Great Barrier Reef 2050 Plan "No Longer Possible"- Warming Moving Too Fast - Guardian

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4. INDEPENDENT EXPERT PANEL - COMMUNIQUE 5 MAY 2017

http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/abff0d5e-b94d-4495-b79b-90dc52274f69/files/expert-panel-communique-5may2017.pdf
INDEPENDENT EXPERT PANEL – COMMUNIQUÈ 5 MAY 2017

The seventh meeting of the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel was held today in Brisbane, chaired by Professor Ian Chubb AC. The meeting was a dedicated workshop to develop advice on protection of the Great Barrier Reef in light of widespread coral bleaching in both 2016 and 2017.

The Panel were united in their concern about the seriousness of the impacts facing the Reef and concluded that coral bleaching since early 2016 has changed the Reef fundamentally. There is great concern about the future of the Reef, and the communities and businesses that depend on it, but hope still remains for maintaining ecological function over the coming decades.

Members agreed that in our lifetime and on our watch, substantial areas of the Great Barrier Reef and the surrounding ecosystems are experiencing major long-term damage which may be irreversible unless action is taken now. The planet has changed in a way that science informs us is unprecedented in human history. While that in itself may be cause for action, the extraordinary rapidity of the change we now observe makes action even more urgent.

The Panel considers that action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases must be central to the response. This needs to be coupled with increased efforts to improve the resilience of the coral and other ecosystems that form the Great Barrier Reef. The focus of efforts should be on managing the Reef to maintain the benefits that the Reef provides.

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