Next year a UNESCO team is expected to inspect the reef before voting on its future status. The Australian government has been lobbying for it to be kept off the endangered list. auspol GreatBarrierReef UNESCO
An updated plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef drafted by the Queensland and Commonwealth governments responding to a recommendation by UNESCO that the reef be placed on an “in danger” list recognises that climate change is its greatest threat.
“It’s like your house is on fire, and you recognise your house is on fire, and you say your house is on fire, but you don’t pick up a fire extinguisher,” said Richard Leck, WWF’s head of oceans and sustainable development.“Expert scientific advice is that at 2 degrees, we have 95 to 99 per cent loss of coral cover. Even at 1.5 degrees, we see a catastrophic loss of around 70 per cent.”
The plan is part of both governments’ response to the recommendation by UNESCO earlier this year that the reef be listed as endangered. Australia lobbied against that decision, but it will be revisited next year after a UNESCO team visits the reef. As the world considers the level of threat to the reef, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of another bleaching event by January, even though the region is experiencing a typically cooler La Nina weather pattern.
“If that happens, it would be unusually early sea temperatures normally peak at the beginning of March.”
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