'Devastating' hidden detail in image of Great Barrier Reef
Looking underwater it's possible to witness the decay first-hand.
Aerial images appear to show a healthy Great Barrier Reef but look a little closer and you’ll notice a number of mystery diseases eating away at it.
“Devastating” is how UNSW PhD candidate Samantha Burke describes the impact of just one troubling pathogen — black-band disease. “As the disease progresses it’s like watching an infantry moving across the coral. One side is live and on the other side of the decay it’s dead,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
In the past 25 years, disease coverage on coral has tripled to 9.92 per cent globally. By the end of the century, her modelling predicts 80 per cent of the world’s corals could be infected.
Warming waters are thought to be driving the spread because they weaken the coral’s immunity, but plastics and human activity are also thought to be contributors. Disturbingly the decline is likely to worsen even if temperature rises are conservative.
“What is clear is that coral disease prevalence is climbing across the globe, and without urgent action to address warming temperatures, more coral will become diseased,” Ms Burke said after releasing her study in the journal Ecology Letters.
Even if we were to stop and go carbon zero right now, there are still some effects that are expected to continue.Samantha Burke
Are the diseases bacterial or viral?
Surprisingly little is known about coral diseases. While some of them have names, researchers are yet to determine whether they’re viral or bacterial.
What’s clear are the symptoms and these have allowed scientists to group them into a number of categories. These are the current diseases being researched on the Great Barrier Reef:
White diseases that look similar to bleaching
Stony coral tissue loss disease
Black-band disease that is associated with vibrio bacteria
Brown-band disease.
Atramentous necrosis.
“The naming convention currently for coral diseases in general is just what it looks like, because we don’t have any particular pathogen that we’ve yet associated with any specific disease,” Ms Burke said.
“We have seen evidence of certain bacteria being present with particular diseases, but we don't know if that's just because those bacteria happened to be there, or if it’s causing the disease.”
Why has the Great Barrier Reef been singled out?
Modelling found the Pacific Ocean, where the Great Barrier Reef lies, is expected to experience a greater increase at a faster rate, if waters continue to warm. It’s unknown why the Pacific is particularly suffering.
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Ms Burke said more knowledge is needed to better understand the diseases so scientists can work to slow down infection rates.
She also believes every effort must be made to slow global warming to mitigate the impact of disease.
“The rising temperatures are a considerable factor, so if we’re looking for a place to start… then lowering them would be a great avenue to pursue.”
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