Andy Ridley in a wet shirt shimmers on the roof of Dream Time after setting off a dive on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
The tour boat ran out of wetsuits, but Ridley jumped anyway to give his latest ambassador, Governor and explorer David de Rothschild, an offer for his latest project.
Ridley has a shape when it comes to asking people to do simple tasks for the sake of the environment. In Sydney in 2007, he began Earth Hour - the global "lights out" movement that required entire cities to turn off unnecessary lights for an hour on a given day - and which has since spread to 188 countries.
Now, he and local scientists are asking people to take pictures of the Great Census of Reefs, the largest community effort ever to map the world's largest coral reef system, which stretches 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) down the coast of Queensland.
"It's about reminding the world that this inspiring place is here and we have to do everything we can to keep it in the best shape possible," said Ridley, CEO of the citizens' nonprofit organization at the Great Barrier Reef.
The idea for the census came about in 2017. Ten intense tropical cyclones in 12 years have wrecked parts of coral reefs, while the ravages of climate change - rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification - have left vibrant coral communities bleached and fragile.
At a conference in the northern city of Townsville, delegates were told that coral reefs are in "crisis". They agreed that a "dramatic" change was necessary in the way the Great Barrier Reef was managed for survival.
Long-term scientific monitoring has gathered only detailed information on a small number of coral reefs - which is not enough for marine park managers to form a coherent response to climate change.
“If you want to understand where the response opportunities exist after bleaching events, or to actually care for key areas, we need to get information from a much larger number of corals,” Biden said.
For several weeks late next year, anyone - locals, tourists, fishermen, luxury yachtsmen, and other boat owners - will be required to take pictures of the coral reefs and upload them to an app. After that, anyone in the world with an internet connection will be invited to log in to help identify what's out there.
You don't need to be a reef expert to participate. Scientists say that some of the more well-known coral species are also the most important for reef restoration.
"This includes corals that are dominated by these large plate-like corals, which are really important in stimulating recovery," Mumbai said. "Also, coral reefs that contain what we describe as huge coral reefs - coral relics - which are very old, long-lived coral reefs have escaped damage for one reason or another."
"It's like the tall, slow, and old growth forests that we see in the rainforests, and the enormous trees," Biden said.
“As a coral reef manager, there's not much you can do to stop things heating up. (But) not every place is heating at the same rate. If you can locate where this difference is, and find those areas that are really important to recovering ... then you are running the process. Recover strategically as best you can, "Mumbai said.
Coral reefs are not dead
Ridley's Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef tries to get as many ambassadors into the waters as possible. Along with David de Rothschild, they hosted model Jarrod Scott and the Australian dolphin swimsuit team.
News reports of coral reef demise spread around the world in 2016 after Outside magazine published a satirical obituary, terrifying scientists and creating a false perception that they had spent years trying to fix it.
“It's very frustrating on two fronts,” Riddle said
***********************
***********************
No comments:
Post a Comment