Don’t give up on Great Barrier Reef yet, Qld tourism industry says

Governments must do more to address climate change to ensure the Great Barrier Reef doesn’t suffer fatal bleaching, Queensland’s peak tourism industry body says.

A report by the Australian Academy of Science found even if the world stays on target for a 1.5 degree rise in temperatures, the Great Barrier Reef will suffer bleaching in up to 90 per cent of its corals.

If the temperature rise hits 2 degrees, just 1 per cent of the reef is expected to survive, and while more heat-tolerant corals may eventually colonise the reef, that could only happen if the temperature was stabilised.

Queensland…