Latest news with #ecologicaldisaster
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Effects of marine heatwave driving ‘foreseeable' SA algal bloom could rival black summer fires, scientists warn
Scientists are warning the wildlife impacts of a marine heatwave that has driven a catastrophic algal bloom off South Australia are likely to be equivalent to those from the black summer bushfires, and demand a similar response from governments. Experts from five Australian universities say 'one of the worst marine disasters in living memory' requires rapid investigation by federal and state governments to identify any at-risk species and fund emergency interventions if necessary. In a report by the Biodiversity Council, an independent expert group founded by 11 universities, the scientists called on governments to commit to seven actions to respond to the 'foreseeable and even predicted' event and to prepare for 'an increasingly dangerous and unstable future'. As expected, the federal Senate on Wednesday nightestablished an inquiry into the disaster that has killed thousands of marine animals off SA. The Coalition senator Anne Ruston earlier accused the federal and SA governments of being too slow to act on the 'significant environmental issue', 'allowing it to massively escalate into a serious ecological disaster'. While she welcomed this week's assistance packages – with federal and state governments each announcing $14m – she said it seemed 'manifestly inadequate to deal with the impact on the affected communities'. 'It fails to recognise the magnitude of the response needed to both address the problem and deal with the clean-up,' the senator for SA said. 'At a national level this marine heatwave is likely to have an equivalent impact on wildlife as the black summer bushfires, once we consider not just this harmful algal bloom, but also the extensive coral bleaching and mortality on both east and west coasts,' said Prof Gretta Pecl, a Biodiversity Council member from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. She noted that governments had previously 'mobilised significant funds' for natural disasters, 'as we saw with the $2bn National Bushfire Recovery Fund, which included over $200m for wildlife recovery measures'. Sign up: AU Breaking News email The federal MP for the SA seat of Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, said the federal government needed to commit more. 'With respect, if this was happening at Bondi beach, for example, I'm sure we'd be seeing a much larger slice of commonwealth funding,' she said, echoing recent comments from the Greens senator for SA Sarah Hanson-Young. 'Although there's nothing we can do to stop the current bloom, we need additional investment for monitoring and research..' Actions called for by the Biodiversity Council include an immediate investment of at least $10m to start research into the impact of the algal bloom, establishment of a long-term monitoring program of southern reefs – modelled on the $40m 10-year Great Barrier Reef monitoring program – and rapid work to investigate at-risk species, including giant cuttlefish, which have a mass winter breeding event off Whyalla. The council said the government assistance package was a 'welcome start' but was likely insufficient to support and compensate affected communities and businesses and address 'immediate and longer term biodiversity needs'. Pecl said the impact of the event would 'massively exceed the actual boundaries of the physical bloom itself', with cascading consequences for other Australian regions because of the connectivity of oceans and their food webs. 'This harmful algal bloom is just one of the major consequences of the marine heatwave ringing Australia, which has also caused extensive coral bleaching on both east and west coasts with high rates of coral mortality,' she said. The report said the crisis was a 'human-mediated disaster' enabled by the extended marine heatwave and likely fed by a large pulse of nutrient-rich flood water and coastal upwelling. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Scientists said the event had likely been exacerbated by the 'widespread loss of marine ecosystems that once provided natural water filtering and resilience against natural as well as human threats'. They called on governments to accelerate Australia's decarbonisation efforts, saying minimising ocean warming was 'the most important step in preventing harmful algal blooms' along all Australian coastlines. The report proposed further actions including more work to identify and reduce sources of nutrient and dissolved carbon pollution and restoration and protection of marine ecosystems. A federal government spokesperson said the health and resilience of Australia's oceans were a priority and the government was 'deeply concerned by the widespread marine species mortalities caused by this extreme event'. 'The Albanese Government will continue to work constructively with the South Australian Government when it comes to the devastating SA algal bloom,' they said. 'That's why we have contributed half of the $28m funding package with the South Australian government to support science and research to boost resilience and planning, industry support and clean up efforts.' The Biodiversity Council director, James Trezise, said: 'Alongside rapidly reducing emissions, Australia needs to be better prepared for environmental disasters such as this. 'We should all accept that this is likely to just be the tip of the iceberg for what our future looks like with unmitigated climate change and rapid biodiversity loss,' he said. The Senate inquiry is expected to hand down its report in late October.
