1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:04,960 Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Bungelung Calcottin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present. 7 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 2: Hello, how's your summer going. Are you on a road trip, 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 2: are you recovering from a big party in the sun, 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 2: or are you just taking a quiet walk, whatever the 10 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 2: case is, You are listening to a special summer series 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 2: of the TDA Podcast. 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 3: Now, the whole idea here is that every day we're 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 3: going to throw back to a different episode from last year. 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 3: And we've sat down and chosen some of the most 15 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 3: listens to stories of twenty twenty two, but we've also 16 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 3: thrown in some of the stories that may have gotten 17 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 3: left behind in the news cycle, and we think they 18 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 3: want a bit of an update. Today, we're going to 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 3: throw it back to March twenty twenty two. I had 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 3: just gotten off a plane from a trip up north 21 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 3: to the Great Barrier Reef and what was really special 22 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 3: about that trip was seeing the effects of climate change firsthand, 23 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 3: and what this episode does is bring some of that 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 3: impact home to you. Stick around to the end for 25 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 3: an update on what's happened since we did this story. 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 4: A UN delegation is currently in North Queensland examining the 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 4: state of the Great Barrier Reef. Now they're there to 28 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 4: examine whether a bleaching event has occurred on the reef, 29 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 4: but days into their trip, it was declared that Australia's 30 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 4: natural wonder had indeed suffered its sixth massive bleaching event, 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 4: raising concerns that it is nearing a tipping point of 32 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 4: no return. Sam, the mystery is gone. You were in 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 4: the Great Barrier Reef to see the bleaching for yourself before, 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 4: can you tell me what you saw firsthand? 35 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 5: First? Just explain to me what a bleaching event actually is. 36 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 3: So I think it's best to explain this in the 37 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 3: context specifically of the Great Barrier Reef, because apparently it 38 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 3: does change from reef to reef around the world. So 39 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 3: if we focus on the Barrier Reef, it's basically a 40 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 3: system of seven hundred and fifty reefs split up into 41 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 3: four key regions. There's the far Northern Can's Cooktown where 42 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 3: I was, Townsville with Sunday, and Mackai Capricorn. For a 43 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 3: mass bleaching event to be declared, there needs to be 44 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 3: signs from aerial surveys that there is widespread breaching across 45 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 3: the reef in all four of those areas. So Zara 46 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 3: I actually said to one of our guides there, it's 47 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: kind of like changing the Australian constitution. You need a 48 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 3: certain percentage to be in agreeans across a certain number 49 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 3: of different states and territories. It's a bit of a 50 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 3: dodgy analogy, but I'm making the point that it has 51 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 3: to be everywhere. So in this case, the Great Barrier 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 3: reef authorities have said that sixty percent of the reef 53 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 3: is currently bleached, and when you see sort of fluorescent pigments, 54 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 3: that's actually the coral in distress. It's an attempt to 55 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 3: protect themselves from heat. The heat is from both the 56 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 3: intense sun but also from then the resulting warmer water. Interestingly, 57 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 3: this is the first mass bleaching event during a La 58 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 3: Nina system, and that is significant because a lot of 59 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 3: the bleaching events have happened during an El Nino system. 60 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 3: Six bleaching events have happened since the early nineteen hundreds, 61 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 3: but four have happened since twenty sixteen, and this will 62 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 3: actually be the fifth since twenty sixteen and the seventh 63 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 3: on the reef. So, when I was up at the 64 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 3: Barrier Reef and I think there's more to come with 65 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 3: our journey to the Barrier Reef later on the Daily Oz, 66 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 3: I just want to give you a little sneak peak 67 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 3: of what we talked about because it is so topical today. 68 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 3: But it was explained to us as being similar to bushfires, 69 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 3: and the idea was that if there was a mass 70 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 3: bleaching event and the reef was given five to ten 71 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 3: years to recover, similar to the regeneration of a bushfire 72 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 3: area after a bushfire, the reef would actually be okay. 73 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 3: The problem is that there is repetitive bleaching events in 74 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 3: very short periods of time, so any sort of regeneration 75 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 3: on the reef ends up being destroyed by another heat 76 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 3: wave and another bleaching event. 77 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 4: Okay, So Sam, what did you actually see when you 78 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 4: were at the reef? 79 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 5: Was it as bad as you thought it would be? 80 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 3: It was worse, Zara, It really was worse. I had 81 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 3: quite an emotional response to what we were seeing on 82 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 3: the reef. It was hard to see the lack of 83 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 3: color and the lack of life on the reef. It 84 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 3: was really troubling that some of the areas that tourists 85 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 3: were being taken to because they are known to be 86 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 3: the most beautiful, were indeed being bleached themselves. The interesting 87 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,119 Speaker 3: thing about the current state of bleaching that I saw 88 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 3: was that the fluorescence that I was talking about with 89 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 3: the tips of the coral being this kind of bright, 90 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,359 Speaker 3: highlighted colors, is actually really beautiful, and it kind of 91 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 3: leads to a bit of a cognitive dissonance because you 92 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 3: see something that is so magnificent and so beautiful, but 93 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 3: you know that it is coral in pain. There were 94 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 3: fish that I saw that were bleached themselves that comes 95 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 3: from bleached, an enemy