2017-02-16
Queensland Greens candidate for Mount Coot-tha and state spokesperson Michael Berkman says all signs point to another disastrous coral bleaching event for the Great Barrier Reef caused by coal-driven global warming.
“Following on from last year’s bleaching, the worst on record that killed almost a quarter of corals, the Great Barrier Reef could be facing another cataclysmic event” said the candidate for Mount Coot-tha.
“There are signs of a new mass bleaching event near the Palm Islands, northwest of Townsville, with Reef scientists say it could stretch as far south as Sydney.
“On top of this warning is the release today of a report showing the Reef is unlikely to bounce back from bleaching.
“Rising sea temperatures driven by global warming is causing the bleaching and scientists have found no evidence of similar events before the late 20th century.
“We know global warming is driven by coal, yet Queensland Labor and the LNP continue to belligerently barrack for big coal and Adani, a multinational corporation with a ruinous environmental record that wants to dig up 2.3 billion tonnes of coal and burn it”.
“The science is there, the moral imperative is there and yet the Labor, Liberal and National parties seem to be more interested in taking money from the big fossil fuel corporations ($1,458,243 in 2015-16) than acting to save Australia’s greatest wonder”.