Zawya
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Tunisia: Head of State assesses environmental situation in Monastir
Tunis – President Kaïs Saïed paid an unannounced visit at midnight on Wednesday to the governorate of Monastir, where he assessed the serious environmental situation in the Gulf of Monastir. He visited the beach of Ksibet El Mediouni, which was recently affected by an ecological disaster. On site, the President spoke with local residents, who voiced deep concern over the dire environmental conditions. He then proceeded to the "Sayada-Lamta-Bouhjar" wastewater treatment plant in the town of Lamta, before continuing his visit to the Sayada area. © Tap 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
SA's toxic algal bloom is unlikely to end soon so what are the consequences?
It's an unprecedented ecological disaster, and authorities can't say when it will end. South Australia's toxic algal bloom has been affecting waters off parts of the state's coast since at least March. There were hopes winter weather conditions would help it dissipate, but so far the bloom hasn't gone away. So what do we know about the bloom, and — perhaps more importantly — what don't we know? What caused the bloom? According to Environment Minister Susan Close, there are three main factors that allowed the algae, Karenia mikimotoi , to bloom. The first is a lot of nutrients were flushed into South Australian waters as a result of the River Murray floods in 2023, providing a food source for the algae. There's also been a marine heatwave off the state's coast since October 2024, where sea temperatures have been sitting more than two degrees Celsius above normal. The third factor was a series of high pressure systems that meant the water was relatively still and didn't wash the algae out to sea. Susan Close says the algae is not toxic to human beings. ( ABC News: Lincoln Rothall ) Ms Close said all three factors can be attributed to climate change. "All three of the conditions that lead to this have been exacerbated by climate change," she said. "We can't hide our head in the sand and pretend that this is somehow a phenomenon that might have somehow happened without climate change." Marine biologist from the University of Sydney Shauna Murray said it's to early to pinpoint the exact causes. Small fish have washed up dead on Brighton Beach this week. ( ABC News: Olivia Mason ) "It's certainly true that the marine environment is changing and these changes come with a lack of predictability," she said. "But I think we don't have the data yet and it's going to take time to look through it all and figure it out." How does the bloom affect fish? Foam and dead sea life are the two key hallmarks of the bloom. Professor Murray said the algae affects fish gills and skin. " Karenia mikimotoi doesn't actually produce a toxin but it does produce what's called reactive oxygen species so this can damage the gills of fish and it can affect skin cells," she said. "What this damaging the gills of the fish means is marine animals basically drown if their gills become too damaged." Professor Shauna Murray is one of only a handful of experts in Australia who research algal blooms. ( Supplied UTS: Toby Burrows ) Professor Murray said low levels of brevetoxin have also been detected in the bloom, which could also be responsible for deaths. She said Karenia mikimotoi doesn't create brevetoxins, but other species of karenia have also been detected in the bloom " Karenia mikimotoi is the main species and Karenia mikimotoi doesn't produce brevetoxin so we know that's not the major reason," she said. The algae produced large amounts of foam at Knights Beach in SA's South Coast in April. ( ABC South East SA: Caroline Horn ) "In this particular bloom we've found several other species of karenia. "None of them are a smoking gun in terms of we know that they have previously produced brevetoxins but having said that we need to get them into culture and test them." If it affects gill fish — why are dolphins and seals being found dead? The official advice is that Karenia mikimotoi isn't toxic to mammals. The government said it's not uncommon for marine mammal carcasses to wash ashore after winter storms. But it is testing a dolphin carcass that was found at Tennyson Beach last Monday to see if the bloom contributed to its death. Professor Murray said the presence of brevetoxin could be a factor. "It's certainly within the scope that this could be related and I think there would have to be investigation to try and work that out," she said. Where has the bloom reached? The bloom was first reported by surfers at Waitpinga Beach in March, after they experienced coughing and respiratory affects from the algae. Since then, its impacts — foaming seas and fish kills — have been seen along the Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and Yorke Peninsula. At its largest, the government said it was the size of Kangaroo Island. The winter storms that many hoped would break up the bloom have dissipated it slightly, but they have also pushed it further into the Gulf St Vincent, where it's now affecting Adelaide's metropolitan beaches. Low levels of the algae have been found in West Lakes, and testing is being done in the Port River, with fears it could reach there as well. Why is it persisting, and when will it go away? The government admits, it didn't anticipate the bloom would be this prolonged, and can't predict how long it will last. The last time there was a harmful bloom of Karenia mikimotoi was at Coffin Bay in 2014, but while it caused some damage locally, it lasted little more than a week. Dead sea life can be seen along South Australia's coast. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman said most algal blooms pass so quickly, they are rarely noted. "Then there are this group of blooms that last three to four months and those ones cover a larger area, they're often in the more open marine zone and they attract an awful lot more attention," she said. "What concerns me is there's this class of blooms that last around the 18 months to two years and there seems to be this gap between three to four months and 18 months to two years. "So I am deeply concerned that since we have passed that three to four month point with this … that we are looking at a bloom that will now go for 18 months if it doesn't clear this winter." Ms Coleman said if it persists through winter, it's likely to bloom with more intensity in summer. Ecologist Faith Coleman started testing water samples from Waitpinga in the days after the initial algal bloom. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) The other concern is even when the bloom dissipates, Karenia mikimotoi can lie dormant, and bloom again when the conditions are right. If this bloom continues for a year or more, what are the consequences? Ms Coleman said eco-systems can quickly bounce back from short algal blooms, but prolonged ones can have major ecological consequences. A dead dolphin spotted at Grange Beach. ( Supplied: Jock Lawrie ) "One event, fish can swim out, breed somewhere else or miss a breeding for the year and come back in again," Ms Coleman said. "Also things like fish eggs and spores for the macro algae and the seeds of the seagrasses quite comfortably accommodate one bad season. "They don't accommodate so well multiple bad seasons. Two is not good, three is quite bad. By the time you get to four or five seasons in a row, you're starting to lose major parts of your ecosystem." What's being done for the fishing and aquaculture industries? The bloom has taken its toll on fishing and aquaculture, with some oyster farms on the Yorke Peninsula being closed down, and fishers reporting reduced catch. Ms Close said the government is working with industry to see how it can help, but this bloom is a "real lesson" to people who rely on the marine environment for their livelihood. "I think farmers on land have become used to the idea of frequent droughts and they're very well aware that we're in a drying period as a result of climate change," she said. "I think people who are dependent on the marine environment need to appreciate that they can no longer rely on a stable and predictable marine environment." Dead pipis along the shoreline at Goolwa Beach. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) Ms Close said businesses should consider things like business interruption insurance and other measures to make themselves more resilient to climate change. But she said the good news is that Karenia mikimotoi isn't toxic to humans — and any fish caught in South Australian waters is still safe to eat. Is there anything we can do? There's nothing that can be done to dissipate a bloom the size of this one, and addressing climate change takes a global effort. But Ms Close said there are things that can be done to make the environment more prepared to tackle the impacts of climate change. "The better we look after the environment, the more resilient it will be when we have these sorts of crises linked to climate change," she said. "We need to explicitly decouple our economic growth and prosperity from asking nature to always take a bit more of a hit." A Port Jackson shark has been found dead among other marine life on Adelaide beaches. ( ABC News: Olivia Mason ) Ms Close said examples of where the South Australian government had done that was through establishing marine parks and sanctuaries, and through waterways management. Professor Murray said one lesson from the bloom is more monitoring of our waters are needed. "We need to have a bit more regular monitoring of recreational waters and beaches for harmful algal blooms," she said. "In the past all our monitoring is linked to shellfish aquaculture areas which is obviously very important but just that we need to expand this to other waters." Faith Coleman says prolonged algal blooms could have major consequences. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) Faith Coleman said there are ways local communities can respond to the bloom, by establishing more oyster reefs, muscle beds and seagrass beds. "We're seeing that embayments with lost of seagrasses and lots of macro algae and lots of filter feeders, even though those things are really badly impacted by this algae, those areas that have lots of them are less badly impacted," she said. "It is a scale that is huge, but if each local community does one, and each local government does one little area then maybe we'll get there at a statewide level." Ms Close said part of its research into this bloom will be how to best protect marine ecosystems, and what can be done to invest in restoration. "How are we going to bounce back? Do we need to invest in more reefs? Do we need to invest in an even greater network of marine parks?" she said. "All of that will be a guide of how we get better to responding to climate change."
