The near vertiginous rise in the growth of coral over the last five years across Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should put the tin hat on the ubiquitous Armageddon predictions of the imminent collapse of the reef – at least for the time being. According to the latest survey by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AMS), coral cover rose by 27% in the northern reef. Massive growth of 26% and 39% were recorded in the central and southern areas respectively.
As late as October 2020, the BBC was telling stories about the Reef losing half its coral and citing a study that said it was due to “warmer seas driven by climate change”. No doubt the recent heartening news of recovery will delight Extinction Rebellion supporter and Guardian activist George Monbiot. He was one of the first to start the coral doomsday ball rolling by telling his readers in 1999 that the “imminent total destruction of the world’s coral reefs is not a scare story”. Forecasting that most of the coral in the Indian Ocean will die by 2000, he suggested that one of the world’s great ecosystems “is now on the point of total collapse”.
Tropical coral thrives in waters between 24°C and 32°C. It is highly adaptable but seems to dislike sudden changes in temperature, often caused by natural weather oscillations such as El Niño events. Under such conditions it can die back and bleach, but as recent evidence shows, it quickly recovers when normal localised conditions return. Global warming started to run out of steam a couple of decades ago and there has been a standstill for at least seven years. However, minor long term temperature changes are unlikely to cause many problems for highly resilient coral. The resilience is clearly shown below in the latest AMS figures for the northern Reef.
The recovery was just as dramatic in the central part of the reef.
AMS data for the northern and central Reef, where water temperature is higher, show that there were very rapid increases in the coral cover. This was helped by few ‘disturbances’, of which the most significant was a recent absence of crown-of-thorns starfish attacks. It is also noted that most of the recent increase is due to the fast-growing Acropora coral – which of course accounts for a lot of the routine die backs when conditions turn less benign. All of this looks like natural processes, although the AMS is still wedded to the notion that human-caused climate change is a major culprit. The Reef remains exposed to “the predicted consequences of climate change”. The observed recovery “can be reversed in a short amount of time”, it says.
Significant research into the Reef only got going in the mid 1970s. Before that, the area was largely unobserved and few records about bleaching and temperature changes were made. Last Monday, the Daily Sceptic reported that a treasure trove of 1871 sea temperatures taken on board a scientific mission travelling the length of the Great Barrier Reef had recently been compared to current measurements logged at the same areas. No differences were found by research scientist Dr. Bill Johnson, leading him to conclude that: “Alarming claims that the East Australian Current have warmed due to global warming are therefore without foundation”.
The dataset has been know about for a few months but largely ignored, presumably because the findings disturb the current political agenda. A common dismissive trope was that the measurements were likely to be inaccurate. However, it seems unlikely that a group of scientists in 1871, on a scientific mission travelling to view a total solar eclipse off Cape York, were unable to correctly use a thermometer. The readings may have flaws and be open to other interpretations, but they undoubtedly offer an interesting insight into the history of the Reef. Certainly, such rare data should not be dismissed out of hand.
The lack of vintage temperature data is a big problem in the climate world. The main surface temperature database used by the IPCC and scientists around the world is HadCRUT, run by the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. A recent PhD student John McLean found that the database was started in 1850, but after five years just three stations were reporting data from the whole of the southern hemisphere. It wasn’t until 1950 that 50% of the area was covered.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if the Reef’s dramatic recent recovery affects the huge funds and grants that have poured into the area over the last 25 years. Biologist and long time observer of Reef politics, Jennifer Marohasy has documented the growth of the finance involved since 1998. This was when the World Wildlife Fund launched its campaign focused on the Reef, and saw its Federal Government grant increase seven-fold over four years to A$3.5 million. She notes that Reef temperatures are now monitored by the AMS at 80 sites, “and do not show a long term warming trend”. Furthermore, says Marohasy, there are no studies showing either a deterioration in coral cover or water quality. But still the headlines suggest a problem, she reports.
In January this year, the Australian Government announced A$1 billion to save the Reef. In Marohasy’s view, “This is really protection money to be paid to the Reef Mafia; not really to protect the Reef”. There will be a rush to get the money, she continued, “and then it will be taken out into the pockets of the many who will continue the myth of the dying Great Barrier Reef”.
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Will the CPS take the same line with the sacred texts of other beliefs? There is either free speech or there is not.
1600 verses of anti christian hate speech in Mein Koran. Out of scope for this of course. Lots of Atheist hate speech about other religions – out of scope for this of course. Lots of hate speech from the Queer-Trans propaganda gospel – out of scope for this of course…etc etc.
I don’t have strong views one way or the other regarding lesbians, but I don’t think the CPS will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Lord save us from civil servants trying to do exegesis. In fact, it’s eisegesis. Deuteronomy does not “recognise… cannibalism”, that’s absurd. The verse is actually Deuteronomy 28:26, which says (ESV):
In this verse, the Hebrew word for “beasts” (which is our word “behemoth”) does not mean humans. Good job, CPS!
