'The triumph of politics over science?' - David Spratt

The Great Barrier Reef is an election issue. Labor has just promised $400 million for the Reef. The government had previously committed $170 million, but one of Australia's leading coral researchers says that "Australia's plan for protecting Great Barrier Reef tourism is to pretend leading coral researchers isn't its biggest threat."

Neither of the major parties are opposed to the expansion of coal mining in Australia. The question is whether the policies of either major party will actually "Save the Reef," or is this a case of politics triumphing over science?

This year, at just 1°C of global average warming, large swathes of the northern areas of the Reef were killed by record warmer waters which are a consequence of climate change.

Before this mass bleaching started, the Great Barrier Reef had lost 50% of its coral cover due to the effects of tropical cyclones, crown-of-thorns starfishes and reduced water quality, as well as climate change.  With this year's bleaching, that figure is now closer to 65%.

Read David Spratt’s story on Climate Code Red - “"Saving the Reef": The triumph of politics over science?”