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Great Barrier Reef climate severely affected by rising water temperatures, but not dead

The World’s Largest Reef System, Which Stretches For Over 1,400 Miles Off The Coast Of Australia, Has Been Severely Affected By Rising Water Temperatures.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Neha Singh | Updated on: 15 Oct 2016, 08:39:37 AM
Great Barrier Reef climate severely affected by rising water temperatures

New Delhi:

Contrary to reports the world’s largest reef system, which stretches for over 1,400 miles off the coast of Australia, has been severely affected by rising water temperatures, but is not dead. Scientists from the CSIRO research vessel, the RV Investigator, are on the survey to map the seafloor of the Queensland Basin to understand how the Great Barrier Reef responded to past climate change events.

While the reef is one of the world's most studied ecosystems, It uses new multi-beam echosounders to survey the seafloor to the depth of about 11 kilometres — eight kilometres deeper than scientists could reach previously.

New images of the Great Barrier Reef have revealed the extent of the damage climate change has caused to the coral.

The world’s largest reef system, which stretches for over 1,400 miles off the coast of Australia, has been severely affected by rising water temperatures.

Reports of the death of the Great Barrier Reef have been greatly exaggerated, scientists have said, after the publication of an “obituary” for the vast coral ecosystem.

But scientists have stressed that while the Great Barrier Reef, like most coral structures around the world, is under severe stress, it hasn’t quite snuffed it yet.

“This is a fatalistic, doomsday approach to climate change that isn’t going to engage anyone and misinforms the public,” said Kim Cobb, a coral reef expert at Georgia Tech. “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.”

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First Published : 15 Oct 2016, 07:36:00 AM

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