Coral reefs are dying, worldwide, from issues related to AGW. From the actual study on which the NBC story was based:
In the 87 representative reefs surveyed between August 2021 and May 2022 under the
AIMS Long-Term Monitoring Program (LTMP), average hard coral cover in the region north of Cooktown increased to 36% (from 27% in 2021) and to 33% in the central Great Barrier Reef (from 26% in 2021).
However, average coral cover in the southern region (from Proserpine to Gladstone) decreased from 38% in 2021 to 34%.
...
“A third of the gain in coral cover we recorded in the south in 2020/21 was lost last year due to ongoing crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks,” he said.
“This shows how vulnerable the Reef is to the continued acute and severe disturbances that are occurring more often, and are longer-lasting.”
Dr Hardisty said the increased frequency of mass coral bleaching events was “uncharted territory” for the Reef, with this year’s bleaching event the fourth in seven years and the first to occur during a La Niña.
“In our 36 years of monitoring the condition of the Great Barrier Reef we have not seen bleaching events so close together,” he said.
“Every summer the Reef is at risk of temperature stress, bleaching and potentially mortality and our understanding of how the ecosystem responds to that is still developing.
“The 2020 and 2022 bleaching events, while extensive, didn’t reach the intensity of the 2016 and 2017 events and, as a result, we have seen less mortality. These latest results demonstrate the Reef can still recover in periods free of intense disturbances.”
AIMS monitoring program team leader
Dr Mike Emslie said the 2022 results built on the increases in coral cover reported for 2021, with most of the increase continuing to be driven by fast-growing
Acropora corals.
“These corals are particularly vulnerable to wave damage, like that generated by strong winds and tropical cyclones,” he said.
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If you think this study even hints that the GBR is coming back and that the growing damage seen from increasingly frequent bleaching events is part of any natural cycle... you're a fucking idiot.
