As the world grapples with COVID-19, the Great Barrier Reef is facing a crisis of its own – its third mass bleaching in five years.
Days before virus restrictions were imposed, a research team led by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and Southern Cross University successfully trialled world-first ‘cloud brightening’ technology off the Townsville coast to protect our valuable reef systems from future bleaching events.
Project leader and Southern Cross University Senior Lecturer Dr Daniel Harrison said cloud brightening was one of the most innovative and promising potential methods that could protect very large areas of reef.
“Cloud brightening could potentially protect the entire Great Barrier Reef from coral bleaching in a relatively cost-effective way, buying precious time for longer-term climate change mitigation to lower the stress on this irreplaceable ecosystem,” Dr Harrison said.
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Image via Southern Cross University
