Hard truths: pioneering coral researcher shines

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Hard truths: pioneering coral researcher shines

An avid aquarium-keeper from a young age, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg was always destined to a career spent studying life below the waves.

“We had something like 10 or so tanks around the house,” the esteemed marine biologist told AAP of his childhood.

“There were sea snakes and all sorts of things.”

Professor Hoegh-Guldberg has been appointed one of the nation’s highest honours – the Companion (AC) of the Order of Australia – for his ground-breaking research on coral reefs and the threat posed by a warming climate.

While the bleak future for corals is widely-accepted and well-understood as temperatures climb, that wasn’t always the case.

Prof Hoegh-Guldberg’s landmark 1999 study predicting corals would start to disappear by mid-century provoked a strong reaction.

“They would say ‘well, no, it’s not possible the Great Barrier Reef is going to die, this 2300km-long reef system with thousands of species’.”

But time has proved some of his forecasts accurate, with several global mass bleaching events.

It was bittersweet vindication. He was desperate to be proven wrong.

The degradation of the world’s reefs is not just the coral itself but the thousands of species that live among the varied structures.

“You lose the fish, you lose the fishing,” Prof Hoegh-Guldberg said.

More than 500 million people worldwide rely on coral reefs for food, coastal protection and income.

In Australia, the Great Barrier Reef a major source of tourism revenue and jobs.

The marine biologist describes his career spanning more than three decades as a “great ride”.

“It’s not over,” he added.

He is involved with the Coral Reef Rescue Initiative, a global partnership dedicated to protecting and restoring the critical ecosystems, and holds an emeritus professor position at the University of Queensland.

Prof Hoegh-Guldberg remains relatively upbeat about the future of the reefs provided the work is done to cut emissions.

“There is no doubt that we are going to see a ******* over the next 30 to 40 years where reefs will be looking pretty sick,” he said.

“But if we have stabilised the climate, and we have those remaining corals that are on the reefs – and we’re talking probably 10 per cent of what we have today – we will see the recovery of reefs late-century.”

Internationally renowned climate scientist, Mark Howden, has also been appointed an AC on the King’s Birthday Honours List, released on Sunday.

Prof Howden served as a vice chair on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize alongside the other IPCC participants and former US vide president and environmentalist Al Gore.

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