Latest Report Valued Great Barrier Reef for $56 Billion

source: barrierreef.org

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation recently commissioned a study assessing the reef's economic, social and natural value. The findings showed that the reef is worth $56 billion to Australia. According to the report, there could be vast economic consequences if there is no additional effort to protect the reef as an ecosystem, as an economic driver, and as a global treasure.

Here's the complete report from http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/natural-wonders/great-barrier-reef-is-worth-56-billion-to-australia-and-is-too-big-to-fail/news-story/e6b47dbb42103ae37e5b08fba684f15d

Great Barrier Reef is worth $56 billion to Australia and is ‘too big to fail’

THE Great Barrier Reef is worth $56 billion to Australia’s economy and is “too big to fail”, according to a new report. Deloitte Access Economics found the reef contributed $6.4 billion to the Australian economy in 2015-16 and the World Heritage listed area supported 64,000 full time jobs.

The report commissioned by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, with support from the National Bank and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, assessed the reef’s economic, social and iconic value.

“At $56 billion, the Reef is valued at more than 12 Sydney Opera Houses,” Great Barrier Reef Foundation director Steve Sargent said.

“This report sends a clear message that the Great Barrier Reef – as an ecosystem, as an economic driver, as a global treasure – is too big to fail.”

While the 64,000 jobs it supports is not as many as the 230,000 jobs mining creates in Australia, this still makes it a bigger “employer” than companies like National Australia Bank, Qantas and Telstra.

The reef’s value as a tourist attraction was the biggest contributor to the reef’s $56 billion value, followed by $23.8 billion from indirect or non-use value (those who haven’t yet visited the reef but value knowing it exists) and $3.2 billion for its value to recreational users.

The report warns of vast economic consequences unless more is done to protect the reef.

It follows back-to-back mass coral bleaching events and ongoing threats posed by climate change and poor water quality.

The report, to be officially launched on Hamilton Island on Monday, comes amid a sustained campaign by environmental groups against Adani’s new mega coal mine in Queensland which they say will contribute to climate change, which is the biggest threat to the reef.

source: barrierreef.org

But Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigns director Nikola Casule said the report misses the point.

“You can’t put a dollar figure on the Reef. It is an irreplaceable global wonder that has captivated the imagination of billions,” she said.

“We have an inescapable moral responsibility to save it for us, and for future generations - regardless of its economic value.”

Ms Casule said the only thing that will save the reef was strong action on climate change.

“This means ending fossil fuel subsidies - like the proposed $1 billion of public money for the Carmichael coal mine,” she said.

“Australia should be a champion for the wonder that is the reef, not its executioner.”

The Deloitte analysis included a survey of 1500 Australian and international respondents from 10 countries.

It found people valued the reef for a range of reasons – some more concrete, such as its importance for tourism, and some more abstract, such as beliefs that Australia would just not be the same without it.

Two-thirds of the survey respondents were prepared to pay to protect the Reef, based on its importance to the planet, a belief that future generations should be able to visit it, its importance to biodiversity, and feelings that it is morally and ethically right to pay for its protection.

It is the first time that a natural asset’s brand value has been assessed on its total economic, social and icon value.

“The reef is critical to supporting economic activity and jobs in Australia,” the report said.

“The livelihoods and businesses it supports cross Australia far exceeds the numbers supported by many industries we would consider too big to fail.”

“As the largest living structure on Earth and one of the world’s most complex and diverse natural ecosystems, the Great Barrier Reef is justifiably considered priceless and irreplaceable,” Mr Sargent said.

WHAT THE REEF IS WORTH

• $56 billion value as an economic, social, and iconic natural asset;

• $6.4 billion economic value added to the Australian economy in 2015-16;

• $3.9 billion in economic value added to Queensland’s economy in 2015-16;

• $2.9 billion economic value added to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) region in 2015-16; and

• 64,000 jobs nationally linked to the Reef, including 33,000 in Queensland.”

charis.chang@news.com.au

Mass Bleaching on Great Barrier Reef Caused by Warmer Ocean Temperatures

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) confirmed another mass bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef. Here's the full report from ABC:

Another mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, caused by warmer ocean temperatures, has been confirmed after just one day of aerial surveys.

