A recent study reports that the loss of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef due to climate change poses a catastrophe not just for marine life, but would cost $37.7 billion during the next century.
Bleaching caused by ocean acidification and increases in salinity and water temperature may destroy the reef in mere decades.
Dr. John Schubert, the chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, stated that the report should be a “wake-up call” to the severity of climate change. Schubert further claimed that while lowering greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to saving the reef, more radical ideas, such as transplanting temperature-resistant corals from other areas should be considered.
Australia’s carbon emissions currently are rising at a rate of 1.6% per year and are expected to continue increasing without drastic measures and regulations.
Sydney Morning Herald
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