Disbelief as Australia smashes 400-year-old record: ‘Off the charts’

When pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis broke his own world record at the Paris Olympics this week, he was celebrated across the globe. However, today’s announcement that a very different type of record has been smashed back here in Australia hasn’t sparked the same level of interest. But here’s why it should.

In 2024 sea surface temperatures have been at their highest in 400 years around the Great Barrier Reef. On top of the record-breaking year of 2024, the Coral Sea also reached temperature highs in 2017 and 2020. The results have left researchers in disbelief and they’re calling on the federal government to take urgent action to further reduce emissions.

“When I plotted the 2024 data point, I had to triple check my calculations — it was off the charts — far above the previous record high in 2017. I could almost not believe it,” lead author Dr Benjamin Henley said.

There aren’t any written temperature records from 1618 — James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was on the throne in England and white settlers were over 150 years from setting foot in Australia. So to understand how warm the water was back then researchers from the Universities of Melbourne and Wollongong examined coral skeletons, which develop differently depending on the temperature. They published their findings in the prestigious journal Nature.

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Unsurprisingly, the team also found coral mass bleaching events coinciding with five of the six hottest years. This is further evidence linking the impact of climate change on coral.

While the federal government has successfully lobbied UNESCO not to list the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef as in danger, scientists aren’t convinced its future is secure. The Great Barrier Reef is estimated to be worth $56 billion in terms of economic, social and iconic asset value.

It supports 64,000 jobs and in 2023 it will attract around 2 million visits from tourists. But numbers that year were down 12.9 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels. And experts are warning its on a road to experiencing more “summers from hell” like 2024.

“In the absence of rapid, coordinated and ambitious global action to combat climate change, we will likely witness the demise of one of Earth’s most spectacular natural wonders,” Henley warned.

Aussies unaware of nation’s massive impact on climate change

University of Melbourne Emeritus Professor David Karoly was a co-author of the paper and a member of advocacy non-profit group, the Climate Council.

I have commended the federal government for its efforts to reduce emissions and slow the impact of the climate crisis, but warned it won’t be enough to save the world’s reefs, including Ningaloo Reef and the Great Barrier Reef from destruction.

While it’s possible to fix the problem, greenhouse gases must be slashed much faster to prevent now regular mass coral bleaching events. Karoly has accused Australia’s leaders of working in “defiance of the science” by continuing to approve new coal and gas projects that are “turning up the temperature and putting our lives and the places we love in greater harm’s way.”

“Australia is a much higher emission source than most wants people understand, and that the government to talk about,” Karoly told Yahoo News.

He said it’s bad enough Australia is the highest emitter of climate pollution per capita in the developed world, but there’s another even more pressing issue that also needs to be addressed — our massive fossil fuel exports.

“What’s critically important in stopping global warming is that the Australian government needs to take into account its export of coal and gas. Because those emissions are double Australia’s domestic emissions,” he said.

“When the exported coal and exported gas is used in other countries, it contributes to global warming. Even if Australia was to have zero emissions, its Australian exports would still be a dominant cause.”

Conservationists warn more summers ‘from hell’ to hit reefs

The report has caused widespread alarm among environmentalists. The Australian Marine Conservation Society warned the impacts on the Great Barrier Reef are worsening.

“The Great Barrier Reef has just experienced a summer from hell and the hottest decade in 400 years,” its campaign manager Dr Lissa Schindler said.

“Climate change is the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. This summer our Reef was hit by flooding, two cyclones and one of the worst coral bleaching events on record – the fifth mass bleaching event in eight years – driven by climate change.

“We know that damage is bad, but we will not know the full extent of the damage until the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority releases data on the coral mortality later in the year.”

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