Tide of evidence shows that the Reef is in need of our help

On Sunday 7 January, The Sunday Mail published an opinion piece from Graham Young, Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Progress, under the title “Our Reef’s still Great, unlike a lot of the research about it”. The newspaper published a rejoinder from the Society’s President on the following week, 14 January.

The scientific consensus that the Great Barrier Reef is seriously threatened by a range of assaults, in particular climate change, is now very strong. While there can be credible critiques of individual studies – no investigation is ever perfect and the pressures of time and shortage of funds shadow every scientific investigation – there can be no basis for complacency about the Reef. Also, those who cast doubt about the validity of scientific research attack the reputations of all scientists and do a grave disservice to the policy officers who are entitled to rely upon peer-reviewed knowledge.