The Great Barrier Reef is Doing Just Fine, Thanks

At WUWT, Mainstream Media Shock as Coral on the Great Barrier Reef Records Five Years of Record Growth

It might be wondered why climate catastrophising clots bother with coral and in particular the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). For years as GBR coral cover hit new record highs, it let them down all the time. A bout of temporary natural ‘bleaching’ in 2024 gave a little Armageddon hope with the Guardian reporting last year that GBR coral may reach a “tipping point” where it cannot recover fast enough between “major catastrophic events”. But it’s back to disappointment this year with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) observing in its latest 2025–26 report that hard coral cover remained stable or increased across much of the GBR, “demonstrating the capacity of many reefs to withstand and recover from disturbances when stress is limited and conditions are favourable”.

It’s called Nature. Who knew that corals that have been around for hundreds of millions of years can survive slight changes in water temperature, surface storms and attack from other creatures in the sea. Apparently not King Klot himself, George Monbiot of the Guardian, who told us in June 1999 that: “The imminent total destruction of the world’s coral reefs is not a scare story but a fact”.

 

The dramatic bleaching that has always affected coral is a classic ‘look out of the window’ trope. These days it seems to be the only argument left for Net Zero promoting fanatics to explain natural events, weather and complex atmospheric science. It is of course anti-scientific junk, easily debunked, and reliant for its effect on emotional, gullible and politically motivated messengers. It is the poster explanation for the ‘post-truth’ world of settled climate science. Who cares about understanding detailed science about underwater coral, when children and adults need scaring about upcoming ecological collapse. Carry on munching meat and flying to Fuengirola and the polar bears, bees, penguins, moths, coral get it (all other soon-to-be-extinct species are available if required).

It doesn’t help when the scientists clamber on board the Net Zero gravy train. Last year, Dr Mike Emslie, who leads long-term reef monitoring at AIMS, told the Guardian that: “It has been a pretty sobering year of surveys with the biggest impacts I have seen in the 30-plus years I have been doing this… This volatility is very likely a sign of an unstable system”. Who knows what depths of despair the estimable Emslie would have plunged if he was not commenting on 2024–25 figures that showed coral was at its fourth highest level since detailed observations began in the 1980s.

The AIMS no longer compiles a graphic representation of overall coral growth for the entire GBR, a gap filled by the reef scientist Dr Peter Ridd, as shown below.

 

As can be seen, 2025–26 coral cover remained at remarkably healthy levels with an upward tick resuming the growth path of recent times. Headline you are unlikely to see in mainstream media: ‘Five years of record coral levels on Great Barrier Reef points to robust healthy ecosystem’.

The AIMS divides the Reef into three separate zones: northern, central and southern. In the north, the region-wide average hard coral cover increased from 30% last year to 35.1%. The AIMS notes that this is a rise of 16.7% relative to 2022–25 and coral cover is said to remain above the long-term average of 27%. In the central area, coral cover was boosted from 28.6% to 31.6%, well above the long-term average of 20%. In the cooler waters of the south, where growth is often more constrained, the hard coral cover was stable within the margin of error, although the current level of 26.4% remains below the long-term average of 29.3%. Despite 2025–26 summer sea surface temperatures remaining 0.7°C – 1.1°C above average across the Reef, numerous surveys showed low levels of bleaching across the entire area.

 

Net Zero activists blame coral bleaching on spikes in seawater surface temperature – ‘marine heatwaves’ is the common term – that are caused as humans release carbon dioxide by using hydrocarbons. Of course, there is no proof of a direct connection since it is impossible to measure and attribute a cause to such micro natural variations that occur all the time. In fact, supposed human-induced changes in water temperature are a particularly unconvincing argument for ecosystem collapse since tropical coral grows happily in waters between 24°C and 32°C. It hardly helps the argument that coral growth is often more vigorous in the warmer waters around the equator.

