The Australian Tourism Minister, Fran Bailey, recently said that using shade cloth could protect the Great Barrier Reef from the harmful effects of global warming, according to a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
One of the suggestions is to attach the shade cloth to pontoons, which is an idea Ms Bailey says is worth considering if it will help protect the reef.
"We’re very concerned because this is a $5.8 billion tourist industry on the reef, employing 33,000 people," she said.
"So obviously we’re tackling this problem from both ends – the cause of the problem and also trying to find practical ways to mitigate the problem."
Australian blogger David Jeffrey adds some context:
The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,300 km along Australia’s north-east coast. Covering 344,000 square km, it’s almost one and a half times the size of New Zealand. That’s a lot of shade cloth.
Some researchers who have studied the GBR believe it can recover from "thermal stresses," but a 2004 study by the World Wildlife Fund and the Queensland government predicted that 95% of the reef would be bleached–killed–by 2050, even on a scenario that saw reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.
Hmmm. Time for an experiment, perhaps?
Kit Stolz 