funding for climate-killing coal projects.”
The appetite for coal in
markets such as India and China is also stalling.
“China’s coal use is
decreasing, and India said it won’t need to import Australian coal after 2020.
Yet here in Australia we are subsidising the industry while watching one of our
greatest natural wonders vanish before our eyes,” said Foster Vander Elst
(1, 2).
When water is too warm, corals expel the algae (zooxanthellae)
living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. If water
temperatures don’t return to normal within 6-8 weeks of the bleaching, the coral
dies. Reef ecosystems live near the surface of the water, where the rise in
ocean temperature is strongest.
Corals can survive a bleaching event, but
it puts them under severe stress. In 2016, 93% of the corals of the Great
Barrier Reef bleached and 22% of the entire Reef died. (3)
Notes to
editors:
Photo and video can be accessed
here. (Select photos to add to
lightbox, create account, download lightbox using 'actions' tab.)
[1] In
China, coal consumption fell by approximately 1.3% in 2016,
according to recently released statistics.[2] ‘
India won’t need to import Australian coal after 2020’ -
Australian Financial Review - 10 August 2015
[3] Death rate of the entire
reef as of June 2016,
according to the Australian Institute of Marine
ScienceMedia contacts:
Greenpeace International Press
Desk,
pressd...@greenpeace.org, phone:
+31 (0) 20
718 2470 (available 24 hours)
--
Tristan Tremschnig
Communications Hub Manager | Asia
Pacific
Ecological North West
Line * St. Petersburg, Russia