Natural bleaching is not rare at the GBR, with events occurring in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025. Needless to say, alarmist Monbiot-inspired column inches show upward spikes at the same time. Writing in the Australian last year, Peter Ridd noted that the Reef was still doing fine despite suffering six allegedly cataclysmic coral bleaching events in the last decade. “There should be no coral at all if those reports were true”, he added.

Just add it to the long list of failed global warming predictions. Corals grow in the warmest places on earth for a reason.

The Wednesday Wetness - ใต้น้ำ

Which, as near as I can figure out translates to Chicken in Water from Thai. Is it a clever pun? I'd like to think so.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Obligatory World Cup Post up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Global Warming Hits the Reef

At WUWT, The Resilient Great Barrier Reef: Analyzing the Surprising Recovery Amidst Climate Alarmism

For years, the Great Barrier Reef has been the poster child for environmentalists warning about the dire consequences of climate change. Predictions of its imminent demise have been frequent, with a focus on coral bleaching events, ocean acidification, and rising sea temperatures attributed to increasing CO2 emissions. However, recent reports indicate that the Great Barrier Reef has hit record coral cover for the thi
rd year in a row, challenging these prevailing narratives.
Jo Nova, offers a critical examination of the factors contributing to the reef’s unexpected resilience.

Record Coral Cover Amidst Rising CO2 Emissions

According to Jo Nova’s article, “After a trillion tons of CO2, the Great Barrier Reef hits record coral cover third year in a row,” the reef’s coral cover is at an all-time high despite the significant increase in CO2 emissions over the past few decades. Nova notes:

“Sixty percent of all human CO2 emissions have been emitted since 1985 but today the corals are healthier than ever. In 1985 humans were emitting only 19.6 billion tons of CO2 each year, and now we emit 37 billion tons. In the meantime AIMS have been dragging divers thousands of kilometers over the reefs to inspect the coral cover. These are the most detailed underwater surveys on the largest reef system in the world, and they show that far from being bleached to hell, the corals are more abundant than we have ever seen them.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

 

This statement directly contradicts the long-held assertion that increased CO2 levels are leading to the rapid degradation of coral reefs. Instead, the data collected by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) suggests a thriving ecosystem, with coral cover significantly higher than predicted.

Questioning the Scientific Consensus

The article highlights the role of Dr. Peter Ridd, a marine scientist known for his critical views on mainstream climate science. Ridd has pointed out inconsistencies in how data on coral cover is reported:

Ridd’s observations suggest that the methodology and presentation of data can significantly influence public perception and policy decisions. By splitting the data into sections, the overall positive trend might be obscured, thus supporting the narrative of a declining reef.

As Peter Ridd points out, when the reef was doing badly, AIMS was happy to combine the data on the whole reef, so we could lament its demise. But lately AIMS splits it into separate sections and if Peter Ridd didn’t check the numbers, who would know it was a record across the full 2,300 kilometer length of the reef? And that may be exactly the point. As Ridd reminds us, in 2012 the AIMS team predicted the coral cover in the central and southern regions would decline to 5 – 10 percent cover by 2022. Instead the whole reef is thriving at 30 percent [higher coral cover]. https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

UNESCO has been a prominent player in the discussion about the Great Barrier Reef’s status. For years, there have been threats to label the reef as “in danger,” a move that could have significant political and economic repercussions. The article comments on UNESCO’s actions:

UNESCO has been threatening to slap an endangered label on the reef for years. They would have looked ridiculous if they had done this whilst corals were at a record high. But that didn’t stop them demanding tribute and conditions anyway, as if Australia can’t manage the reef by itself. Our Prime Minister should have laughed at them and cut UN funding until they start making sense.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

The interplay between environmental organizations, governments, and international bodies like UNESCO often extends beyond pure environmental concerns, touching on issues of sovereignty, economic interests, and political power.

