Scientists estimate that Australia’s east coast estuaries are warming four times faster than anywhere else in the world.
Prof Maria Byrne from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science says south coast marine ecosystems are undergoing “a dynamic state of change due to climate warming, freshwater runoff and storms”.
Up to 50% of south coast shallow rocky reefs now appear as urchin barrens in aerial surveys, places where bare rock is crawling with native sea urchins that have stripped kelp forests.