This is Scott Amyx with today’s Climate Change Flash Briefing.
The Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of Queensland in Australia. It’s World Heritage site that spans an area of 344,400 sq km.
When floods such as the one that hit in February that brought equivalent of a year’s rainfall in 10 days, the sediment-laden waters make its way from Queensland rivers to parts of the Great Barrier Reef. The dark floodwaters block out light and smother the coral. And without wind and wave to break up the run-off plumes, the dirty water sits there covering the marine ecology. The reef is already under great stress from coral bleaching from warmer sea temperatures. Floods like these will only exacerbate the problem according the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Stay tuned next time.
