Australia flood pollution threatens Great Barrier Reef – ‘A lot of coral will die’
By Chris Johnston
January 3, 2011 … [A] prominent water scientist has forecast widespread damage to the Great Barrier Reef as murky floodwaters surge into the sea off Queensland. Jon Brodie, a senior research officer with the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research at James Cook University in Townsville, told The Age the floods were a ”major event” for the reef. ”That water will slosh around in the reef for two years,” he said. Fresh water, often containing fertilisers and pesticides as runoff from farmland, kills coral. ”It’s not just now when it’s delivered,” he said. ”It stays there and that is what is actually slowly killing the reef.” Reefs around Great Keppel Island were already suffering from Fitzroy River discharges, he said. ”A lot of coral will die.”
