How cooked are our coral reefs? (20 Apr 2024)
A free public lecture hosted by the University of Western Australia's Oceans Institute will examine the findings of a coral reef geochemistry expert who found global warming had already exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius. At the WA Maritime Museum on Monday, April 22, Emeritus Professor Malcolm McCulloch from UWA's Oceans Institute will share findings from his recent study published in Nature Climate Change. Researchers extracted 300 years of ocean temperature records preserved in the calcium carbonate skeletons of marine sponges and discovered global warming had increased by 0.5C more than previously estimated. The study found industrialera warming began in the mid1860s, consistent with that expected from historical records, but more than 70 years earlier than suggested by records from ship-based measurements of sea surface temperatures. "This work wasn't easy and new approaches to interpreting the temperature information were required," Prof. McCulloch said. "We are still in the process of convincing traditionalists that there are other smart ways to get past records of surface ocean temperature, prior to our now highly advanced sampling and measurement platforms." UWA Oceans Institute director Christophe Gaudin said the public lecture would be followed by a Q&A session. Prof. Gaudin will be joined by panel members Curtin MP Kate Chaney, Prof. Petra Tschakert from Geography and Global Futures at Curtin University, and Dr Bryson Bates, former chief research scientist at CSIRO.
Related article: Towards a greener future (9 Mar 2024)
