by Natura Naturans
‘Teeming with life’: New hope for the Great Barrier Reef as island shows remarkable coral growth
By Melissa Martin and Erin Semmler, ABC
One Tree Island was lashed by Cyclone Hamish in 2009, destroying much of the island’s coral.
In the five years following the cyclone, no metabolic recovery was detected on the reef and by 2014 calcification of the coral had declined by 75 per cent.
But things changed dramatically between 2014 and 2017, when Ms Davis and her team at the National Marine Science Centre found the coral system calcification increased four-fold.
“We found that the coral ecosystem has completely recovered from this cyclone event after eight years,” Ms Davis said.
joannenova.com.au/2019/07/coral-r…surprised/
The Great Barrier Reef spans 2,000 kilometers and five degrees Celsius from 27 to 32°C and we’re still finding reefs we didn’t even know about. The pH swings on a daily basis, and fish do better when it does. One coral has adapted to ocean “acidification” in 6 months. Other fish remarkably adapted from salt to freshwater in just fifty years. As Peter Ridd says: Of all the ecosystems in the world, the reef is one that’s best at adapting to climate change.
joannenova.com.au/2019/07/coral-r…surprised/
If only coral researchers read skeptic blogs, they’d know that corals have been getting bleached and wrecked by cyclones for millions of years. They have adaptable genes, honed by 500 million years of natural selection, plus epigenetic tricks, and with safe zones to seed recovery.
joannenova.com.au/2019/07/coral-r…surprised/
There were also other “murderous summers” in France, Le Parisien writes that thanks to the work of Emmanuel Le Roy-Ladurie, “we know that a terrible heat wave in 1636 killed 500,000 of King Louis XIII’s subjects.” Many of the deaths resulted from epidemics of dysentery as water supplies dwindled and soured.
700,000 deaths, swarms of locusts in 1718-19
Le Parisien also cites the three-volume “Histoire humaine et comparée du climat” (Human and Comparative History of Climate), which describes how the the summers of 1718-19 saw “700,000 deaths recorded” and how the Paris region had been “transformed into the Sahara” and even saw “the appearance of swarms of locusts!”
I have told my story many times here why I post about climate. I once was duped into thinking sea level rise was accelerating so I postponed purchasing a house in Honolulu near the beach like I wanted. THEN I discovered it was all a hoax, the tide gauge in Honolulu harbor shows sea levels have been rising very slowly at the SAME rate for over 100 years. No acceleration, no melting of ice, IT WAS ALL A HOAX! In the time I waited I paid $100,000 more for my dream house. YOU BET I WAS PISSED! It turns out sea level here and around the world is rising at around 5 inches per CENTURY. Not exactly a climate emergency. Here to prove it is the tide gauge at Honolulu:
So your imputation that I’m paid to post this is wrong, I’ve never taken a dime to post anything>
www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesM…-Rise.aspx
Coral Reefs Defy Climate Alarmists
JULY 1, 2019
Scientists studying the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef report remarkable recent growth in coral. The findings defy alarmist predictions of doom and gloom after a cyclone damaged the reef and warming temperatures followed.
Australian researchers conducted a four-year study off One Tree Island, which is one of the southernmost locations of the Great Barrier Reef. Scientists considered this portion of the reef in decline since the 1970s. According to the Brisbane Times, scientists expected a 2009 cyclone that hit the area would be the final knockout blow for the reef. Instead, scientists conducting a four-year study of the reef from 2014 through 2017 found remarkable growth and recovery.
Kay Davis, one of the study’s researchers, told the Brisbane Times that she expected warming temperatures and ocean acidification, caused by global warming, to be the final death blow for the reef.
“The ocean is warming and acidifying so we wouldn’t think the coral would be able to fight that,” said Davis.
To her surprise, her research showed the reef’s calcification, a measure of coral growth, increased 400 percent during the four years of her study.
notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpres…/01/40180/
Nearly four years after the worst bleaching event in the state’s history, coral reefs in West Hawaiʽi are stabilizing and poised to recover, according to scientists from The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
Higher than usual ocean water temperatures in 2015 caused the first statewide coral bleaching event. TNC surveys revealed that an average of 60% of corals in West Hawaiʽi bleached, with some reefs experiencing up to 90% mortality. Corals bleach under stress, and severe or prolonged stress can lead to death.
For the last three years, TNC scientists have studied West Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs to identify the most resilient, meaning they can resist or recover from the stress of warmer ocean temperatures.
Surveys identified 25 coral species in West Hawaiʽi. Lobe coral (Porites lobata), one of the area’s most dominant species, proved to be the most resilient—with only 50% bleaching in 2015. Cauliflower corals (Pocillopora meandrina) were hardest hit—with 98% bleaching—but recent surveys show that they are beginning to recover.
www.nature.org/en-us/explore/new…-recovery/