Our research, published today in Nature, found far fewer baby corals are being produced than are needed to replace the large number of adult corals that have died. The rate at which baby corals are settling on the Great Barrier Reef has fallen by nearly 90% since 2016.
While coral does not always die after bleaching, repeated bleaching has killed large numbers of coral. This new research has negative implications for the Reef’s capacity to recover from high ocean temperatures.
How coral recovers
Most corals reproduce by “spawning”: releasing thousands of tight, buoyant bundles with remarkable synchronisation. The bundles burst when they hit the ocean surface, releasing eggs and/or sperm. Fertilised eggs develop into larvae as they are moved about by ocean currents. The larvae settle in new places, forming entirely new coral colonies. This coral “recruitment” is essential to reef recovery.
The research team, led by my colleague Terry Hughes from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, measured rates of coral recruitment by attaching small clay tiles to the reef just before the predicted mass spawning each year. These settlement panels represent a standardised habitat that allows for improved detection of the coral recruits, which are just 1-2mm in size.
Almost 1,000 tiles were deployed across 17 widely separated reefs after the recent mass bleaching, in late 2016 and 2017. After eight weeks they were collected and carefully inspected under a microscope to count the number of newly settled coral recruits. Resulting estimates of coral recruitment were compared to recruitment rates recorded over two decades prior to the recent bleaching.
Australian Academy of Science.
Rates of coral recruitment recorded in the aftermath of the recent coral bleaching were just 11% of levels recorded during the preceding decades. Whereas there were more than 40 coral recruits per tile before the bleaching, there was an average of just five coral recruits per tile in the past couple of years.
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world’s largest reef system. The large overall size and high number of distinct reefs provides a buffer against most major disturbances. Even if large tracts of the GBR are disturbed, there is a good chance at least some areas will have healthy stocks of adult corals, representing a source of new larvae to enable replenishment and recovery.
Larvae produced by spawning corals on one reef may settle on other nearby reefs to effectively replace corals lost to localised disturbances.
It is reassuring there is at least some new coral recruitment in the aftermath of severe bleaching and mass mortality of adult corals on the GBR. However, the substantial and widespread reduction of regrowth indicates the magnitude of the disturbance caused by recent heatwaves.
Reduction of coral regrowth shows the effects of recent heatwave disturbances.Bette Willis
Declines in rates of coral recruitment were greatest in the northern parts of the GBR. This is where bleaching was most pronounced in 2016 and 2017, and there was the greatest loss of adult corals. There were much more moderate declines in coral recruitment in the southern GBR, reflecting generally higher abundance of adults corals in these areas. However, prevailing southerly currents (and the large distances involved) make it very unlikely coral larvae from southern parts of the Reef will drift naturally to the hardest-hit northern areas.
It is hard to say how long it will take for coral assemblages to recover from the recent mass bleaching. What is certain is low levels of coral recruitment will constrain coral recovery and greatly increase the recovery time. Any further large-scale developments with also greatly reduce coral cover and impede recovery.
This study further highlights the vulnerability of coral reefs to sustained and ongoing global warming. Not only do adult corals bleach and die when exposed to elevated temperatures, this prevents new coral recruitment and undermines ecosystem resilience.
The only way to effectively redress global warming is to immediately and substantially reduce global carbon emissions. This requires that all countries, including Australia, renew and strengthen their commitments to the Paris Agreement on climate change.
While further management is required to minimise more direct human pressure on coral reefs – such as sediment run-off and pollution – all these efforts will be futile if we do not address global climate change.
Even light-to-moderate drinking increases blood pressure and the chances of having a stroke, according to a large genetic study in The Lancet, countering previous claims that one or two drinks a day could be protective.
The UK and Chinese researchers followed 500,000 Chinese people for 10 years.
They say the findings are relevant to all populations and the best evidence yet on the direct effects of alcohol.
Experts said people should limit their alcohol consumption.
The researchers, from the University of Oxford, Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, found that:
drinking one to two alcoholic drinks every day increased stroke risk by 10-15%
drinking four drinks every day increased the risk of having a stroke by 35%
For the purposes of their study, one drink was defined as either:
a small glass of wine
a bottle of beer
a single measure of spirits
About 16 in 100 men and 20 in 100 women will have a stroke in their lifetime in the UK.
