The Great Barrier Reef is likely to avoid being listed as in danger for at least another year as a United Nations body recommends delaying a decision on its World Heritage status.
  • MarmaladeMermaid@lemm.eeEnglish
    331·
    1 year ago

    So it’s not so much that the reef is not in danger, it’s that the Australian government doesn’t want its economy disturbed and has been successfully lobbying against scientists recommendations.

    • schroedingershat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Which is fucking bizarre because the coal mines they’re dredging it for provide a small fraction of the jobs the tourism industry in that area does.

    • Ertebolle@kbin.social
      3·
      1 year ago

      It sounds like they’ve made some progress and that they’re delaying this decision for a year in the hopes that it’ll encourage more, so while the notion that the reef is not in danger is, obviously, bullshit, if UNESCO can dangle that designation over the Aussies’ heads as a stick for a few years and get them to work a bit harder to protect the reef, maybe it’s kind of defensible?

      • Quatity_Control@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        It’s been about 5yrs now. UNESCO know it’s endangered, but the government keep debating their data and privately sourcing bs data that pretends everything is okay.

        It’s probably too late now. The reef is below a stable level to recover from any more impact. And there is definitively more impact coming from the climate crisis.

    • Nonameuser678@aussie.zoneEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      Australian here. Sorry to be a downer but it won’t. I’m honestly shocked UNESCO made this decision and am concerned about political interference from our government. We’re experiencing warming faster than the rest of the world. Last I saw we’re at 1.4 degrees and 1.5 is when coral bleaching events are predicted to cause wide spread devastation of the reef. Do not believe anything our government says. They are currently still approving the opening of new coal and gas mines (some of them are the largest fossil fuel projects in history). The run off from the coal projects (especially in qld where the reef is) contribute to poor water quality which impacts the reef.

      Australia is one of the world’s worst actors on climate change. One of our states just passed a law making it a criminal offence (with jail time) to protest climate inaction. I love my country but we deserve so much more criticism than we get.