Great Barrier Reef tougher than thought, but it doesn't have the time

The Great Barrier Reef may be more resilient to fluctuations in temperatures than previously thought, according to a new international study.

The Great Barrier Reef - tougher than thought.

An ABC story headed: “Great Barrier Reef tougher than thought” tells us that scientists have used fossilised corals to reconstruct the sea surface temperatures on the Great Barrier Reef dating back between 20,000 and 13,000 years ago.

The story said found that water temperatures on the reef 20,000 years ago were up to five degrees Celsius cooler than today, but a warming ocean led to temperatures reaching close to modern-day temperatures around 13,000 years ago.

According to Dr Helen McGregor, a Research Fellow at the Australian National University and a member of the research team, the study shows that corals may be more adaptable to climate change than was previously thought.

The sentence that really matters is this one:

"The Great Barrier Reef has coped with temperature changes that have occurred over a few thousand years, but now we are looking at a four degrees Celsius temperature change occurring in 100 to 150 years, so it is much more rapid."

The change corals are being forced into is rapid – a couple of centuries, when nature, with the exception of microscopic live forms, needs thousands of years to adapt.