Great Barrier Reef

It was good to see Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot smiling and speaking politely to one another yesterday on Parliament's first day back. It's hard to describe just how important I believe these two men are in the history of our country, as we sit and wonder how their decisions will impact on our lives.


After lots of evidence to the contrary, I was surprised to hear Kevin Rudd yesterday insist that the Great Barrier Reef could be "destroyed beyond recognition" by global warming. He argued that it would be obliterated in the worst-case scenario if temperatures increased by 4C.


So what's the problem? It's all about coral bleaching which is when corals lose colour due to environmental stress such as increased water temperature or pollution.


But researchers who are supposed to know about these things - our own researchers I might add - say that it's just not ha ppening. The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) tell us that mass coral bleaching was unlikely this summer.


Mr Rudd is quoting from the IPCC 2007 report which predicted that the reef would be subject to annual bleaching by 2030 if climate change continued unchecked, destroying much of its coral cover. After 14 sites were checked, the Townsville based AIMS found only a handfull of "slightly stressed reefs". I would have thought that after the Himalayan alps debacle, he would have changed his tack and been more careful about quoting anything the IPCC puts out.


The leader of AIMS long-term reef monitoring program Hugh Sweatman said "We saw literally a handfull of colonies that were looking pale, mainly in the Capricorn area but you get that every year. So there is no evidence of concerted bleaching across the reef whatsoever". AIMS scientists including Kerryn Jones also find no sign of bleaching.

It's good to know that AIMS is keeping watch and monitoring one of our most treasured assets.