{"id":272963,"date":"2023-08-12T11:22:18","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272963"},"modified":"2023-08-12T11:22:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T09:22:21","slug":"coral-at-the-great-barrier-reef-holds-on-to-recent-record-gains-defying-all-doomsday-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272963","title":{"rendered":"Coral at the Great Barrier Reef Holds on to Recent Record Gains, Defying All Doomsday Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0CHRIS MORRISON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Coral at the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) faces another year of exile from the climate scare headlines with news that the record levels reported in 2021-22 have been sustained in the latest annual period to May 2023. A small drop in the three main areas of the reef was well within margin of error territory, with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) reporting that regional average hard coral cover in 2022-2023 was similar to last year at 35.7%. Most reefs underwent\u00a0little change during the\u00a0 year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coral at the reef has been bouncing back sharply for a number of years, with a record 36-year high reported in 2022. But the news of this spectacular recovery has been largely ignored in most media since it had previously been a go-to poster scare story for collectivist Net Zero promoters. But connecting the fate of tropical corals to global warming was always a difficult ask since they grow in waters between 24-32\u00b0C. Short boosts in local temperatures can cause temporary bleaching, but it is scientifically impossible to pin it on human-caused climate change, although pseudoscientific \u2018attribution\u2019 computer models try very hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest year, there was a short local temperature rise, but little bleaching was reported during the 2023 summer. No cyclones hit the reef and crown-of thorns starfish attacks were limited. Nevertheless, natural stresses will always affect the eco-system and AIMS states that these paused the growth of hard coral on some of the reefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like most\u00a0state-funded<\/a>\u00a0scientific bodies, AIMS is fully signed up to climate extremism and delivering politically correct messages to promote the Net Zero solution. Despite reporting what is now a substantial multi-year recovery, it notes that the future is predicted to bring more frequent, intense and enduring marine heatwaves, alongside the persistent threat of crown-of thorns starfish outbreaks and tropical cyclones. More frequent mass coral bleaching is a sign that the GBR is experiencing the consequences of climate change, it claims. However, in a different part of its latest report, AIMS accepts that the recent substantial recovery occurred despite two mass coral bleaching events in 2020 and 2022. There is an acceptance that this underlines that \u201cwidespread coral bleaching does not necessarily lead to extensive coral mortality\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But pockets of extremist catastrophism remain in the mainstream media, notably in the\u00a0Guardian<\/em>, fighting to keep the coral destruction story going. A year ago,\u00a0the newspaper reported<\/a>\u00a0that the GBR still had \u201csome capacity\u201d for recovery, but the window was closing fast as the climate continued to warm. Of course the\u00a0Guardian<\/em>\u00a0has form as long as your arm on this score. Back in 1999, George Monbiot\u00a0told its readers<\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cimminent total destruction of the world\u2019s coral reefs is not a scare story but a fact\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In last year\u2019s\u00a0Guardian<\/em>\u00a0report, Dr. Mike Emslie, who leads the AIMS monitoring service, said he felt a \u201ccouple of bullets\u201d had been recently dodged. While the recovery is great, \u201cthe predictions are the disturbances will get worse\u201d, he suggested. \u201cThe naysayers can put their heads in the sand all they like, but the frequency of disturbances is going gangbusters,\u201d he claimed. Dr. David Wachenfeld from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority claimed \u201cglobal heating\u201d of 1.5\u00b0C is considered a \u201cguardrail for reefs\u201d, after which the bleaching comes along too quickly for strong recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coral reefs have been around in one form or another for hundreds of millions of years. Current global temperatures are towards the lower end of the paleoclimatic record. One might wonder how corals manage to survive temperatures up to 10\u00b0C higher in the past?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the real world, we can see how the recent solid recovery was sustained across the three main areas of the GBR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The recovery in the northern GBR actually started around 2017. Last year the coral declined slightly from 36.5% to 35.7%, and was easily within the margin of error calculated by the AIMS. Typhoon Tiffany passed through at the end of the previous reporting season, and could have been responsible for some loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the centre of the reef, the strong recovery of hard coral cover to 32.6% last year eased slightly, but again, as the AIMS noted, it was within the margin of error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the centre of the reef, the strong recovery of hard coral cover to 32.6% last year eased slightly, but again, as the AIMS noted, it was within the margin of error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GBR is the largest reef system on Earth and runs for over 1,400 miles down the eastern side of Australia. It is also the most surveyed reef in the world and the results of scientific endeavour are widely distributed. While this work is often politicised, it is clear that recent evidence shows that temporary spikes in temperature, which occur naturally in the oceans, can cause bleaching. However, this bleaching process can rapidly go into reverse when local conditions stabilise. These findings have been confirmed elsewhere, notably in the remote Palmyra Atoll, 1,200 kms south of Hawaii. A\u00a010-year survey<\/a>\u00a0recently observed sudden changes