The first survey for 2017 was conducted on Thursday by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), over the area between Cairns and Townsville in northern Queensland.

The agency's David Wachenfeld said that had given him enough information to "regrettably" confirm another mass bleaching occurred.

"We also have quite a few reports through our early warning system, the eye on the reef program," Dr Wachenfeld said.

Warmer water temperatures resulted in the widespread bleaching of large areas of coral in the northern reef last year.

It resulted in the largest die-off of corals ever recorded on the reef.

The Great Barrier Reef

Scientists estimated that two-thirds of coral coverage died in a 700-kilometre stretch of reef north of Port Douglas in far north Queensland.

Dr Wachenfeld said it was too soon to know how this year's bleaching event compared to that seen last year.

"The reef of course is bigger than Victoria and Tasmania combined, it takes us quite a while to get the overall picture of everything that's going on out there," he said.
"To some extent it's not as important whether this event is not quite as bad or worse than last year's, I think what's important is that the climate is changing and that is bringing a much greater frequency of extreme weather events to the Great Barrier Reef."

"In total, those extreme weather events and the overall impact of climate change is a major threat to the future of the reef."

Surveys over the rest of the reef will be conducted in the next fortnight.

source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-10/great-barrier-reef-mass-bleaching-event-2017-confirmed/8342174

Global Financial Crisis Helped Control Global Warming

Economic Crisis Curb Global Warming

In a recent report from Live Science, the global financial crisis which started in 2007 helped controlled the effects of global warming. The decline in the economic activity of several countries caused fewer greenhouse gas emissions but analysts clarified that the good effect only lasted for a short period of time.

The economic crisis resulted to fewer demand for fossil fuel and lesser products are manufactured or sold. Examples of major contributors to global warming are the burning of fossil fuels especially those fuels used in cars and cement production. According to the report this accounts for 5 percent of human carbon dioxide emissions.

According to Glenn Peters of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Norway, the (global financial crisis) was an opportunity to move the global economy away from a high emissions trajectory. "Our results provide no indication of this happening, and further, indicate that the global financial crisis has been quite different from previous global crises," he said.

However, the lower gas emissions was only recorded for a limited time because some of the countries rebounded in the financial crisis too soon. According to the researchers, an increase in the greenhouse gas emissions spiraled last year due to various plans that boosts the economic activities of big economies.

Researchers also noted that it is very difficult to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). This will continue as long as countries will not take extra effort to curb the effects of global warming.

Videos of Global Warming and Climate Change

We have compiled some of the videos related to global warming and climate change. This will help us understand further the effects of global warming and its primary causes.






We will update this post from time to time to give you updated videos on global warming and its effects.

The Effects of Increasing Temperature

Searching for information on the possible effects of continued increase in the temperature lead me to this article. I quoted some of the explanation from the Independent website. For full text you can visit the site.

WHAT AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE RISE O F 4 °C WOULD REALLY MEAN FOR THE PLANET

OVERVIEW

The average rise will not be spread uniformly, and temperatures over land will be significantly higher (5.5C on average) than over the ocean, as the land heats up more quickly than the sea.

THE ARCTIC

Temperatures at higher latitudes, particularly in the Arctic, will rise much more steeply in a four-degree world as they experience climate feedbacks due to the loss of sea ice and snow cover.Already, scientists have detected signs of unusual permafrost melting in Siberia and the release of vast quantities of underground methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

The summer of 2003, when night-time temperatures were far beyond normal, caused many thousands of deaths through heat stroke and other related conditions. A four-degree world will make such summerscommonplace, causing environmental as well as medical problems.

INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT

A growing population puts pressure on water supplies, which will be exacerbated in regions of the world that will experience the greatest increase in numbers of people, such as India. In a four-degree world, however, the problems of water shortages will be primarily caused by climate change – a double whammy for the most populated countries.