 

The Reality of Coral Bleaching

Coral bleaching is often cited as the most visible sign of climate change’s impact on marine ecosystems. However, the article provides context that challenges the alarmist perspective:

There have been some bleaching events both before and after the survey, and as is normal, we won’t know for months whether any corals actually died or whether it was just the normal home renovation that corals go through when they get stressed. It’s common for corals to throw out the zooanthellae as temperatures change and let in newer house-guests that are better acclimatized.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

This explanation suggests that bleaching is a natural response mechanism for corals, allowing them to adapt to changing environmental conditions rather than a straightforward indicator of environmental decline.

The Role of Cyclones and Starfish Plagues

The article also touches on the natural threats to the reef, such as cyclones and crown-of-thorns starfish:

As Peter Ridd says the biggest threats to the reef are cyclones and crown-of-thorns starfish plagues, neither of which appear to be any worse now than they were years ago.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

These natural factors have historically posed significant risks to coral reefs, and their impact is not necessarily linked to anthropogenic climate change.

Public Perception and Media Influence

The disconnect between public perception and scientific reality is a recurring theme in the article. A survey mentioned indicates widespread ignorance about the reef’s current state:

Ten years after our corals hit a record low, our survey showed that half the country didn’t realize the reef has recovered. Only 3% knew the corals were at a record high, and nearly half the Green voters were as wrong as they possibly could be — they thought coral cover was at a record low.

https://joannenova.com.au/2024/06/after-a-trillion-tons-of-co2-the-great-barrier-reef-hits-record-coral-cover-third-year-in-a-row/

This highlights the role of media and educational campaigns in shaping public understanding, often emphasizing negative narratives over positive developments.

Conclusion: Reevaluating the Narrative

The story of the Great Barrier Reef’s recovery challenges the dominant climate change narrative. While it’s crucial to remain vigilant about environmental protection, it’s equally important to base our policies and perceptions on accurate, comprehensive data. The resilience of the Great Barrier Reef serves as a reminder that nature can be more adaptable and robust than we often assume.

In light of this information, it’s essential to continue scrutinizing and questioning the methodologies and motives behind environmental reports and policies. Efforts to protect the environment must be grounded in reality in order to be truly effective.

Look around the globe. Coral grow only in the warmest water. If anything, global warming will only expand the range of tropical corals. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Redheads – Threat or Menace? up and garnering clicks at The Other McCain.

Coral Reefs Doing Just Fine, Thanks

From WUWT, Professor Peter Ridd – The World’s Coral Reefs are not Declining

Professor Ridd reviews the latest data on the state of the world’s coral reefs, which is extremely encouraging, especially for the Great Barrier Reef, the largest single reef system, with record high coral cover in 2022. A brief explanation of “bleaching” is given, a brilliant adaptation for corals to cope with warming or cooling temperatures. Finally, a brief comment is made on the subject of academic freedom and the general problem of freedom of speech and thought in universities and on the associated collapse of intellectual rigour and he raises questions on our failing universities and science institutions.

Professor Peter Ridd is a geophysicist with over 100 publications and 35 years’ experience working on the Great Barrier Reef; he developed a wide range of world-first optical and electronic instruments for measuring environmental conditions near corals and other ecosystems. He was Professor of Physics at James Cook University in North Queensland for over a decade before being fired in 2018 for pointing out serious quality assurance issues in reef science. He challenged his dismissal by the University and won in principle in the High Court but eventually lost the case on appeal on a technicality. He now volunteers his time to the Institute of Public Affairs to improve quality assurance systems of “science” used by Australian governments to make environmental laws and regulations. He also runs the Reef-Rebels YouTube channel.

Also, near the end, a fine section on his problems with "scientific correctness" and what's ahead for science as a whole:

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Sanna Marin up on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Science is Dead, Long Live Science!

A smorgasbord of articles on science I've been hoarding for a while. First, a conversation between Dr. Jordan B Peterson and Dr. Bjørn Lomborg. Generally, I see them talk past each other, both coming from fields with heavy jargon. I'm more of a Lomborg guy myself, as much as I admire Peterson's bravery in the face of the woke mob: The World is Not Ending | Bjørn Lomborg and Jordan Peterson

Leslie Eastman at Legal Insurrection, Associated Press Took $8 million in Donations to Fund its 2022 Climate “News”. The best coverage money can buy.

