Scientists: Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Toxic Flood Debris

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Environmentalists in Australia are calling for a review of land management practices following Queensland's recent devastating floods. They say the floods have flushed toxic, pesticide-laden sediment into the Great Barrier Reef.

Australia's worst floods in 50 years in December and January have left a trail of environmental devastation. Riverbanks have been eroded, farmland has been destroyed, and the state's mining industry is still struggling to recover.

What concerns environmentalists and scientists now are the tons of sediment and toxic sludge they say have been carried along with the floodwaters.

A scientist says there's evidence that run-off has already caused damage to sensitive coral areas off the coast.

[Michelle Devlin, Scientist, James Cook University]:
"What we've done is we have changed the quality of the water, so our activities on the catchment through increased agriculture and through urbanization is that we've changed that quality of water - there's high nutrients in there, there's higher sediments, there's pesticides that could potentially impact on the reef."

Experts say they expect to see coral bleaching because of the flooding that swept across central and southern Queensland.

Bleaching occurs when the tiny plant-like coral organisms die, often because of high temperature and poisoning, leaving behind only a white limestone reef skeleton.

[Michelle Devlin, Scientist, James Cook University]:
"We need to really understand the impact of that amount of fresh water plus combined with the other pollutants that are in the water and as we have said we are starting to see some aspects of bleaching and potentially mortality in those inshore reefs."

The flooded areas feeding into the Fitzroy and Bowen Basin river systems comprise large grazing, agriculture areas, and Queensland's highest concentration of coalmines.

[Susie Christiansen, CEO, Fitzroy Management Authority]:
"Sediment comes off just the massive extent of both grazing and cropping lands and like I said 82 percent grazing. It's coming of hill slopes, its coming off gully erosion and its coming from stream banks and its not about pointing the finger, it's just about the scale."

Susie Christiansen agrees reducing greenhouse gases will make a difference in the long term. But the immediate solution to future problems cause by flooding is better land management.

[Susie Christiansen, CEO, Fitzroy Management Authority]:
"We don't need to weigh into the debate about is it or is it climate change or is to be better into the future, if we have a resilient landscape."

The Great Barrier Reef contributes $5.4 billion to the Australian economy each year from fishing, recreational use, and tourism.

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• australia
• floods
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• great barrier reef
• environmentalists
• flood damage
• coalmine

[jobedied]

Hey baby you want to eat and work or save the planet you cannot under any circumstance have both. Not that I don't want the planet saved but every world politician ,banker, corporate leader, and military will cut your balls off if you try to change things. Profit is GOD and without a steady exponential increase in human population business will never thrive. And don;t bring up sustainability, it's another utopian dream like communism good in theory but cannot work.

[310socalifornia]

Humans destroying their own environment. If I were an alien, I would think we're pretty stupid.

[martenfisher1]

Are people so stupid they need a scientist to tell them the toxic chemicals people produce and use are in the environment? I don't need a scietist to give me the friggin analysis to know what common sense already says. If people use pesticides and chemicals duh they go somewhere. If you cut down trees duh again. What do you think wil lhappen? People need to stop using the crap its that simple. Scientist don't need to tell me anything.