As for the death penalty, is it now illegal to argue for the death penalty? That’s a political matter, not for the CPS to prosecute. Take a look at this poll. Were the people responding to that poll committing a crime? Obviously not.
Again with slavery, while abhorrent, I fail to see why anyone stupid enough to argue for slavery should be prosecuted. Nonsense.
A spectacular display of religious illiteracy by the Crown Persecution Service
Mein Koran demands the enslavement of others.
Don’t Black and Muslims own Black slaves right now today in East Africa?
If you say that in public is that also a hate crime?
Well I never. I was totally unaware that part of the CPS remit was policing the Bible.
I’m looking forward to the CPS applying its theological wisdom to the Quran. Or, for that matter, to Hollywood movies glorifying crime and mass slaughter, ie, most of them.
Koran 9.29?
Yes, I wonder how they go on stoning adulterers and cutting hands off thieves…surely a big much to stomach if one hears someone shouting for it as one wanders down Acacia Avenue in Middling Netherwallop…
The institutions are all captured. I am fortunate enough to know a man, now in his eighties, who made a massive contribution to this country during his business career, saving thousands of jobs and encouraging substantial inward investment. I have long felt he deserved recognition for such achievements, and duly looked up the application process for honours – MBE for example. Very simply, there are several forms to complete and a good deal of guidance on what would make for a successful application. Retired people are excluded. You have to be active and delivering service in some community based organisation. You will not be given an award for something you were paid for doing.
Given the influence the honours system has on people, is it any wonder that there is no longer aspiration to contribute economically to the success of our country, and that there is no recognition of the benefits of private sector enterprise to society as a whole?
Sadly, I am not disappointed by this discovery – I must have unconsciously expected to find the situation so.
He will be honoured by the appreciation and recognition of people like you and now us. The honours system is a bunch of crap. It’s like getting a Gold Star for being a good student.
Surely it’s time for the cops to arrest God. Good luck with that one boys!
Given the levels of intelligence and competence they usually display I would expect they have already issued a warrant for his / her (whoops) arrest.
I believe God’s pronoun is ‘They’.
God, the Father. God, the son. And Casper the friendly Ghost, if my recollection serves me.
And since we are all manifestations of god in some form or another it would be like god arresting god…
“I arrest myself in case I utter something later that I might regret”
“Oh no I won’t!”
“Oh yes I will!”
Considering how well-informed the CPS would like us to think it is about what the Bible contains, it’s surprising that they should be so ignorant about what it actually is. The Bible is the story, told over thousands of years, of the realisation of God in man, and the promise of salvation which stems from that.
The Old Testament undoubtedly contains material which is out of line with contemporary ethics (not that that in itself should be grounds for prohibition), but the same material is actually out of line with the New Testament, which is, of course, the cornerstone of Christian teaching. The jealous God of the Old Testament is different from the merciful human God of the New. It is not necessarily easy for us to understand how and why this transformation occurs, but the point is that it does occur, and a fundamental part of Christianity is a rejection of the more ethically ambiguous practices which were earlier espoused.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” And so on and so forth, all in the general vein of “Love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Who today would ‘Love thy neighbour’ when they can #BeKind?
It’s a long time since I last read the Bible, but I’m sure that Jesus also said “think not that I have come to change the law, for I have come to uphold it”, “until heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle of the law shall pass away”, and “he who breaks the least part of the law shall be considered least in the kingdom of heaven”. St. Paul also wrote in one of his epistles, I think it was to Timothy, that all of scripture is inspired by God and is therefore useful for teaching. This all seems to suggest that everything in the Old Testament should be adhered to, and talk of love and forgiveness just shows how many internal contradictions the Bible contains. This is only to be expected in a book written by imperfect men, and not inspired by a perfect deity.
My personal view is that between the Old Testament and New Testament times there was an evolution in man’s understanding of God. The law of God is enshrined in the Ten Commandments. There was also a proliferation of intricate laws as seen in Leviticus for example. These other laws were most likely human constructs based on the commandments and sometimes a reflection of contemporary culture. The NT exposes the weaknesses of living merely by laws. For example, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” when the adulterous woman was facing a lynch mob. Of course, Jesus was not making light of her sin or saying she would not be held to account, just it was not the job of her peers to do that. So I don’t think God had changed his mind about anything but man’s understanding of God was evolving.
Don’t worry lads. The CPS will unleash the full force of the Keystone Cops aka our police force.
It would be quite ironic if someone was prosecuted and taken to court for quoting from the bible and then in court took the oath by swearing on the bible!
What can you say….?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/26/jesus-could-have-transgender-claims-cambridge-dean/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11462983/Westminster-council-start-using-phrase-global-majority-dropping-term-BAME.html
The CPS does not make law, nor adjudicate it.
All places of worship are public.
it will be interesting to see what happens when quotations from the Bible are used in public ceremonies like weddings and funeral of Royalty for example.