A new report alleges the Associated Press took millions of dollars in donations and used it to fund its “climate crisis” coverage.

The Associated Press took $8 million in donations to fund climate coverage in 2022, with the news cooperative and several other major media publications engaged in dubious claims about climate change, according to a new, exclusive year-end report.

The “Climate Fact Check 2022” report, presented by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Heartland Institute, the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), stated that “climate alarmists” and members of the media engaged in claims about the relationship between manmade emissions and natural disasters, claims that clashed with “reality and science.”

In February, the Associated Press admitted that they would assign more than 24 journalists across the globe to cover “climate issues” after receiving more than $8 million over three years from various organizations.

Also from Leslie, Proof that Ideological Capture of Our Scientific Institutions Kills Innovation "There are so many reasons for the decline of “disruptive science”, but the redirecting of research from a quest for new knowledge to the support of political narratives is the most important one."

Over the past few months, I have been exploring the ideological capture of our scientific institutions.

I have reviewed the mainstream media’s roll is strangling rigorous scientific debate. I have explored how government agencies block access to important taxpayer-funded databases if they assert a scientist’s research may enter “forbidden” territory.

I, along with many others, have warned that the commandeering of science to push social, environmental, and corporate agendas would have a tsunami of unintended consequences. The scientific journal Nature has noted one of the most significant repercussions of ideological capture: The death of scientific innovation.

The journal recently published an analysis of a report that showed the proportion of publications that send a field in a new direction (i.e., innovation) has plummeted over the past half-century.

Data from millions of manuscripts show that, compared with the mid-twentieth century, research done in the 2000s was much more likely to incrementally push science forward than to veer off in a new direction and render previous work obsolete. Analysis of patents from 1976 to 2010 showed the same trend.

“The data suggest something is changing,” says Russell Funk, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a co-author of the analysis, which was published on 4 January in Nature. “You don’t have quite the same intensity of breakthrough discoveries you once had.”

I have degrees in geology and chemistry. My son is getting a degree in physics. So, for me, the graph charting the absolute plunge in physical science “disruption” is chilling.

Adam Mastroianni,  The rise and fall of peer review "Why the greatest scientific experiment in history failed, and why that's a great thing" Been there done that, both at the reviewer and the reviewee, and the system is flawed. But advancement in science pretty much depends on getting papers (and grant proposals) through peer review. It's going to be a tough system to change.

For the last 60 years or so, science has been running an experiment on itself. The experimental design wasn’t great; there was no randomization and no control group. Nobody was in charge, exactly, and nobody was really taking consistent measurements. And yet it was the most massive experiment ever run, and it included every scientist on Earth.

Most of those folks didn’t even realize they were in an experiment. Many of them, including me, weren’t born when the experiment started. If we had noticed what was going on, maybe we would have demanded a basic level of scientific rigor. Maybe nobody objected because the hypothesis seemed so obviously true: science will be better off if we have someone check every paper and reject the ones that don’t pass muster. They called it “peer review.”

WUWT, Record Great Barrier Reef Coral Cover – Time to Pull the Climate Crisis Funding?

The Guardian talking up the alleged climate risk to the reef, in the midst of a record boom in coral cover.

Great Barrier Reef’s record coral cover is good news but climate threat remains

Graham Readfearn

The world heritage site still has some capacity for recovery but the window is closing fast as the climate continues to warm

Get our free news app, morning email briefing and daily news podcast

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s natural jewels, stretching for more than 2,300km along Australia’s north-east.

But as well as being a bucket-list favourite and a heaving mass of biodiversity across 3,000 individual reefs, the world heritage-listed organism is at the coalface of the climate crisis.

