The Great Barrier Reef will be a “dead ecosystem” in 20 years if Australia does nothing to address its greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s according to the authors of a Climate Council report, who have released the Australia’s Coral Reefs Under Threat from Climate Change document, AAP reported.
Professor Will Steffen said he hoped the report - reviewed by international experts – would clear up the “serious smoke and mirrors about the ability of the reef to recover” from bleaching.
The report claimed mass bleaching like what occurred in 2016 as a result of extreme ocean temperatures, could occur every two years by 2034.
Prof Steffen said there was “no way” a coral reef could survive if it occurred so frequently.
“Unless we really get on top of this issue ... the reef’s going to be history by the 2030s or 2040s,” he told AAP.
Prof Steffen called on Australians to put pressure on politicians to reduce coal, oil and gas emissions or risk the reef becoming nothing more than a “dead ecosystem”.
The Climate Council is an Australian independent non-profit organization formed to provide independent, authoritative climate change information to the Australian public.
