NEWS: Newly Discovered Tasmanian Coral Reef May Prove Global Warming

Biologists from Tasmania's Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute have discovered a shallow coral covered reef off Tasmania. The reef which is the size of a large city suburb, is situated off the north east coast of Tasmania near Flinders Island and could prove that global warming has changed and altered Tasmanias marine environment. The scientists believe that rising water temperatures are having an impact on the normally cold water in the region allowing coral, usually only found in more tropical waters, to form reefs.



It is most unusual to find reefs of this large size in the area around tasmania. The water currents in the area are closest to the antarctic and penguins and seals can be found along Tasmanian beaches. It will be interesting to see what further findings these scientist discover from studying this and other reefs in the area.

Australia's great barrier reef meanwhile is shrinking, down 20 percent from a period of 20 years ago and there is talk of creating more and more artifical reefs to sustain marine life in the area.

[edit on 16-7-2005 by Mayet]

I watched this last night. It was very interesting however I think the following is VERY interesting.

The CSIRO has noticed other changes, including the invasion of about 30 species of fish from warmer areas to Tasmanian waters.

.

I just wonder what the impact will be over time on local fish stocks. The CSIRO also stated that cold water fish are moving further south along with the warmer water fish moving in.


[edit on 16/7/2005 by Lady of the Lake]

Yes that part caught my eyes in the article.

Up here in tropical Queensland the fish stocks are getting sparser. There is more consumers requiring the product as it is a large part of our tropical lifestyle and tourism/cuisine. I notice myself when fishing I do not catch as much, in the spots where I used to always get bites and catches. The fishing fleets are all selling up and can't get buyers and new controls are being introduced in the effort to protect species including the humble cape york prawn. ..humble but very tasty I might add......

I put it down largely to the rape of the sea by humans and pro fishers but when added with the declining reef and weird water currents it does point to something larger and something global occuring.

A coral reef in this area would imply ocean warming and not global warming. The article also leaves out an important detail on how long it would take for a reef of that size to form. The idea behind an article like that is for you to automatically assume that this is because of man. Keep in mind that our climate has been warming for thousands of years. Yes... thousands. The climate cycles. It really isn't news like some news sources would want you to believe. Darn those primitive humans and their SUV's

The most significant threat to the future of the Great Barrier Reef and of the planet's other tropical reef ecosystems is global warming. Many of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef are currently living at the upper edge of their temperature tolerance, as demonstrated in the coral bleaching events of the summers of 1998 and 2002. Under the stress of waters that remain too warm for too long, corals expel their photosynthesizing zooxanthellae and turn colourless, revealing their white skeletons, and if the water does not cool within about a month the coral dies. In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit of sorts. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1856-2004 Global warming is a term used to describe an increase over time of the average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans. ... Coral bleaching results when the symbiotic zooxanthellae (single celled algae) are expelled from the host coral organism due to stress. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Zooxanthellae are golden-brown endosymbionts of various marine animals and protozoa. ...

Global warming has triggered the collapse of reef ecosystems throughout the tropics. Increased global temperatures bring more violent tropical storms, but reef systems are naturally resilient and recover from storm battering. With an upward trend in temperature apparently continuing, much more coral bleaching is expected to occur in the coming decades.

www.newscientist.com...
Tropical Reefs and Glabal Warming (rapid Increase of temp on timeline)

Rising levels of greenhouse gases may not be quite as bad for coral reefs as was previously thought. A team of Australian scientists say that the damage done by increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the oceans will be offset by warmer waters, which will make coral grow faster. But other researchers counter that warming will do more harm than good.

Other researchers argue that McNeil’s team did not consider coral bleaching, which occurs when warmer waters cause corals to expel the symbiotic algae that live in them. They say bleaching may undo the beneficial effects of higher temperature.

www.newscientist.com...

How would you explain the rise of water temperature. I find personally that global warming explains the increase of water temperature wquite well.

A coral reef in this area would imply ocean warming and not global warming. The article also leaves out an important detail on how long it would take for a reef of that size to form. The idea behind an article like that is for you to automatically assume that this is because of man. Keep in mind that our climate has been warming for thousands of years. Yes... thousands. The climate cycles.

Global warming would logically result in warming of the oceans. It also would appear that whilst the oceans have been warming for years that growth of this coral reef has been some what rapid in relative terms.

Man would contribute given what he/she has done to the earth over many thousands of years. Naturally there are other contributing factors as well.

Hmmm, something else to add to the list :

Ice shelves disintegrating
Glaciers receding
Gulf stream slowing
More flooding
Monsoon late in India
Drought in Australia

Even if it isn't man causing these changes that I perceive, the Earth does seem to be entering a transition phase.

Anyone wishing to see something that I think is contributing alot to global warming should checkout the Lasco C3 mpeg at SOHO. Catch it now before they change the footage and you can see an incoming comet and the resulting explosions on the sun. The comet is difficult to see, must look below the star which is visible at 4 0'clock position from 7/13 20:18 to 7/14 05:18.

The sun was already going a bit nuts as this one hits, I think it is not the first one to land a punch in the past week.

Back in October '03 I noted what appeared to be a comet shower hitting the sun during the period of massive coronal mass ejections. SOHO staff acknowledged the comet shower but denied it could cause a reaction from the sun. I don't agree since I've seen plenty of footage which clearly shows comets hitting and explosions resulting. Also, these comets are quite reddish, with little or no tails, suggesting that there is more metal content and less ice than we usually attribute to comets. It is worth noting that someone on staff suggested to me that the comet shower is caused by the breakup of a giant comet which has been feeding the sun. Since these comet pieces are clearly visible on Lasco C3, which is not the closeup footage we get from Lasco C2, I figure this giant comet must be huge to drop off such large pieces.