Yet this week, a report on the amount of coral across the reef showed the highest level in the 36 years of monitoring in the north and central parts.

But that does not mean the crisis is over.

…Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/06/great-barrier-reefs-record-coral-cover-is-good-news-but-climate-threat-remains

Have you ever read anything more absurd?

That's a pretty high bar.  For example, try this, Dave Strom at Haut Hare, Mathematx is the new hotness

We all know that math is racist. It is used to enforce Whiteness on people by emphasing universalism (there is a truth) and requiring precision (apparently your ability to be precise is highly dependent upon melanin content in the skin). It is a construct that is inherently anti-radical as it assumes some inherent structure to the universe, and that there are “right” answers and wrong ones.

That, at least, is the contention of some mathematics educators, including Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez of the University of Illinois at Urbana. Dr Gutierrez teaches not only Latina/Latino studies, but is also a professor at the School of Education, focusing on curriculum and instruction.

In other words, she is one of the people who trains students to become teachers.

One might be tempted to think that there is a benign intention behind Dr. Gutierrez’ attempts to reform the way that math is taught to students of color. After all, statistics indicate that many such students are having difficulty in math classes and have fallen behind their white compatriots. To the extent that is the case it obviously behooves us to understand why that is and find ways to remedy it.

But no, that is not Rochelle’s approach to the issue at all. The inability of students of color to perform well in math indeed is connected to the way that math is being taught, but that is because math itself is White. So trying to get students up to standard in White math is White Supremacist, and should be stopped.

I subjected myself to a loooooonnnnnnggggggg video of Gutierrez discussing her approach with mathematics educators, and needless to say it is not only filled with buzzwords appropriate to the genre, but vile ideas about racial differences between students. She doesn’t quite come out and say it, but apparently students of color can’t do math because they are not White and are resisting Whiteness. And this is a good thing, apparently.

Great Barrier Reef Doing Just Fine, Thank You

WUWT, Sorry, CNN, Great Barrier Reef Is Setting Records, Fearmongering Won’t Work

A new report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) shows the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) set new records for extent this year. Sadly, in a story titled, “Parts of Great Barrier Reef record highest amount of coral in 36 years,” CNN tried to turn this good news contained in the headline into a climate cautionary tale.

According to AIMS’ annual report the northern and central regions of the 2,300 km GBR ecosystem have the most coral since the surveys began 36 years ago. As CNN notes, AIMS survey of 87 sections of the GBR found that between August 2021 and May 2022, average hard coral cover in the upper region and central areas of the reef increased by around one third. AIMS CEO Dr. Paul Hardisty told CNN that the report shows the GBR can “recover from mass bleaching and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish that feed on coral.”

One could be forgiven for missing this good news since CNN spent just a few paragraphs discussing the GBR’s expansion. More than two thirds of CNN’s story talked about the threat posed to the GBR from recent bleaching events purportedly driven by climate change. CNN’s story largely ignored the fact that most of the GBR’s coral colonies impacted by bleaching had recovered, as the AIMS’ report documents.

In a press release from the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) commenting on the AIMS report its director, Benny Peiser, Ph.D., said, “This is just the latest example of empirical data making a mockery of the catastrophists. For how much longer do they think they can get away with it?”

Will they show any shame? Nope, just switch to a new claim, It’s the Wrong Kind of Coral

Clearly they know nothing about ecological succession.

The Wombat has Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: Kelsea Ballerini ready and waiting at The Other McCain.

Did You Ever Wonder Why Corals Live in the Tropics?

It's because they like warm water, despite the hype that "global warming" is going to kill them. A new paper, cited at WUWT shows that coral growth rates slow during cool eras, and accelerate in warmer ones: One New Coral Reef Study Wipes Out Four Climate Alarm Narratives In One Fell Swoop

Corals thrive in multiple-degrees-warmer-than-today waters and their growth is stunted in cooler environments.

The warnings peddled by climate alarmists often characterize Earth’s 500 billion corals as critically endangered by modern global warming.

