As Embers Dress the Dusk of Man...

No, the Great Barrier Reef is Not Dead

You might have seen an obituary for the Great Barrier Reef floating around over the past few days. Published by Outside Magazine, the supposedly satirical article declared that the Great Barrier Reef had “passed away after a long illness” at 25 million years of age, and that “no effort” was ever made to save the reef.

This is not true.

It’s really, really, really not true.

Yes, the Great Barrier Reef recently underwent a massive bleaching event that affected 93% of its coral. That bleaching event resulted in the death of 22% of its coral.

22% dead is not the same as 100% dead.

So why did author Rowan Jacobsen write the obituary? Some are saying it was satire, a deliberate exaggeration meant to raise awareness of the Great Barrier Reef’s plight. If this was the case, the plot backfired spectacularly. Many people took to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other public mourning venues to declare their sadness and outrage over the death of the world’s largest living structure.

This is a dangerous reaction, but not an uncommon one. And it’s a reaction that Dr. “Rusty” Brainard, chief of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program at NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, worries will hinder efforts to save the very-very-very-not-dead reef. As he told the Huffington Post, people may begin to think that “if there’s nothing that can be done,” we should “not do anything and move onto other issues.”

In the interests of preserving the Great Barrier Reef’s not-dead state, let’s not do that. While the Reef is arguably dying, it can still be saved, and we should be doing what we can to save it.

So what can we do?

If the news of the Great Barrier Reef’s “death” upset you, please read on.