I meant to include this link with the previous post.
sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov...

"Global warming would logically result in warming of the oceans. It also would appear that whilst the oceans have been warming for years that growth of this coral reef has been some what rapid in relative terms. "

Lady.... ever thought that ocean warming would logically result in global warming? The oceans contain far more energy than the atmosphere and are VERY able to manipulate the atmosphere on a very large scale. Its just too easy to overlook the ocean and go to the atmosphere because at least that way people have a chance to blame it on man. You can't blame it on man if the oceans are warming. Though I'm sure some will try and find a way.

This is, of course, what happens in the case of El Nino and La Nina. The cyclical warming and cooling of the waters of the Pacific have profound effects on the weather, although I think the "children" are too often blamed for just about everything.

[edit on 2005/7/17 by GradyPhilpott]

Not to nit-pick, Mayet, but you wrote:

covered reef off Tasmania. The reef which is the size of a large city suburb

However, some quick googling turned this up...

How long does it take for coral to grow? Corals grow at different rates, depending on water temperature, salinity, turbulence, and the availability of food. The massive corals are the slowest growing species, adding between 5 and 25 millimeters (.2 inches to an 1 inch) per year to their length. Branching and Staghorn corals can grow much faster, adding as much as 20 centimeters (8 inches) to their branches each year.

Source: Coral Reef Alliance

Assuming they know more than you about coral, and further assuming that what you call

a large city suburb

is actually a very tiny city suburb and is only ONE SQUARE MILE, which equals 63,600 inches across and 63,600 in length, THAT CORAL IS SUPER CORAL.

Instead of regular coral that would take between 7,000 and 63,000 YEARS to grow that big, you would have us believe that it has just appeared in the time that man has been "speeding global warming" (say the last 100 to 200 years or so)? Is that REALLY your argument?

Weak, dude. Really weak.

You are nit picking

and it is Mrs Mayet to you.

I don't find that to be nitpicking. I mean if you were debating over whether the reef was 50 or 70 years old that would be nitpicking. When you are talking about the possibility of something being hundreds if not thousands of years old then its a very valid poit. It is valid because it confronts the intent of the news story. If the reef is very old then a global warming claim is not really valid.

Valid point Indy

HOWEVER... I am reporting the story without bias from information given to me by a reputable news source that I am passing on to members here to debate. I am a writer, not a scientist. The poster has every reason to question the story but to attack the poster?

That's like shooting the messenger really. There are ways to go about arguing points and its not polite or nice to personally attack the author or reporter of news and call them "weak dude".

I hope you don't feel I attacked you. I only question the story itself. There are too many stories of this nature that promote an agenda. I don't blame you for passing it along. I only blame the writers of the news for having bias and pushing an agenda. I have lost faith in the Weather Channel for that very reason. If you need current temps they are ok. But thats it.

No Indy, I was speaking about Hambuglar then when i spoke of the "weak Dude" comment.
and I agree about the weather channel but I have a 100% accurate weather forecaster in my own home. I am mother to six children. One child has blue eyes, my baby who is twelve months old and the other five have dark eyes. I myself have brown eyes, my husband, who is part spanish has almost black eyes. His parents are brown eye and grey/green eyes and my parents are brown and hazel.

Anyhows my baby, Kahleah Celeste, eyes are a aqua blue/green colour centre going out to dark blue blue, which is the standard colour most days. To a steely /grey/blue and shiny on days when it is going to rain. Its sort of like when you look at a river of water or the sea, on a clear day, its a lighter blue green and on a cloudy day it reflects the dark blue grey skies.

Some days surprise me, in the morning it is fine and sunny and no clouds, yet Kahleahs eyes go steely and sure enough, within a couple of hours it clouds over and rains. Her eyes are spot on everytime and now people around me are starting to sit up when i say its going to rain. Even the markings in the colored bit change, when its going to rain the circle bits get rounder and more prominent and when its not they are narrow and elongated. I spend a lot of time looking into my babies eyes and people here agree its spot on and so unusual.

it is more so unusual for me because i am used to looking into Brown eyes with my other kids, sometimes I wonder how the heck she got lighter coloured eyes to start with...the wonders of genetics.....

Does anyone else have eyes that change with the weather? I have heard of joints swelling and aches starting, or even sneezing but never eyes.

what's surprising to me with Kahleahs is that they are changed before the skies start to show any promise or hint of change.


[edit on 18-7-2005 by Mayet]

[edit on 18-7-2005 by Mayet]

I am a writer, not a scientist. The poster has every reason to question the story but to attack the poster?

Sorry, Mrs. Mayet, but I'm not going to let you attempt to malign me as if I were attacking you. I was quite clear when I said

Is that REALLY your argument?

My problem is not with you, but with YOUR argument. And, while you can hide behind your original sources all you want...

I am reporting the story without bias from information given to me by a reputable news source

You can't deny that you also made an argument when you said the following:

I put it down largely to the rape of the sea by humans and pro fishers but when added with the declining reef and weird water currents it does point to something larger and something global occuring.

and

I find personally that global warming explains the increase of water temperature wquite well.

While you could certainly try to contend that you were only arguing specific, quasi-related points, I think we both recognize that the crux of these statements was to tie global warming and human intervention to these magical coral reefs.

Therefore, I was perfectly sound in taking your argument to task, and further I would be equally sound in asking you to take a few moments to double check some well published information suggesting that human intervention and global warming couldn't possibly be involved with the growth of these reefs (unless you think we've been aiding global warming for thousands of years now, and I'm not about to get into that argument with you).

So, sorry if you thought I had a problem with you, but please, recognize that I was doing exactly what you claimed you wanted

I am passing on to members here to debate.

See Hamburglar debate. Debate, Ham. Debate.

Damn..you do have issues





[edit on 29-7-2005 by Mayet]