But the science itself says corals have been and continue thriving in the Current Warm Period – just as they have in past warm periods.

Within the span of a few pages, one study (Long et al., 2022) squelches at least 4 false climate alarm narratives.

 

Scientists have determined:

1. Coral reefs “develop rapidly in the warm period” (Roman, Medieval), and “coral reefs develop slowly in the cold period” (Little Ice Age, the Dark Ages Cold Period). Why? Because “warm periods are conducive to coral growth.”
2. Coral reef growth rates have rapidly accelerated in the last 300 years, or since the industrial revolution commenced.
3. Sea levels were 2 meters higher than they are today ~4,000 years ago, and still about 1 meter higher than today 1,000 years ago, or during the Medieval Warm Period. Lower sea levels produce a “decline in the coral reef development rate”.
4. The South China Sea surface temperatures were “3 to 6°C higher than today” from about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago; coral reefs developed rapidly in that warmth.

How much attention will an iconoclastic study like this receive? None, probably. Studies that don’t advance the climate alarm narrative are usually dismissed and ignored.

Of course, corals can be killed by a high enough temperature, or in some cases, shocked into expelling their algal symbionts, the classic "coral bleaching" event by a rapid warming event. But in most cases, the corals, after a brief setback, acquire new symbionts and simply go on building reefs.

The Wombat has a double stuffed Rule 5 Double Scoop Sunday: W*ng D*ng Sw**t P**nt*ng running at The Other McCain.

Great Barrier Reef Doing Just Fine, Thanks!

 Peter Ridd via WUWT: Record Coral Cover Of Great Barrier Reef Shames Climate Alarmists, Media

The annual data on coral cover for the Great Barrier Reef, produced by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, was released on Monday showing the amount of coral on the reef is at record high levels.

Record high, despite all the doom stories by our reef science and management institutions. 

Australian Institute of Marine Science’s yearly long-term monitoring of the Reef

Like all other data on the reef, this shows it is in robust health. For example, coral growth rates have, if anything, increased over the past 100 years, and measurements of farm pesticides reaching the reef show levels so low that they cannot be detected with the most ultra-sensitive equipment.

This data is good news. It could hardly be better. But somehow, our science organizations have convinced the world that the reef is on its last legs. How has this happened?

 

One reason is that occasionally colossal amounts of coral are killed, mostly by cyclones, but also by the crown of thorns starfish and bleaching.

So the media, with its predilection for bad news, can be fed a regular diet of doom. Our scientists are always happy to oblige.

The quiet recovery is generally downplayed or ignored.

If it bleeds, it leads. Never mind whether it's true or not. 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Jodie Comer ready and waiting.

Beach Report 3/28/21

After a little rain this morning, it was an overcast, and fair warm day. My long sleeve shirt was OK

Something odd my son found a few weeks ago, and I keep meaning to get checked, but it think it's a little coral mound,

And a nice little Ecphora, pretty well complete. It had some clay still stuck to it, so I think it's from the fresh slide.

I found a bunch of teeth, 23, and a couple crab claws and a ray chevron, none worthy of the pixels to post them.

Australian Climate Skeptic Wins Court Battle

Peter Ridd

Climate skeptic scientist Peter Ridd wins big!

In a huge victory for climate skeptics everywhere, Judge Salvatore Vasta finds all findings made by James Cook University, including his sacking, were all unlawful.
. . .
In May 2018, after an academic career of more than 30 years, Peter had his employment terminated as a professor of physics at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Peter had spoken against the accepted orthodoxy that climate change was ‘killing’ the Great Barrier Reef.

There’s some absolute rubbish being spoken about the reef and people’s livelihoods are being put in jeopardy. If nobody will stand up, then this is just going to go on and on and on. It has to be stopped.

Peter’s court case has enormous implications for the international debate about climate change, and for the ongoing crisis surrounding freedom of speech.

Things aren't quite that bad in the US, yet. The bigotry is much more subtle, and yet all pervasive.

