The loss of Loomis Reef

[CronicReefer]

Pretty sad to see these kinds of losses to the ocean reefs. This is one of the more well known locations on the Great Barrier Reef.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/apr/21/mourning-loomis-reef-the-heart-of-the-great-barrier-reefs-coral-bleaching-disaster

[Newstead]

Heart breaking, indeed.

[Astinus]

WOW! Very Sad!!!

[dpoltsdsu]

Horrible

[ReefWeeds]

That is heartbreaking.

[rosecity]

 

We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children

 

[Clown79]

It makes me so sad and angry all at once. The continued disregard for the ocean and its inhabitants is one of humans largest mistakes.

 

We know more about space than the ocean on Earth!

[Anden]

So sad but plz try to remember why it is happening next time you start your cars to get to the store less then a mil away.

[Hammerstone]

It's so sad. There is so much damage to the ocean it's disgusting.

[seabass]

Corals get their colour and their nutrients from the zooxanthellae algae they live with. When corals sit for too long in unusually warm temperature, the algae and the coral skeleton separates leaving a “bleached” animal behind. The link between fossil fuel burning, coral bleaching and a long-term trend in rising ocean temperatures is clear, scientists say.

 

While temperature might play a part, it doesn't appear to be the sole reason for bleaching. Controlled studies trying to replicate mass bleaching based on similar sustained high temperatures alone, tend not to produce mass bleaching.

 

While modern human influences are likely contributors (like non-CO2 pollution, agriculture runoff, and runoff from urban cities), we have a lot more to learn about what is causing these bleaching events (before placing the blame entirely on CO2 and warming of the oceans). Focusing on just this one factor might actually delay us from from discovering how to prevent and reverse this damage in the future.