So, if a group of 100 non-drinkers started drinking a glass or two every day, there would be an extra two strokes - a small increase.
According to Prof David Spiegelhalter, from the University of Cambridge, that's an increase in total stroke risk of 38% for every half a bottle of wine drunk per day.
He said: "It is very roughly the opposite effect of taking a statin", which are drugs prescribed by doctors to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood and prevent heart attacks and strokes.
The study also found no evidence of light or moderate drinking having a protective effect, in other words, reducing the risk of stroke.
When it came to the effect of alcohol on heart attack risk, the researchers said the effects were not clear cut and more data needed to be collected over the next few years.
"Claims that wine and beer have magical protective effects is not borne out," said study author Prof Richard Peto, professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford.
East Asian countries are useful places to study the effects of alcohol.
Many people with Chinese ancestry have a combination of genes that puts them off drinking alcohol. It causes an unpleasant reaction and makes them feel unwell.
As a result, there is a wide variation of alcohol intake in China - one in three men doesn't drink and very few women do.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
But by comparing the health outcomes of drinkers and non-drinkers according to their genetic profile, scientists say they have been able to assess - with much more certainty than before - the direct effects of alcohol on stroke risk, distinct from any other factors.
Western populations don't possess these genes, so it would be impossible to carry out a similar study here.
And most studies are observational, which makes it's difficult to judge which factor is causing what effect.
Dr Iona Millwood, study author and senior epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said: "Our genetic analyses have helped us understand the cause and effect relationships."
So what does this mean for me?
The researchers say their key message is that there is now clear evidence of no protective effect of moderate drinking on stroke.
That means drinking even small amounts of alcohol each day can increase the chances of having a stroke.
Dr Stephen Burgess, from the University of Cambridge, said there were some limitations to the study - that it only looked at a Chinese population and focused mainly on the drinking of spirits and beer, not wine.
But he said the research reflected the culmination of many years of research into the impact of alcohol consumption.
"It strongly suggests that there is no cardiovascular benefit of light drinking and that risk of stroke increases even with moderate light alcohol consumption," he said.
"Risk of stroke increases proportionally with the amount of alcohol consumed, so if people do choose to drink, then they should limit their alcohol consumption."
Prof Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said the study didn't answer every question.
"It has certainly advanced what we know about the role of alcohol in some diseases but it can't be the last word," he said.
"The new study doesn't tie down exactly how alcohol works to increase stroke risk but doesn't appear to increase heart attack risk."
Prof David Spiegelhalter, Winton professor for the public understanding of risk, at the University of Cambridge, said the study was making him waver.
"I have always been reasonably convinced that moderate alcohol consumption was protective for cardiovascular disease, but now I am having my doubts," he said.
On October 12th 2018, Maatram filed a Right to Information request with the Labour Department for information on subscription fees for six trade unions that represent plantation workers, requesting the following:
According to the last documents received from the unions by the Labour Department;
Number of members in each union, and a breakdown by gender
The membership fee levied from one worker
Total membership fees obtained by unions in the year 2017
Total membership fees obtained by unions in September 2018
Total membership fees obtained by unions in December 2017
Total amount spent by unions in 2017, and what this amount was spent on
Total amount spent by unions in 2017 specifically on issues related to tea plantation workers, including but not limited to campaigns, welfare, health and education.
Information of the following six unions was requested;
CWC – Ceylon Workers’ Congress
LJEWU – Ceylon National Estate Workers Union
NUW – National Union for Workers
UPF – Upcountry People’s Front
JPTUC – Estate Sector Workers Alliance
SRFU – Sri Lanka Red Flag Union
Membership fees might seem like an innocuous request to make, but they are significant. The unions represent members who are Malaiyaha Tamil tea estate workers, a community that face significant barriers to accessing essential services such as education. They often struggle to provide their families with nutritious food. These issues tend to come to the forefront during wage negotiations, where the unions act as middlemen between the workers and the Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs).