What's the Point of Having Tenure If It Doesn't Protect Unpopular Opinions?

James Cook Univer­sity slapdown of Great Barrier Reef science critic heads to court

Outspoken James Cook Univer­sity professor Peter Ridd has taken Federal Court action claiming conflict of interest, apprehended bias and actual bias against vice-chancellor Sandra Harding. Professor Ridd wants JCU to drop a misconduct investigation launched following his interview with Alan Jones on Sky News on August 1 in which he criticised the quality of Great Barrier Reef science.

In the interview, he said research findings by major institutions could not be trusted. “We can no longer trust the scientific organisations like the Australian Institute of Marine Science, even things like the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. “The science is coming out not properly checked, tested or replicated, and this is a great shame.”

JCU responded in late August by launching a formal investigation for misconduct which could result in Professor Ridd’s employment being terminated.

Professor Ridd engaged legal counsel, with new accusations being made by JCU and Federal Court action being lodged by him.

 JCU has said Professor Ridd’s comments were “not in the collegial and academic spirit of the search for knowledge, understanding and truth”. It said his comments had denigrated AIMS and the ARC Centre and were “not respectful and courteous”. In letters lodged with the court, JCU said Professor Ridd’s comments could damage the reputation of AIMS and the university’s relationship with it.

In a letter to JCU on September 7, Professor Ridd’s legal team, ­Mahoneys, called on JCU to drop the case. They said the university suffered a conflict of interest in its investigation. “The vice-chancellor is a council member (akin to a director) of the Australian Institute of Marine Science,” Mahoneys said. “The vice-chancellor is in a position of conflict between her duties and ­office to the AIMS and to bringing an impartial mind to a decision on the allegations (against Professor Ridd).”

JCU responded on September 19 that it was “not satisfied that there has been no serious misconduct or that the allegations are unsubstantiated”. It said Professor Ridd “must not disclose or discuss these matters with the media or in any other public forum”.

In other words, shut up, while we fire you. It's good to know that comments that are “not respectful and courteous” are grounds for breaking tenure and firing a professor. I'm sure we can find plenty of examples to put this principle to good use.

H/T Watts Up With That. A link to his GoFundMe page.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links.

Sea Level Rise Victim Turns Victor

Remember when the islands of Tuvalu were going to be inundated by sea level rise? Never mind…

Surprise! Poster child for sea level rise, Tuvalu, is actually growing!

From the “we told you so, again, and again” department. We’ve had several articles about the island of Tuvalu and the ridiculous claims of sea level rise causing it to disappear, while at the same time they are building new hotels and airports to attract tourists. Willis has also had several articles on how Pacific atolls grow, and float, rather than sink as sea level advances.

Now, a study confirms what we’ve already known – atolls, and in particular Tuvalu is growing, and increasing land area. So much for climate alarmism. From Nature communications:Patterns of island change and persistence offer alternate adaptation pathways for atoll nations . . .

Sea-level rise and climatic change threaten the existence of atoll nations. Inundation and erosion are expected to render islands uninhabitable over the next century, forcing human migration. Here we present analysis of shoreline change in all 101 islands in the Pacific atoll nation of Tuvalu. Using remotely sensed data, change is analysed over the past four decades, a period when local sea level has risen at twice the global average (~3.90 ± 0.4 mm.yr−1). Results highlight a net increase in land area in Tuvalu of 73.5 ha (2.9%), despite sea-level rise, and land area increase in eight of nine atolls.Island change has lacked uniformity with 74% increasing and 27% decreasing in size. Results challenge perceptions of island loss, showing islands are dynamic features that will persist as sites for habitation over the next century, presenting alternate opportunities for adaptation that embrace the heterogeneity of island types and their dynamics.