being grown in the middle of 96 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,679 Speaker 3: a mass bleaching event and a heat wave. And another 97 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 3: observation was just how down warm the water was. It 98 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 3: was definitely warmer than it should have been, and speaking 99 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 3: to all the local tourism operators, they were saying that, 100 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 3: you know, the two or three degrees warmer for this 101 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 3: time of year is significant. They're used to warm water 102 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 3: between kind of November and February. Now they're looking at 103 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 3: a warmer water period of between September and April. So 104 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 3: it was a really formulative experience for me. We're going 105 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 3: to be seeing a lot more content from this trip 106 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 3: on the daily OS in the weeks to come. But 107 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 3: I can tell you now that the sense of realizing 108 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 3: that my grandchildren might not be able to see the 109 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 3: reef in its best form was heartbreaking. 110 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 4: Okay, and tell me about the role of the UN 111 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 4: and its agencies in a situation like this. 112 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 5: Can they declare the reef to be in danger? 113 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,679 Speaker 3: So this UN delegation is currently in the Great Barrier Reef. 114 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 3: They were highly secretive about where they were going, what 115 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 3: particular parts of the reef they were seeing. There were 116 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 3: some concerns from tourism operators I spoke to on the 117 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 3: grounds in Port Douglas and in Cans that the UN 118 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 3: representatives would only be shown particular parts of the reef 119 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 3: that were undamaged by bleaching events, and I wasn't able 120 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 3: to verify this one way or the other. I spent 121 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 3: quite a lot of time on Twitter trying to work 122 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 3: out where these UN delegation officials were with no success. 123 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 3: So Their aim in their visit to the reef is 124 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 3: to assess the health of the reef and decide whether 125 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 3: the reef should be added to the World Heritage in 126 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 3: Danger lists. This is separate to the Great Barrier Reef 127 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 3: Authority declaring a mass bleaching event from their aerial surveillance. 128 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 3: They're set to be there for ten days. It's been 129 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 3: about seven now, so i'd say that at the end 130 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 3: of their trip, and last year one of their fellow agencies, 131 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 3: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and we 132 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 3: know them as UNESCO, they recommended putting the reef on 133 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 3: the list, so that recommendation is clearly making its way 134 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 3: through the arms of the UN. According to the BBC, 135 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 3: if this recommendation is followed by the committee, it'll be 136 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 3: the first time in history that a natural World Heritage 137 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 3: site has been added to the list, mostly because of 138 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 3: the impacts from climate change. 139 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 4: Okay, And to round out this conversation, what can we 140 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 4: actually do to save the reef? It's pretty difficult listening 141 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 4: to stuff like this and feeling a bit helpless. 142 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 5: Is it too late? 143 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 3: I asked this question a lot on the reef, and 144 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 3: two people who work in reef tourism, and there seems 145 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 3: to be two main schools of thought. One is climate change. 146 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 3: One is undeniably looking at ways we can be kinder 147 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 3: to the planet, whether that be through aligning our money 148 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 3: to financial institutions that don't fund fossil fuel industries. It 149 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 3: might be driving electric vehicles, all the things that we're 150 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 3: going to discuss throughout our entire careers here at the 151 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 3: daily ods as ways to help the planet. And the 152 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 3: other angle was this scientific in angle, so backing projects 153 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 3: in the region that are trying to do really interesting 154 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 3: things with their science. On the world stage, we are 155 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 3: clearly not in favor. According to UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, 156 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 3: Australia is one of the quote holdouts in taking meaningful 157 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 3: action on climate change, that was said last Monday. On 158 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 3: the other hand, the federal government has pledged one billion 159 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 3: dollars to the reef, they did that in January for 160 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 3: new climate adaptation technologies. And that's to do with this 161 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 3: second school of thought that I was referring to, backing 162 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 3: projects on the reef that might be using ways to 163 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 3: replicate coral, to preserve coraal to document coral, all of 164 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 3: those interesting things done by sensational and determined people in 165 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 3: North Queensland. At the time we recorded this episode, the 166 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 3: un had just sent a delegation to the reef. Their 167 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 3: report from that visit came out a few months ago 168 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 3: in November of twenty twenty two, and it found that 169 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 3: despite the best efforts to protect the reef, it has 170 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 3: been significantly impacted by climate change. The report recommended that 171 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 3: the Great Barrier Reef be inscribed on the World Heritage 172 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 3: in Endanger List. In response to this, Environment Minister Tanil 173 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 3: Plibs came out and said that climate change was a 174 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 3: danger for all natural environments and if the Great Barrier 175 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 3: Reef is in danger, then most World Heritage sites around 176 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 3: the world are in danger too. Thanks for listening to 177 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 3: this episode of our special TDA Summer series. Will be 178 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 3: back to normal programming on the sixteenth of January, but 179 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 3: if you want some more breaking news in the meantime, 180 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 3: open your phone and find. 181 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 5: Us on Instagram. 182 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 3: It's currently where over four hundred and ten thousand Australians 183 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 3: get their news, and we are on even though you're 184 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 3: on holiday.