in temperature up to 3\u00b0C on two occasions, leading to substantial damage to the coral. A 2015-16 spike led to 90% of the coral bleaching, but the researchers found that within a year only 10% of the coral had died. Within two years, the corals had returned to pre-bleached levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers concluded that the coral structures \u201cshow evidence of long-term stability\u201d \u2013 but don\u2019t hold that front page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Morrison is<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>Daily Sceptic\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Environment Editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coral at the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) faces another year of exile from the climate scare headlines with news that the record levels reported in 2021-22 have been sustained in the latest annual period to May 2023. A small drop in the three main areas of the reef was well within margin of error territory, with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) reporting that regional average hard coral cover in 2022-2023 was similar to last year at 35.7%. Most reefs underwent\u00a0little change during the\u00a0 year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":272974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818216,691819134,691821787,691818100,691819379],"class_list":{"0":"post-272963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-climate-alarmism","10":"tag-corals","11":"tag-great-barrier-reef","12":"tag-propaganda","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-482.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-190D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":273307,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=273307","url_meta":{"origin":272963,"position":0},"title":"Barrier Reef Great\u00a0Again","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Spoiler Alert:\u00a0 Puff returns as an adult to the reef where he was born after leaving it to mature in a mangrove marsh.\u00a0 Alas, he finds the coral dead and blackened, and the narrator warns us:\u00a0 Warming oceans kiiled the reef and we must change the way we live for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"climate scare headlines\"","block_context":{"text":"climate scare headlines","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-scare-headlines"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0shutterstock_269208791.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0shutterstock_269208791.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0shutterstock_269208791.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0shutterstock_269208791.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0shutterstock_269208791.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":231769,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=231769","url_meta":{"origin":272963,"position":1},"title":"Wrong, WSJ and U.N., Data Show Climate Change Isn\u2019t Threatening the Great Barrier Reef","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0(WSJ) recently published a story describing a new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mission report, claiming that climate change threatens the survival of Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef (GBR).","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/0coral-reef-pixabay-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/0coral-reef-pixabay-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/0coral-reef-pixabay-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/0coral-reef-pixabay-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/0coral-reef-pixabay-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":211986,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=211986","url_meta":{"origin":272963,"position":2},"title":"Sorry, CNN, Great Barrier Reef Is Setting Records, Fearmongering Won\u2019t Work","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) set new records for extent this year. Sadly, in a story titled, \u201cParts of Great Barrier Reef record highest amount of coral in 36 years,\u201d\u00a0CNN\u00a0tried to turn this good news contained in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-98.png?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-98.png?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-98.png?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-98.png?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-98.png?fit=1200%2C794&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":426808,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426808","url_meta":{"origin":272963,"position":3},"title":"BBC Admit Great Barrier Reef Report Was \u201cMisleading\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The BBC article \"Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral decline on record,\" was published on August 6, 2025 (with some sources listing August 5). It reports on findings from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) annual monitoring survey of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Corals on the Great Barrier\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)\"","block_context":{"text":"Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australian-institute-of-marine-science-aims"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Barrier Reef","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Great-Barrier-Reef-789.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Great-Barrier-Reef-789.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Great-Barrier-Reef-789.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Great-Barrier-Reef-789.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Great-Barrier-Reef-789.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":212024,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=212024","url_meta":{"origin":272963,"position":4},"title":"Pouring Cold Water On It","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"One might expect the\u00a0Annual Summary Report of Coral Reef Condition 2021\/2022\u00a0to be widely reported in the mainstream media as a good news story, given that its main conclusion is that \u201cContinued coral recovery leads to 36-year highs across two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef\u201d. 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