For years, tea plantation workers have been calling for a an increase in their basic wage to Rs. 1000. A protest held on October 22nd last year at Galle Face Green, mobilised by youth from the Malaiyaha Tamil families who have come to Colombo for work, drew thousands of people. In December, workers began a hunger strike outside the Colombo Fort Railway Station, to make the same demand. Each time, the unions negotiate for an increase, usually amounting to around Rs 50 or Rs. 100. The estate owners say a more significant increase is impossible given factors such as conditions in the global market (including competition) and climate change.
Against this backdrop, the workers view the role of the unions with scepticism. In a recent article by Maatram, titled ‘We don’t know the colour of the union’, tea plantation workers who were interviewed said, “We are giving a membership fee of Rs. 150, to speak on behalf of us whenever we have problems. But we have not received any help so far. They also commented on the actions of the union leaders, “They are living on the membership fee we give. They are living luxuriously.”
After Maatram handed over the original RTI application on October 12, 2018, it took exactly two months for the Labour Department to respond with the information requested in the application. The Information Officer said that the acknowledgement could not be given immediately, as he did not know Tamil. Maatram received the receipt of acknowledgement on October 25, and this was within the response time period stipulated in the RTI Act (2 weeks). Editor Selvaraja Rajasegar has previously spoken to Groundviews at length on the difficulties in place for individuals requesting information from government offices in Tamil in this video.
Only questions No. 1 through No. 3 raised by Maatram were answered in the response that was received on December 12th. The Labour Department stated that the information pertaining to the other four questions was not with them.
Maatram was compelled to contact the Information Officer over the telephone as the response was delayed by two months. “Since the people here do not know Tamil, your application has to be translated to Sinhala or English. The entire department has only one translator. We all give it to him/her, that is why there is a delay,” was the Information Officer’s explanation.
Maatram was able to obtain information around the members of the worker unions, the membership fees levied from a single worker, and the total amount in membership fees obtained in one year by these unions.
The blank spaces indicate information that the Labour Department does not have.
What the information reveals
Maatram requested information based on the most recent documents that the Labour Department had received from the six unions. The information that the Department provided was based on reports from 2017.
According to these documents, the Ceylon Workers Congress has a membership of 400,000. The Ceylon National Estate Workers Union has 150,000 members while National Union for Workers has 21,280 members.
It has been reported that the total number of workers in the estate sector has fallen to 150,000, however the total number of members in these three unions alone surpass 550,000. It is evident therefore that while the unions possibly submit outdated details to the Labour Department, the Department inputs these records unquestioningly, without carrying out any formal follow-up of its own.
According to the details received, in the one-year period between April 1st 2016 and March 30th2017, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress received Rs. 77,751,933 as membership fees from workers. Likewise, the Ceylon National Estate Workers Union received Rs. 22,437,558.53 while the National Union for Workers received Rs. 34, 524, 328.41 through membership fees.
Maatram appealed to the Labour Department for answers to questions No. 4 through No. 7 (which had not been provided in the first response) and for the annual reports of the unions. The Department responded stating that the reports cannot be provided according to Clause 5(1) f of the Right to Information Act. The clause lays out a criteria for the denial of access to information;
5(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) a request under this Act for access to information shall be refused, where–
This clause lays out a condition for refusal, the information consist of any communication, between a professional and a public authority to whom such professional provides services, which is not permitted to be disclosed under any written law, including any communication between the Attorney General or any officer assisting the Attorney General in the performance of his duties and a public authority;
Maatram has appealed this decision before the Right to Information Commission.
Click here to view the first response by the Labour Department. Click here to view the response upon appeal.
Colombo Fort Magistrates was told yesterday by the Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) there was evidence the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne hid a man wanted over the abduction and disappearance of 11 predominantly Tamil youths during 2008 - 2009.
Wijegunaratne was last year held in remand, accused of hiding suspect Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias 'Navy Sampath' in order to evade arrest.
His arrest came after weeks of evasion, during which time he made high profile appearances along side senior government figures.
Prosecutors revealed at the time of his remanding, Wijegunaratne and associates reportedly attempted to abduct a key witness who had previously testified against him. Disruptions took place outside the court as men arriving on motorcycles, thought to be members of Wijegunaratne’s security personnel, proceeded to attack journalists.