AMAZON

At higher temperatures, the Amazon rainforest is vulnerable to drought and uncontrolled spread of fires. Some climate models predict increased rainfall, while other "more realistic" computer projections predict severe drying in the Amazon.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Sea level rise is inevitable in a warmer world, but the problem will be significantly worse in a four-degree world because of melting ice sheets, glaciers and thermal expansion. Low-lying, heavily populated river deltas and coastal regions are especially vulnerable to flooding. Small oceanic islands will experience increased storm surges and problems with increased soil salinity.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

At 4°C, virtually all cereal-growing regions of the world experience crop failures or shortages. The areas affected most will be semi-arid regions where agriculture is already difficult, such as parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Some regions may become uninhabitable with widespread famine

source:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/200-nations-one-mission-to-repair-the-mess-left-by-copenhagen-2146235.html

Pictures of Global Warming

Here are some pictures of global warming.

What is El Nino and El Nina Phenomenon

This is what wikipedia.com says about el nino phenomenon.

El Niño-Southern Oscillation, often called simply ENSO, is a climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean on average every five years, but over a period which varies from three to seven years, and is therefore, widely and significantly, known as "quasi-periodic." ENSO is best-known for its association with floods, droughts and other weather disturbances in many regions of the world, which vary with each event. Developing countries dependent upon agriculture and fishing, particularly those bordering the Pacific Ocean, are the most affected.

ENSO is composed of an oceanic component, called El Niño (or La Niña), which is characterized by warming or cooling of surface waters in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, and an atmospheric component, the Southern Oscillation, which is characterized by changes in surface pressure in the tropical western Pacific. The two components are coupled: when the warm oceanic phase (known as El Niño) is in effect, surface pressures in the western Pacific are high, and when the cold phase is in effect (La Niña), surface pressures in the western Pacific are low.[2][3] Mechanisms that cause the oscillation remain under study.

In popular usage, El Niño-Southern Oscillation is often called just "El Niño". El Niño is Spanish for "the boy" and refers to the Christ child, because periodic warming in the Pacific near South America is usually noticed around Christmas.[4] "La Niña" is Spanish for "the girl."

Definition

El Niño is defined by sustained differences in Pacific-Ocean surface temperatures when compared with the average value. The accepted definition is a warming or cooling of at least 0.5°C (0.9°F) averaged over the east-central tropical Pacific Ocean. When this happens for less than five months, it is classified as El Niño or La Niña conditions; if the anomaly persists for five months or longer, it is called an El Niño or La Niña "episode."[5] Typically, this happens at irregular intervals of 2–7 years and lasts nine months to two years.[6]

The first signs of an El Niño are:

1. Rise in surface pressure over the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia
2. Fall in air pressure over Tahiti and the rest of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean
3. Trade winds in the south Pacific weaken or head east
4. Warm air rises near Peru, causing rain in the northern Peruvian deserts
5. Warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific. It takes the rain with it, causing extensive drought in the western Pacific and rainfall in the normally dry eastern Pacific.

El Niño's warm current of nutrient-poor tropical water, heated by its eastward passage in the Equatorial Current, replaces the cold, nutrient-rich surface water of the Humboldt Current. When El Niño conditions last for many months, extensive ocean warming occurs and its economic impact to local fishing for an international market can be serious.[7]
[edit] Early stages and characteristics of El Niño
5-day running mean of MJO. Note how it moves eastward with time.

Although its causes are still being investigated, El Niño events begin when trade winds, part of the Walker circulation, falter for many months. A series of Kelvin waves—relatively warm subsurface waves of water a few centimetres high and hundreds of kilometres wide—cross the Pacific along the equator and create a pool of warm water near South America, where ocean temperatures are normally cold due to upwelling. The Pacific Ocean is a heat reservoir that drives global wind patterns, and the resulting change in its temperature alters weather on a global scale. Rainfall shifts from the western Pacific toward the Americas, while Indonesia and India become drier.