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AFAIK not a lot of cotton farming going on in reef catchment areas. There is lots of sugar cane and bananas however. Also lots of deforestation for grazing. Plu

AFAIK not a lot of cotton farming going on in reef catchment areas. There is lots of sugar cane and bananas however. Also lots of deforestation for grazing. Plus major resource export ports (LNG, coal). Regardless, runoff remains a major topic and there is some progress being made in the space [1]. Regards the article. If you look to the report itself[2] you'll see that this isn't a "she'll be right" triumph of science over scare campaigns. Climate change sits at the top of a growing list of concerns. The summary specifically mentions increased frequency of both marine heatwaves (that lead to bleaching) and major destructive weather events like cyclones. The other serious concern is crown-of-thorns starfish (a sea star that eats coral) ... and while the jury may still be out on the cause of their outbreaks (overfishing of predators? excess nutrients? changing environment?), the effect of this single species on the broader ecosystem is beyond frightening to witness. It's extremely difficult to have a meaningful conversation about the threats to the reef without getting into the weeds. The "scare" campaigns may be light on detail, glossing over (or ignoring) much of the important nuance, but (for the most part) they aren't wrong. [1] https://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-work/threats-to-the-reef/declining-water-quality https://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-work/threats-to-the-reef/decli... [2] https://www.aims.gov.au/monitoring-great-barrier-reef/gbr-condition-summary-2021-22 https://www.aims.gov.au/monitoring-great-barrier-reef/gbr-co...

boffinAudio 4y ago
The cotton industry in Australia has diverted and depleted waterways which normally replenish the surrounding regions, resulting in a dust-bowl effect which generates storms that regularly dump immense loads of nitrate-bearing dust into the oceans - materials that would normally be caught in a more lush/green/temperate environment where it was useful, were the water available...
- somishere 4y ago
  Yep totally agree with your statement. My point was that there isn't a lot of cotton being grown in GBR catchments, so it wouldn't be one of the main industries directly effecting water quality on the reef.
  - boffinAudio 4y ago
    But do you not see how the water issues are actually related? The catchments that do abut the GBR are not kept clean by regular water flow - meaning that when there is a major flood or storm, materials that would normally be absorbed by a green environment, are instead dumped - en masse during a flooding event - directly into our oceans. We've had a few major flooding events-worth of nutrient dumping in the last 20 years. The cotton industry is buffering the problem - its not a direct cause - but it definitely contributes to the lack of local nutrient capture, which, when dumped, drastically effects our ocean water quality. I think its important not to minimize the effect that altering Victoria/NSW's water table has on the waterway ecosystems. This picture, straight from the horses mouth, shows you just how interdependent the waterways - and thus, the GBR - are: https://cottonaustralia.com.au/assets/general/Landscapes-images/CTA20007-Cotton-Growing-Regions_01.jpg https://cottonaustralia.com.au/assets/general/Landscapes-ima...
    - somishere 4y ago
      I'm sorry but I'm not sure I follow. Are you suggesting that the nutrients that get washed out via catchments in NSW end up on the GBR? I didn't realise this. Certainly water quality is a massive issue, and the current mess going on in the Murray-Darling is highly concerning in a general way. Also regards the nutrients, yes we have exactly the same issue with e.g. sugar, bananas, graziers up here.
      - boffinAudio 4y ago
        The issue is that we've screwed with the water systems in the region so much, that when there is a flood event in areas that have had their natural water flows completely altered, nutrients that have built up in the system that would normally 'trickle-release' slowly are instead dumped en mass into our ocean. Don't forget that for 9 months of the year, the ocean water currents draw waters from the southern coast towards the north... reversing during summer (drought), but when the rainy season hits, and washes the stored nutrients out, the currents pull that artificially nutrient-rich waters directly onto the reef. Its a mess of epic proportions, but unfortunately the cotton profits are too damned high.

boffinAudio 4y ago

The cotton industry in Australia has diverted and depleted waterways which normally replenish the surrounding regions, resulting in a dust-bowl effect which generates storms that regularly dump immense loads of nitrate-bearing dust into the oceans - materials that would normally be caught in a more lush/green/temperate environment where it was useful, were the water available...

somishere 4y ago
Yep totally agree with your statement. My point was that there isn't a lot of cotton being grown in GBR catchments, so it wouldn't be one of the main industries directly effecting water quality on the reef.
- boffinAudio 4y ago
  But do you not see how the water issues are actually related? The catchments that do abut the GBR are not kept clean by regular water flow - meaning that when there is a major flood or storm, materials that would normally be absorbed by a green environment, are instead dumped - en masse during a flooding event - directly into our oceans. We've had a few major flooding events-worth of nutrient dumping in the last 20 years. The cotton industry is buffering the problem - its not a direct cause - but it definitely contributes to the lack of local nutrient capture, which, when dumped, drastically effects our ocean water quality. I think its important not to minimize the effect that altering Victoria/NSW's water table has on the waterway ecosystems. This picture, straight from the horses mouth, shows you just how interdependent the waterways - and thus, the GBR - are: https://cottonaustralia.com.au/assets/general/Landscapes-images/CTA20007-Cotton-Growing-Regions_01.jpg https://cottonaustralia.com.au/assets/general/Landscapes-ima...
  - somishere 4y ago
    I'm sorry but I'm not sure I follow. Are you suggesting that the nutrients that get washed out via catchments in NSW end up on the GBR? I didn't realise this. Certainly water quality is a massive issue, and the current mess going on in the Murray-Darling is highly concerning in a general way. Also regards the nutrients, yes we have exactly the same issue with e.g. sugar, bananas, graziers up here.
    - boffinAudio 4y ago
      The issue is that we've screwed with the water systems in the region so much, that when there is a flood event in areas that have had their natural water flows completely altered, nutrients that have built up in the system that would normally 'trickle-release' slowly are instead dumped en mass into our ocean. Don't forget that for 9 months of the year, the ocean water currents draw waters from the southern coast towards the north... reversing during summer (drought), but when the rainy season hits, and washes the stored nutrients out, the currents pull that artificially nutrient-rich waters directly onto the reef. Its a mess of epic proportions, but unfortunately the cotton profits are too damned high.