According to the CID, Hettiarachchi was visited by his wife and another relative at the Navy base on several occasions and later gave a statement that he was ordered not to leave the base as there was a warrant for his arrest.
During 2008 to 2009 eleven predominantly Tamil youths were abducted in the Colombo area, held for ransom at Trincomalee and Colombo navy bases, before being murdered.
The eleven youths have been named as Kasthuriarachchi John, Thyagarajah Jegan, Rajiv Naganathan, Soosaipillai Amalan, Soosaipillai Roshan, Kasthuriarachchi Anton, Prageeth Vishvanathan, Thilakeshwaran Ramalingam, Moahmed Dilan, Mohamed Saajid and Ali Anwar.
Last month the CID said the navy hierarchy, including Navy Commander Jayantha Perera and Intelligence Division Director Ananda Guruge knew about the abductions that occurred in Colombo during 2008 - 2009.
Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) governments – unable to govern
A feature of every government since Independence in 1948 is that they have had no idea of proper governance. This is a serious problem especially where there are two separate nations in one country – in Sri Lanka a Sinhalese Nation and a Tamil Nation.
“Sinhalisation”
There has been a mass relocation of Sinhalese from the South to the Tamil areas by the Government. What is not widely known is that the Sinhalese military and police who have quit their jobs are being relocated in the North with their families.
The result is a massive increase in the number of Sinhalese in the North and East. If this continues, the North and East will be dominated by Sinhalese. The electoral consequences are obvious. This will not be reversible as has happened in Amparai in the East, which was a Tamil area that has been ‘Sinhalised’.
The long-term objective of accelerated Sinhalisation of the Tamil area is to destroy the Tamil homeland and establish a monoethnic identity throughout the island – a Sinhala-Buddhist nation.
“Buddhistisation”
Buddhist temples and structures are proliferating in an area where there are no Buddhist civilians. The only Buddhists are members of the Armed Forces and Police.
What often happens is that a ‘Bo-tree” (Ficus Religiosa) is planted in an area which is then declared a Buddhist sacred site. A Buddhist temple is then erected.
The British Tamils Forum (BTF) has published an excellent book, “Proliferating Buddhist Structures in Tamil homeland – Sowing the seeds of Disharmony”.
Poverty and unemployment in the North
Poverty and unemployment are higher in the Northern Province than anywhere else in Sri Lanka. At the Northern Provincial Council’s 2nd budget reading on 12/12/17, the then Chief Minister of the Northern Council, Justice Wigneswaran, said that out of all 25 districts in Sri Lanka, Kilinochchi was the poorest. Mullaitivu which was previously the poorest is now number 2 on the list of poverty by district. Jaffna is the 5th poorest district.
The level of unemployment is also highest in the Northern Province than in any other province.
Sexual violence in the North and East
Sexual violence has increased across the Northern Province. Women widows in their 20s are sexually assaulted at work. Women teachers are sexually assaulted in schools. Gangs commit sexual violence for money.
Unwanted pregnancies and teenage pregnancies are an issue. Many men come to Jaffna from other places, have relationships with women, marry them and then leave them. Society shuns these women seeing them as indecent.
Sex is a taboo subject in Tamil culture. As such, sex education is not taught or taught poorly. In what is still a male dominated society, such issues are difficult to deal with.
My book Sri Lanka: Sexual violence of Tamils by the Armed Forces has nearly doubled in size in two years since it was first published in 2015. It is now (March 2019) 264 pages.
Violation of human rights
There continues to be involuntary ‘disappearances’, abduction, arrest without warrant, illegal detention at unknown sites and a failure to release those who are being held without charge or trial. Nothing has changed in the North and East with the replacement of the dreadful Rajapaksa regime by Sirisena. All of this has been well documented in several publications, including publications by Amnesty International, a Nobel Prize winner.
The 2017/18 Amnesty International Annual report spells it out. Concerns have been raised about arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced ‘disappearances’, impunity that has persisted for crimes under international law, harassment and surveillance of Tamils in the North and East by security forces, the finding by UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that the PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) was disproportionately used against Tamils and was discriminatory in effect and that violence, including sexual violence, persisted against women and girls.
