By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem, is in a critical state and deteriorating as climate change warms up the waters in which it lies, an international conservation group said.
The World Heritage-listed site off Australia’s northeastern coast has lost more than half its coral in the past three decades.
Coral-bleaching in 2016, 2017 and 2020 has further damaged its health and affected its animal, bird and marine population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a report.
Such bleaching occurs when hotter water destroys the algae which the coral feeds on, causing it to turn white.
CMW takes a deep dive into the Great Barrier Reef and checks out the improving offer in Cairns
As New Zealand and Australia opened up a travel bubble in October, maybe there is some Antipodean light emerging at the end of the dark corona tunnel.
In normal times, Cairns & Great Barrier Reef presents meeting planners with a combination of sustainable, first-class facilities and operators amid an amazing natural world.
The area has twin World Heritage-listed icons, the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforest – natural delegate boosters for any event. The international airport is located 10 minutes from the centre of Cairns and in a normal year it handles up to five million travellers. In August the A$55m T2 Domestic Terminal upgrade was completed.
Tourists flock back to Fraser as locals tell tales of triumph over bushfires that threatened their homes
WedWednesday 16
updated
ThuThursday 17
DecDecember 2020 at 2:38am
Burnt bushland showing how close the flames came to the Happy Valley township on Fraser Island.
(
Share
Print text only
Cancel
Less than two weeks after a bushfire roared towards the township of a Happy Valley on Fraser Island (K gari), stories of survival and triumph are still doing the rounds.
Happy Valley was saved by the efforts of a team of largely volunteer rural firefighters, led by Darren Gorlick.
Darren Gorlick says fire was moving toward Happy Valley from several directions.
Environmental News For The Week Ending 13December 2019
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at
GEI (but can be posted at other times).
Please share this article - Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons.
Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
Summary:
New US Covid cases were at a record 247,737 on Friday on the worldometers site that I watch; that would be nearly 40% of all the new infections reported worldwide on that day as per that site.However, the Johns Hopkins dashboard is showing a record 1,489,000 new Covid infections worldwide on that date, more than double any previous one day total..I have to assume that s in error, and my best guess would be that somehow the data was entered twice, and they ll eventually correct it.Regardless, whatever the a
ABC Everyday
The heritage-listed Tathra wharf is a popular fishing spot.
(
Print text only
Cancel
Vast swathes of Australia are facing a long road to recovery after being devastated by bushfires and drought.
Australian Regional Tourism chair Coralie Bell says the best way to help is to pack your bags and visit. Before you head off, please check that it s safe to do so as some areas including roads and national parks may still be closed. Visiting regional Australia is not just an adventure, it s a way to really give back, Ms Bell says. Tourism plays an important role in creating and supporting jobs, but it also celebrates culture, stories and the essence of who we are it s important socially as well as economically.