Jamie Walker; 19/11/09
The loss of the 3000 prize reefs collectively known as the Great Barrier Reef is feared by some scientists but research shows their living coral are far more diverse and resilient than they’ve been given credit for We are skimming across an azure sea beneath a sky as big and blue as you could imagine. A gentle northeasterly breeze brushes the edge off the early summer heat in this idyllic corner of the Great Barrier Reef, where climate change and its implications for Australia’s greatest natural wonder resonate with lacerating intensity. Marine scientist Ray Berkelmans has been diving here in the Keppels, a scattering of tawny islands and coral outcrops 40 minutes by fast boat from the central Queensland coast, for 27 years.
See: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/how-the-reef-became-blue-again/story-e6frg6z6-1225811610202; Scientists ‘crying wolf’ over coral; Jamie Walker; 19/11/09; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/scientists-crying-wolf-over-coral/story-e6frg6nf-1225811910634
Tags: Australia, Environment