Image: School students in Jaffna protests (19.01.2015) against oil leakage by Chunnakam power station which locals say is contaminating water supplies.( TG photo)
05/04/2019
Read the full text of the Supreme Court judgement ordering a thermal power station in Chunnakam to pay compensation to people : RAVINDRA GUNAWARDENA KARIYAWASAM Chairman, Centre for Environment and Nature Studies, Vs CENTRAL ENVIRONMENT AUTHORITY and others – sc_fr_141_2015
By S.S. Selvanayagam ( Daily FT)
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court yesterday ordered Northern Power Company, which operated a thermal power station in Chunnakam that polluted ground water in the Chunnakam area and made ground water unfit for human use, to pay Rs. 20 million to offset a part of the substantial loss, harm and damage to the residents for the contamination of ground water and soil in the vicinity of its thermal power station.
Justice Prasanna Jayawardena with concurred with Justices Priyantha Jayawardane and Lalith Dehideniya in his judgment held that failures, omissions and inaction on the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and the Board of Investment (BoI) were arbitrary and unreasonable and in breach of the Trust public reposed on them.
The Court held that thereby they violated the Fundamental Rights of the residents of Chunnakam and the Petitioner.
The Court observed that the right to equality and equal protection of the law of the Constitution had been violated by the CEA and the BoI permitting Northern Power Company Ltd. to cause oil contamination of groundwater in the Chunnakam area and of soil in the vicinity of the thermal power station.
Justice Jayawardena observed this was an appropriate case to apply the “polluter pays” principle and directed Northern Power Company to pay Rs. 20 million within three months.
This sum of money is to be paid to the credit of a special fund which is to be administered by the National Water Supply Drainage Board under the control of a panel consisting of a representative each of the National Water Supply Drainage Board, Board of Investment, Central Environmental Authority and the Northern Power Company.
The said payment of Rs. 20 million will establish that fund and shall be paid to the credit of a bank account under the control of that panel headed by the representative of the National Water Supply Drainage Board.
The members of panel and the institutions they represent shall be collectively and individually responsible for distributing this sum of Rs. 20 million among persons who reside within a 1.5 kilometre radius of thermal power station and whose wells have been contaminated with oil and grease and/or BTEX, in order to assist those persons to clean and rehabilitate their wells.
The members of the panel and the institutions they represent shall be collectively and individually responsible for the integrity of that process.
One month prior to commencing the process of distributing this sum of Rs. 20 million among the residents of the Chunnakam area, the panel shall give sufficient notice of the proposed process to the residents of the area within a 1.5 kilometre radius of the thermal power station, through the Grama Niladhari Divisions in the area.
The distribution of this sum of Rs. 20 million among the residents of the Chunnakam area shall be subject to the condition that only the chief occupant of a household is entitled to be paid out of these monies and that the maximum sum payable to one person is Rs. 40,000.
Justice Jayawardena directed the aforesaid panel to ascertain, with reasonable certainty, that the persons to whom monies are paid are persons whose wells have been contaminated with oil and grease and/or BTEX.
This mechanism will enable at least 500 residents of the area to be compensated, at least in part, for the loss and damage they have suffered as the result of the oil contamination of groundwater in the Chunnakam area.
Justice Jayawardena observed it was possible that the number of residents who had suffered such loss and damage may exceed 500.
Therefore, he directed the panel to ensure that the sum of Rs. 20 million was divided equitably on the basis that the worst affected wells were to be given priority when distributing the payment.
He also that Northern Power Company would pay costs which may be incurred for the work of this panel.
Nuwan Bopage with Chathura Weththasinghe appeared for the Petitioner R.G. Kariyawasam, the Chairman of the Centre for Environment and Nature Studies. Senior State Counsel Dr. Avanti Perera appeared for CEA, Sri Lanka Electricity Board, AG, BoI and NWSDB. Dr K.Kanag Isvaran PC appeared for Northern Province Chief Minister. Dinal Phillips appeared for Northern Power Company. K.V.S. Ganesharajah appeared for Intervenient – Petitioners.
The severe and repeated bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef has not only damaged corals, it has reduced the reef’s ability to recover.
The severe and repeated bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef has not only damaged corals, it has reduced the reef’s ability to recover.
The blank spaces indicate information that the Labour Department does not have.