ABC News
30-06-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
South Australia's harmful algal bloom outbreak unlikely to end soon, government warns
A damaging algal bloom off South Australia's coast that is killing marine life is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon, with the South Australian government warning there "isn't much we can do" to fix the problem. The toxic bloom, first detected in March off the Fleurieu Peninsula, has been plaguing South Australia's coastline in the past three months, responsible for discoloured water and foam and countless dead creatures that have washed up on shore. The bloom's impact has reached metropolitan Adelaide beaches, with locals capturing images of dead sharks and sea lions. Scientists were hoping that a drop in temperatures over winter would bring an end to the ecological disaster, which appeared after a range of environmental impacts hit the region, including water from the 2022/23 River Murray floods flowing into the Southern Ocean, followed by unseasonably cold and warm water. But Environment Minister Susan Close said despite ongoing storms and cooler temperatures, "we are seeing the algae being very persistent". She said she wanted to "prepare people" that the bloom was "not something that is likely to pass quickly" and "likely also to return at some point". "We've seen the large mass of algae — the depth of some 20-metres and the size of Kangaroo Island — break up significantly," she said on Monday. "But what's happened, is a lot of it has just been moved around into other parts of South Australian waters, including the metropolitan coast. "This is of concern … because we're continuing to see marine life washing up dead on our coastline." Satellite mapping of South Australia's coastline shows high levels of chlorophyll-a along the eastern side of Gulf St Vincent. While the mapping is an indicator of the likelihood of the presence of the bloom, Dr Close confirmed metropolitan Adelaide beaches were now bearing the brunt of the bloom. Asked if the government was prepared for this, Dr Close said some movement of the bloom was anticipated. "We were expecting that as the big winds came in and the waves started moving around more that it would move around," Dr Close said. "Therefore, we're not exempt in the metropolitan beaches, it wasn't surprising, but it's hard to predict exactly where the currents are going to take the bloom at any given time. "It may well be discovered at some point in the Port River. It may even make its way into West Lakes." The government believed the bloom was unlikely to dissipate quickly because an "ongoing marine heatwave" was continuing off SA's south coast. Further complicating matters, Dr Close said, was that the species responsible for the bloom, Karenia mikimotoi, can drop to the seabed and survive if the conditions no longer suited it. "What that means is we've got a lot of those dinoflagellates that will be dropping to the ocean floor because we've had such a large bloom," she said. After it was first reported around Waitpinga and Parsons beaches in March, the algal bloom spread to Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong. The bloom is considered non-toxic to humans, but can cause skin, eye and lung irritation. Dr Close said the bloom was causing a "widespread number" of marine deaths and also putting "some of out most vulnerable and precious species … at risk". But she warned that there was not "much we can do" about the situation other than building nature's resilience and continued monitoring. "We can't control the movement of the Karenia mikimotoi bloom, that's dictated by the way in which the oceans move,' she said. "We can't kill it off — simply too much of it in too much of a large expanse of ocean. "And unless we're talking about aquaculture inside nets, we can't move animals. "We are helpless in the force of nature, and that is something that we as people need to understand our place in the natural world." Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman, who has been helping coastal communities understand the algal bloom, said her primary concern was that the bloom was becoming 'more adaptable to the climate it's facing'. 'The challenge is if it doesn't clear out this winter, and we still have enough organic matter remaining in the water column, there is a high probability that we're going to have a bloom that restarts again next summer,' she said. 'That's a concern because the ecosystem has taken this hit, and getting another hit is likely for it to become an inter-annual or regular event.' Ms Coleman highlighted California, which has reportedly had algal blooms recur for four consecutive years, as an example. She said some blooms lasted weeks, some three-to-four months and some 18 months. 'I am deeply concerned that since we have passed that three-to-four-month point with this … that we are looking at a bloom that will now go for 18 months if it doesn't clear this winter,' she said.
Al Jazeera
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Lake Chad Basin: Violence and displacement
More than six million people in the Lake Chad Basin are caught in a cycle of violence, displacement, and ecological disaster. As Boko Haram exploits shrinking resources and fragile security, communities face impossible choices — return home under threat or stay in limbo. In this episode of Pinch Point, explore how conflict, climate change, and geopolitics are shaping this crisis.
