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Southern China Suspends Ferry Services as Storm Brings Winds, High Waters to Coastal Regions

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, coconut trees hit by typhoon Yagi along a road in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, coconut trees hit by typhoon Yagi along a road in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (Xinhua via AP)
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Southern China Suspends Ferry Services as Storm Brings Winds, High Waters to Coastal Regions

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, coconut trees hit by typhoon Yagi along a road in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, coconut trees hit by typhoon Yagi along a road in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (Xinhua via AP)

Parts of coastal southern China suspended ferry services as a major storm passed into the South China Sea, bringing high winds and heavy waves to much of the region.

The storm was downgraded Wednesday from Typhoon Man-yi, which left seven dead in the Philippines and worsened the crisis caused by back-to-back storms that battered the disaster-prone nation.

It is now categorized as a low-pressure area lingering south of China’s Hainan Island, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which said its maximum sustained winds were a relatively mild 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour.

Climatologists have predicted a greater frequency of such storms, but better preparedness and early warning systems in the Asia Pacific nations most affected have helped mitigate some of the most dire consequences.

Higher sea temperatures caused by a warming climate are increasing the amount of moisture in the air and extending the typhoon season from its usual annual end point of September. Europe, particularly Spain, and the southeastern United States have also experienced devastating storms in recent weeks.

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Varieties

Parts of Great Barrier Reef Suffer Highest Coral Mortality on Record

FILE PHOTO: Peter Gash, owner and manager of the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, snorkels during an inspection of the reef's condition in an area called the 'Coral Gardens' located at Lady Elliot Island, north-east of the town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, June 11, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Peter Gash, owner and manager of the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, snorkels during an inspection of the reef's condition in an area called the 'Coral Gardens' located at Lady Elliot Island, north-east of the town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, June 11, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo
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Parts of Great Barrier Reef Suffer Highest Coral Mortality on Record

FILE PHOTO: Peter Gash, owner and manager of the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, snorkels during an inspection of the reef's condition in an area called the 'Coral Gardens' located at Lady Elliot Island, north-east of the town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, June 11, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Peter Gash, owner and manager of the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, snorkels during an inspection of the reef's condition in an area called the 'Coral Gardens' located at Lady Elliot Island, north-east of the town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, June 11, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

Parts of the Great Barrier Reef have suffered the highest coral mortality on record, Australian research showed Tuesday, with scientists fearing the rest of it has suffered a similar fate.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science said surveys of 12 reefs found up to 72 percent coral mortality, thanks to a summer of mass bleaching, two cyclones, and flooding, reported AFP.
In one northern section of the reef, about a third of hard coral had died, the "largest annual decline" in 39 years of government monitoring, the agency said.
Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300 kilometer (1,400-mile) expanse of tropical corals that house a stunning array of biodiversity.
But repeated mass bleaching events have threatened to rob the tourist drawcard of its wonder, turning banks of once-vibrant corals into a sickly shade of white.
Bleaching occurs when water temperatures rise and the coral expels microscopic algae, known as zooxanthellae, to survive.
If high temperatures persist, the coral can eventually turn white and die.
This year had already been confirmed as the fifth mass bleaching on the reef in the past eight years.
But this latest survey also found a rapid growing type of coral -- known as acropora -- had suffered the highest rate of death.
This coral is quick to grow, but one of the first to bleach.
'Worst fears'
Lead researcher Mike Emslie told public broadcaster ABC the past summer was "one of the most severe events" across the Great Barrier Reef, with heat stress levels surpassing previous events.
"These are serious impacts. These are serious losses," he said.
WWF-Australia's head of oceans Richard Leck said the initial surveys confirmed his "worst fears".
"The Great Barrier Reef can bounce back but there are limits to its resilience," he said.
"It can't get repeatedly hammered like this. We are fast approaching a tipping point."
Leck added the area surveyed was "relatively small" and feared that when the full report was released next year "similar levels of mortality" would be observed.
He said that it reinforced Australia's need to commit to stronger emission reduction targets of at least 90 percent below 2005 levels by 2035 and move away from fossil fuels.
The country is one of the world's largest gas and coal exporters and has only recently set targets to become carbon neutral.