Australia Avoids UNESCO Downgrade of Great Barrier Reef

In this undated photo provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday, Australia, region is viewed from the air. Australia on Friday, July 23, 2021, garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status. (Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP)
In this undated photo provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday, Australia, region is viewed from the air. Australia on Friday, July 23, 2021, garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status. (Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP)
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Australia Avoids UNESCO Downgrade of Great Barrier Reef

In this undated photo provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday, Australia, region is viewed from the air. Australia on Friday, July 23, 2021, garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status. (Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP)
In this undated photo provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Great Barrier Reef near the Whitsunday, Australia, region is viewed from the air. Australia on Friday, July 23, 2021, garnered enough international support to defer for two years an attempt by the United Nations' cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status. (Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority via AP)

Australia on Friday garnered enough international support to defer an attempt by the United Nations’ cultural organization to downgrade the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status because of damage caused by climate change.

UNESCO had recommended that its World Heritage Committee add the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem off the northeast Australian coast to the World Heritage in Danger list, mainly due to rising ocean temperatures.

Australian-proposed amendments to the draft decision at a committee meeting in China on Friday would have deferred the “in danger” question until 2023, according to The Associated Press.

But Norway moved amendments that put the reef back on the committee’s agenda at its annual meeting next June.

In the meantime, a monitoring mission will visit the reef to determine how the impact of climate change can be managed.

Australian Environment Minister Sussan Ley told the virtual meeting that downgrading the reef’s status before the committee had finalized its own climate change policy made no sense.

“Delegates, we ask only two things: time for experts to see first hand our commitment to the reef, its present condition and our management, and for the final climate policy to provide a consistent framework for addressing the impacts of climate change on all World Heritage properties,” she said from Australia, where she in in quarantine after lobbying delegates in Europe and the Middle East on the decision.

In 2014, Australia was warned that an “in danger” listing was being considered rather than being proposed for immediate action.

Australia had time to respond by developing a long-term plan to improve the reef’s health called the Reef 2050 Plan.

Since then, the reef has suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and last year. The bleaching damaged two thirds of the coral.

Australia reacted angrily last month when the draft decision was published to remove the network of 2,500 reefs covering 348,000 square kilometers (134,000 square miles) from the World Heritage list it joined 40 years ago for its “outstanding universal value.” The “in danger” listing is one step away from losing all World Heritage standing.

“This decision was flawed. Clearly there were politics behind it,” Ley said at the time.

Many in Australia’s conservative government saw the move as an attempt to pressure it into committing to reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 and to stop allowing coal mines to be expanded.

In arguing for the reef’s downgrade, UNESCO World Heritage Center’s marine program coordinator, Fanny Douvere, referred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s conclusion that global emissions needed to fall to zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Accelerated action on climate change on all possible levels, in accordance with the 1.5 degree target under the Paris Agreement for Climate Change, and the recovery of the property from poor water quality are both vital and are urgent to secure the outstanding universal value of the Great Barrier Reef for present and for future generations,” Douvere said.

Greenpeace said in a statement that the committee had missed an opportunity to shine a light on Australia’s neglect of a natural wonder.

The Chinese host of the committee meeting in the city of Fuzhou this week defended the proposed “in danger” listing against Australian government suspicion that China influenced the finding for political reasons.

“Australia, as a member state of the World Heritage Committee, should ... attach importance to the opinions of the advisory bodies and earnestly fulfill the duty of World Heritage protection instead of making groundless accusations against other states,” said Tian Xuejun, the Chinese vice minister of education and the president of this year’s session.

China’s representative said during the debate that his nation “supports the emerging consensus” to defer the “in danger” question.

Before the committee’s ruling, Jodie Rummer, a research fellow at the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said the “in danger” designation was needed to get Australia to act on climate change.

“I think that’s the wake-up call that we need here in Australia, very much so,” Rummer said. “It’s the wake-up call that we need to cut our emissions and commit to net zero. It’s the wake-up call that we need to really put that spotlight on the Great Barrier Reef.”

The deferral sidelines Australia’s management of the reef as an issue at elections due by May next year at which the government will seek a fourth three-year term.



‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches across US After Deadly Weekend Flooding

 Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
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‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches across US After Deadly Weekend Flooding

 Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)
Portions of Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, sit submerged after heavy rainfall. (Jack Dobbs/Daily News via AP)

Harsh weather moved west on Monday as a polar vortex was expected to grip the Rockies and the northern Plains after winter storms pummeled the eastern US over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, including nine victims in Kentucky who died during flooding from heavy rains.

The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening cold” into Tuesday, with temperatures in northeastern Montana predicted to dip as low as 45 degrees below zero (-42.7 degrees Celsius) with wind chills down to 60 below (-51 degrees Celsius).

Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures as low as 50 degrees below zero (minus 45.6) were expected in most of North Dakota, which remained under an “extreme cold warning” along with large swaths of South Dakota and Minnesota, according to the weather service.

Meteorologists said several states would experience the 10th and coldest polar vortex event this season. Weather forces in the Arctic are combining to push the chilly air that usually stays near the North Pole into the US and Europe.

Kentucky, Appalachia battered by flooding

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday that the death toll in his state had risen to nine and at least 1,000 people stranded by floods had to be rescued. President Donald Trump approved Kentucky's request for a disaster declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts throughout the state.

In Atlanta, a person was killed when a large tree fell on a home early Sunday, raising the overall death toll from harsh weather to 10.

Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee received up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain, Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service, said Sunday.

Water submerged cars and buildings in Kentucky and mudslides blocked roads in Virginia over the weekend. Flood warnings extended throughout Tennessee and Arkansas.

In West Virginia, 13 southern counties were under a state of emergency for flooding and some areas were cut off to vehicle traffic Sunday. Several volunteer fire departments dealt with flooding in their own buildings while answering rescue and evacuation calls.

Rockies, Midwest, Northeast hit with snow storms

Ice and snow made road travel treacherous in large swaths of Michigan, which remained under a winter weather advisory until Monday afternoon. Michigan State Police reported 114 crashes Sunday around the Detroit area since snow started falling Saturday.

“Fortunately, most were one-car spin outs and there were no serious injuries,” Michigan State Police said on X.

Authorities in Colorado reported eight people were killed in fatal vehicle crashes since Valentine’s Day and warned drivers to be cautious as the weather made driving more difficult. The causes of the fatal crashes weren’t immediately known.

Also in Colorado, three state patrol cruisers that had pulled over along roadsides were struck by other vehicles, including one on Sunday where a trooper had stopped as officials prepared to close a road because of ice. In each case the troopers were out of their cruisers at the time and were uninjured.

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Colorado to Washington state, with the danger rated highest in Utah.

Part of Detroit is submerged in water after pipe burst

Parts of a southwest Detroit neighborhood are submerged after a nearly century-old water main burst early Monday.

The 54-inch (137-centimeter) transmission main was built in 1930 and has left several feet of water over streets, sidewalks and yards, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority.

Crews and contractors were in the area attempting to isolate the break. It was not clear what caused the main to burst, but temperatures late Sunday into Monday morning were well below zero degrees Fahrenheit (minus 17 degrees C).

No injuries have been reported. Firefighters used a ladder to help one person from the roof of a car in waist-deep water and a bulldozer was used to navigate a flooded street and help people leave a home, according to the fire department.

Mayor Mike Duggan says people impacted by the flooding can shelter in place if they have power and feel safe. Those who want to leave can call 911 and fire crews will help them from their homes and take them to a temporary shelter.

Avalanche warnings for Rockies and elsewhere

Avalanche warnings were issued for numerous areas of the Rocky Mountains stretching from Colorado to Washington state, with the danger rated highest in Utah.

The Mount Washington Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning Monday for several places in the White Mountains — including Tuckerman Ravine, Gulf of Slides, Huntington Ravine, and Great Gulf — in the state of New Hampshire.

Two ice climbers were rescued in the White Mountains on Sunday after they triggered an avalanche and one of them became partially buried in the snow, the New Hampshire Fish and Game said in a statement.