26 June 2010 – couriermail

AUSTRALIA has just 20 years to save the Great Barrier Reef from significant damage by ocean acidification, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on marine science has warned.

Dr Charlie Veron, the former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said the threat of ocean acidification was not being taken seriously.

Dr Veron, regarded as the “grandfather” of coral reef science in Australia, having discovered 20 per cent of the world’s corals, predicted the Great Barrier Reef would suffer severe damage as a result of the process within the next 20 years.

“Around about 2030, carbon dioxide levels will have reached a point where ocean warming will be killing off most shallow water corals,’’ he said.

“You don’t have to be a scientist to understand that. You just have to look at what’s happened over the past 30 years.’’

Share This:

3 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Add video comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.