ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
“Charlie” Veron, former Chief Scientist of AIMS, has worked on all the major coral reef regions of the world. He has over 100 research publications including 12 books and monographs on corals and coral reefs.
His latest book, A Reef in Time: the Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End (Harvard University Press, 2008), distils the world’s best science for general readers, following the GBR from its earliest origins, to current issues, to future prognoses.
ABSTRACT:
The outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is serious in the extreme. Not only is climate change on a course that will lead to the wholesale destruction of most of the Reef’s biota, it is pushing our planet to the brink of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction. In the deep geological past, these extinctions have hit tropical marine life hardest through upheavals of the carbon cycle mediated by carbon dioxide. Today, carbon dioxide is creating changes to temperature, weather, sea level and ocean alkalinity. These changes are widely known; what is not widely known is the immediacy of the crisis. The last IPCC report – currently the main provider of information to governments about climate change – has seriously underestimated time-lines. This talk looks at how humanity has responded to this crisis and what the future options are.
Australian scientists have discovered a massive detached coral reef just off Cape York on the Great Barrier Reef that’s taller than the Empire State Building or the Sydney Tower. The scientists f
A new study of the Great Barrier Reef shows populations of its small, medium and large corals have all declined in the past three decades. Lead author Dr Andy Dietzel, from the ARC Centre of Excell
Scientists have found that as the world undergoes profound environmental change, identifying and protecting ‘novel’ communities of species can help prevent extinctions within vulnerable ecosystems
Scientists say a ‘portfolio’ of protected areas within marine parks such as the Great Barrier Reef can help secure sustainable fish populations. Dr Hugo Harrison from the ARC Centre of Excellen
Abstract: CHE is not a particular theory or a single approach but a collection of lines of research that address human-environmental interactions in coastal and marine systems at the local scale
Abstract: How can we care about something we never see or experience? Virtual reality has the potential to connect people with far-away places, and is an effective medium to generate empathy and sel
Abstract: When abundant, seabirds feeding in the open ocean transport large quantities of nutrients onto islands, enhancing the productivity of island fauna and flora. These nutrients can leach int
Abstract: Current-day populations of coral reef fish suffer when exposed acutely to elevated temperatures, but future warming will occur over greater timescales. Recent studies show that developmenta
Abstract: There is often a mismatch between the scales at which ecosystems are threatened by human impacts and those at which management and policy are implemented. Better understanding the scales ov
Abstract: Ocean warming and acidification are challenging the tolerance limits of scleractinian corals. However, beneficial acclimation and stress-hardening via phenotypic plasticity may be pathw
Abstract: Globally, coral reefs are under threat. Unfortunately, the rate of ecosystem degradation often surpasses the rate of generation of knowledge required to support management. Despite the consi
Partner Research Institutions
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University Townsville
Queensland 4811 Australia
Phone: 61 7 4781 4000
Email: info@coralcoe.org.au
