The loss of coral reefs caused by rising sea temperatures could cost $1 trillion globally, a report from Australia’s environmental think thank the Climate Council has projected.
At the same time the Council report said the loss of Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef alone could cost that region one million visitors a year, imperilling 10,000 jobs and draining $1bn from the economy.
The longest global coral bleaching event on record, which began in 2014 and has affected some reefs in consecutive years, has given reefs little chance to recover, and should be a “wake-up call” to act to save the natural and economic assets, the Climate Council’s Professor Lesley Hughes said.
The Climate Council’s latest report, released in Brisbane today, warned intensifying climate change is pushing up sea surface temperatures and driving extensive and ongoing mass coral bleaching.
“The extraordinary devastation being experienced on the Great Barrier Reef is due to the warmth of our oceans, driven by the burning of coal, oil and gas,” Professor Hughes said ahead of the report’s release.
“The extraordinary devastation being experienced on the Great Barrier Reef is due to the warming of our oceans, driven by the burning of coal, oil and gas,” Professor Hughes said.
“It would have been virtually impossible for this to have occurred without climate change.”
Professor Hughes argued it was a false dichotomy in public debate “to pit the environment against the economy”.
The council said repeat mass bleaching events such as those during the past two years limited opportunity for coral to recover.
The loss of coral reefs across the globe could cost $1 trillion, the council said, stressing it was an economic as well as an ecological problem.
Climate Council head of research Martin Rice said bleaching events were likely to become more frequent and severe in coming decades and stopping greenhouse gas emissions was the only way to stop the trend.
“Australia is the caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef and we are lagging well behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to doing our part to effectively combat climate change,” he said.
The report comes just days after aerial surveys showed mass coral bleaching had impacted most of the Great Barrier Reef.
The Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies confirmed on Monday only the southern third of the reef had not been affected by consecutive bleaching events in 2016 and 2017.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russell Reichelt said survey results would be used to “refine a support strategy” to help improve the health of the ecosystem.
The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef was worth $7 billion annually and supported the livelihoods of 69,000 Australians employed in sectors such as tourism, the report stated.