Kate Middleton dancing with women in Tuvalu

From the discussion section:

Here we present the first comprehensive national-scale analysis of the transformation in physical land resources of the Pacific atoll nation Tuvalu, situated in the central western Pacific . Comprising 9 atolls and 101 individual reef islands, the nation is home to 10,600 people, 50% of whom are located on the urban island of Fogafale, in Funafuti atoll. We specifically examine spatial differences in island behaviour, of all 101 islands in Tuvalu, over the past four decades (1971–2014), a period in which local sea level has risen at twice the global average . . .  Surprisingly, we show that all islands have changed and that the dominant mode of change has been island expansion, which has increased the land area of the nation.Results are used to project future landform availability and consider opportunities for a vastly more nuanced and creative set of adaptation pathways for atoll nations.

We generally agree that sea level is rising world wide at a pace of 1-3 mm a year, about the thickness of a nickel. How do low lying coral islands escape the fate of being drowned?  Well, the "mountain" that formed the base of the atoll could be rising tectonically, but this is unlikely as most of them are dead or long dormant volcanoes. But the coral that surrounds them grows upwards toward the light at a rate that easily matches the rate of sea level rise. That doesn't do people a whole lot of good since they won't grow out of the water. However, the coral is chewed on by various animals for food (mostly parrot fish), creating sand, which can be washed up on the beach, which is then blown by wind up into sand dunes where vegetation can grown on it. On a coral atoll, that's about all the elevation you get. It was Charles Darwin who understood all this first, back in 1842.

Fishing Report 8/15/17

Tom, Trevor and I had a walk-on trip with Pete today, with two other anglers that I had not fished with before. We hit Cedar Point on the way out, and didn't stay long, headed to Hoopers Island.

I caught this Speckled Trout in the mouth of a small tidal creek there, and had another to the boat, where it got off waiting for the net. We also caught some keeper stripers in the same creek.

 Heading south, we were overtaken by this shelf cloud that ran ahead of a good slug of rain and some thunder (we never saw any lightening).

Trevor hooked and landed this piece of soft coral off one of the submarine hills down in the middle grounds.











There was a pretty good slug of decent sized Bluefish down on the hills, but they moved fast, and were hard to follow.










And we found some keeper Striped Bass nearby under birds, mixed in with small bass and blues.

One place we stopped, and didn't get anything.

Climate Stability Threatens Florida Corals

An amusing case of alarmism in action from Watts Up With That.  A few days ago the USGS published a paper entitled: A Century of Ocean Warming on Florida Keys Coral Reefs: Historic In Situ Observations:

There is strong evidence that global climate change over the last several decades has caused shifts in species distributions, species extinctions, and alterations in the functioning of ecosystems. However, because of high variability on short (i.e., diurnal, seasonal, and annual) timescales as well as the recency of a comprehensive instrumental record, it is difficult to detect or provide evidence for long-term, site-specific trends in ocean temperature. Here we analyze five in situ datasets from Florida Keys coral reef habitats, including historic measurements taken by lighthouse keepers, to provide three independent lines of evidence supporting approximately 0.8 °C of warming in sea surface temperature (SST) over the last century. Results indicate that the warming observed in the records between 1878 and 2012 can be fully accounted for by the warming observed in recent decades (from 1975 to 2007), documented using in situ thermographs on a mid-shore patch reef. The magnitude of warming revealed here is similar to that found in other SST datasets from the region and to that observed in global mean surface temperature. The geologic context and significance of recent ocean warming to coral growth and population dynamics are discussed, as is the future prognosis for the Florida reef tract.

In  "Data Reveal Florida Keys Sea Surface Temperatures Haven’t Warmed in 80+ Years*", Bob Tisdale, a frequent author on global lack of warming and sea surface temperatures destroys their primary result, that temperatures have risen over the "several decade" interval. As with most of his posts, it's data packed and dense, but the best illustration is:

Using carefully cherry-picked data sets, (lighthouse keepers, really?) the USGS had hoped to continue the campaign to convince the public that global warming was already doing all kinds of harm and requires massive government intervention to fix a problem that is, simply put, not happening.