Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Future
In the best traditions of good science, its practitioners are a sceptical lot, but you won't find
a credible coral-reef expert who will say that climate change isn't a serious issue. Where
scientists may differ is about the rate at which and the extent to which reefs and their mind-
boggling biodiversity may adjust or adapt.
You might have heard it said that 'the climate has changed before and we still have cor-
als'. While this has a grain of truth, the reality is that previous episodes of rapid climate
change caused mass extinctions that took millions of years to get over. Playing on the Aus-
tralian tendency to believe that 'she'll be right, mate', those who deny that climate change
is happening have tried to portray the science as uncertain, biased and even wrong. But the
solid body of science indicates that climate change is real, it is already under way, and coral
reefs are right in the firing line. Certainly we should energetically debate the best ways of
tackling this problem, but there can be no room for equivocation: we have to act with ur-
gency and decisiveness at local, national and global levels if we are to give coral reefs a
fighting chance of providing future generations with the wonderful experiences we can still
enjoy.
If humans continue to pollute the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at present rates, we
will likely overtax any realistic capacity of coral-reef ecosystems to cope. All around the
world, coral reefs are proving themselves to be the 'canary in the coalmine' of climate
change. The worldwide reduction in reef assets that occurred when heat waves swept
equatorial regions in 1998 was unprecedented in scale, providing a wake-up call to reef sci-
entists, reef managers and the community at large about what the future holds. Like polar
zones, coral reefs are sentinel systems that will continue to show us the impacts of climate
change on the natural world (and the millions of humans who depend on these ecosystems).
But the ending to the climate-change story is still being written. Concerted action can yet
avoid the worst-case scenario for reefs. And when visitors and residents choose to avoid
and reduce sources of pressure on corals and other reef creatures, they buy coral reefs im-
portant time to adapt - and, hopefully, to cope - until society takes the necessary action to
control its impacts on the climate.
