Debunked: Geoengineering Killing Great Barrier Reef

[MikeG]

According to geoengineeringwatch.org

“Nearly Half Of The Great Barrier Reef To Die In The Next Month”, Abrupt Climate Shift Is Now

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is one of the "7 wonders of the world", nearly half of it is expected to die in the next month. Why? The 2 minute video below is a breaking news update from the front lines.

The oceans are superheating, along with the rest of the planet. If the oceans die, we die. Recent studies indicate that half of the barrier reef has already been lost in the previous 3 decades. Now, in the next 30 days, half of what is left will be lost. Some want to primarily blame Fukushima for the dying seas, but there is much more to the equation. In the early 90s I participated in 2 private extended dive excursions on the Barrier reef, such a loss is unimaginable to me. Is anthropogenic (human) activity to blame for the explosion of environmental cataclysms on our planet? With absolute mathematical certainty the answer is YES. The human race and the military industrial complex has decimated the planet in countless ways, the ongoing climate engineering insanity is at the top of the list of destruction. The toxic heavy metal fall out from climate engineering is further fueling the global die off.

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Dane Wigington is citing an article by The New Daily:

Great Barrier Reef bleaching worse than first thought
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2016/03/28/devastating-great-barrier-reef-bleaching-worse-first-thought/


The article clarifies what the affected area is (my emphasis):

An aerial survey of the northern Great Barrier Reef has shown that 95 per cent of the reefs are now severely bleached – far worse than previously thought.

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It is an area from Cairns nortward to the Torres Strait


The New Daily quotes Professor Terry Hughes, a coral reef expert from James Cook University who led the survey of the reef:

“It’s too early to tell precisely how many of the bleached coral will die, but judging from the extreme level even the most robust corals are snow white, I’d expect to see about half of those corals die in the coming month or so,” Professor Hughes said.

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I looked a little further into the claim about “half” the coral dying and this is what I found:

Australia's National Coral Bleaching Task Force does not make any reference to the figure in a recent news release.

Minor, but widespread, reports of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef are being closely watched by the National Coral Bleaching Taskforce, which is concerned about current trends and remains ready to respond should a major coral bleaching event take place.

Taskforce convener, Prof. Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, explains that “current reports of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef do not equate to a mass bleaching event, but we are concerned about a growing incidence of minor to moderate bleaching at multiple locations along the Reef as the peak of summer approaches.”

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March 1, 2016:
http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/latest-releases/-/asset_publisher/8Kfw/content/01-march-national-coral-bleaching-taskforce-keeping-a-close-watch-on-the-reef


The James Cook University press release does not refer to half of northern coral dying either.
March 29, 2016:
https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2016/march/coral-bleaching-taskforce-documents-most-severe-bleaching-on-record



The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

Professor Hughes said it was too early to say what the outcome for the reef would be, but scientists carrying out parallel surveys underwater were reporting half of all bleached corals are dead.

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http://www.smh.com.au/environment/great-barrier-reef-in-grip-of-worst-bleaching-event-20160328-gnsqrc.html


So, it might be that the claim of “half” of the Great Barrier Reef coral dying was taken out of context.

Regardless, half of the entire reef is not going to die in a month, as Wigington claimed.

More importantly, there are obviously no links between bleached coral and geoengineering. The main culprit seems to be warming waters in that part of the world.


Wigington’s claims regarding “ongoing climate engineering insanity” is distracting attention from some real problems. I think Mick may have mentioned that in another thread.

 

[skephu]

Australia's National Coral Bleaching Task Force does not make any reference to the figure in a recent news release.
http://www.aims.gov.au/docs/media/l...g-taskforce-keeping-a-close-watch-on-the-reef

That news release is from March 1st, so it's not up-to-date.

 

[Hofnarr]

More importantly, there are obviously no links between bleached coral and geoengineering. The main culprit seems to be warming waters in that part of the world.

I See this the same way. Rising water temperatures due clobal warming puts enough stress on the coralls to bleach out. But, Bleaching doesn't right away mean dying.

Also speaking against geo-engineering (like chemtrails to reflect more sunlight into space) is, coral-bleaching can also happen due too much sunlight, not enough water or heavy pollution.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html

Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

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Edited to add more info.

 

[MikeG]

That news release is from March 1st, so it's not up-to-date.

Fair point. I found another media release from 14 March 2016.

“Unfortunately, the northern sectors have not cooled down enough, and we’re now recording quite extensive levels of coral bleaching. These northern reefs are in the most remote, pristine area of the Great Barrier Reef and it’s a real tragedy to see them being affected like this. Thankfully the rest of the reef is now safe as the summer heat dissipates.”

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[MikeG]

Here is a more recent press release from 29 March 2016

“Scientists in the water are already reporting up to 50% mortality of bleached corals,” says Prof. Hughes, “but it’s still too early to tell just what the overall outcome will be. We will continue to conduct underwater surveys along the Great Barrier Reef in the coming months as the full impact of this mass bleaching event unfolds.”

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It seems to conform to the story published by the Sydney Morning Herald.

http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/coral-bleaching-taskforce-documents-most-severe-bleaching-on-record