Beyond Zero talks to Ove Hoegh-Guldberg about the Great Barrier Reef

Beyond Zero talks to Ove Hoegh-Guldberg about Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Foundation Director of the Centre for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland. He also heads the Coral Reef Ecosystem Laboratory. He has recently become the Director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland.

He was present at the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009 and was critical of the organisers for only allowing world leaders into the final sessions of the conference. Ove gave several talks there and was filmed for a documentary about ocean acidification titled "Sea Change". Ove spoke very strongly about the importance of not losing the science in the coal lobby's 'cherry picking' at climate change evidence.

He spoke about parliamentarians being contacted by professional advertising agencies to distort the science and the "gathering storm" of professional interest groups being a great shame when Australia is well placed to "grab the reins, realise the problem and get on with the solution". Otherwise Austrlia is at risk of becoming a dinosaur while other countries move forward.

Science has to continue doing what it has been doing - to accumulate the facts - the things that are not contestable. But there is a dilemma in that the 'other side' is behaving "scurrilously". This places scientists in a difficult position such as when, for example, they refuse to debate with someone who has 'no rules' or ethics.

The "coral triangle"

In January 2009, Ove, through the aegis of WWF America, went to the coral triangle to show people the problem of climate change as evidenced by the deterioration of the coral reefs. What can a denier of climate change say in the face of such evidence? What other explanation is there?

Why the 'coral triangle'? There are more species in the ocean than anywhere else, coral reefs hold 25% of that biodiversity and the richest coral reefs of all are in this coral triangle. It has 80% of all species that live on coral reefs. One third of the fish that are found in coral reefs are represented in the coral triangle.

It is an area that takes in parts of the Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. A place of particular beauty and great biodiversity is Raja Ampat in Western Papua.

Coral bleaching

Coral Bleaching is the destabilisation of coral reefs when heated. First seen in 1979 there have been a series of bleaching events since then. Surveys show that between 1997 and 1998 alone there was an average 16% recorded loss of coral globally. In some places the loss was up to 46%.

Science knows the exact temperature at which these reefs will bleach. In any given region, water temperatures of 1 degree Celcius above the summer maximum will result in coral bleaching.

At Copenhagen, Ove said, "Now the truth is that coral reefs don't do well above about 350ppm CO2." We are currently at approx. 387ppm and rising. If we reach 450ppm of CO2, an amount considered equivalent to a 2 degrees Celcius increase above pre-industrial levels, coral reef ecosystems become unsustainable. In other words, even if we manage to keep global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels the result will likely be the total, global destruction of coral reefs. Sadly, current estimates of likely global temperature increase far exceed 2 degrees Celcius.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington are undertaking a predictive program regarding coral reefs.

Artificial coral

Japan has been funding the artificial re-creation of coarl reefs which is a very expensive exercise. It is no panacea for climate change but has a role on a small scale for commercial reasons. The technology to repair a reef is interesting but it does not resolve the underlying problem which is that the climatic conditions currently are killing the coral so even planted corals are doomed.

Climate emergency

Ove ended the interview stating that people need to know that this is an emergency and we need to do drastic things! Climate change is really less about the science and is more a social and political problem.

Beyond Zero talks to Ove Hoegh-Guldberg about the Great Barrier Reef

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