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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Environment
Adam Morton and Graham Readfearn

‘Unscientific’: Morrison government wanted IPCC to say Great Barrier Reef ‘not yet in crisis’

A green turtle, viewed from the underside, as it swims over a reef with orange fish in the Ribbon Reefs near Cairns
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the Great Barrier Reef was already heavily affected by ocean heating, leading to more frequent and severe coral bleaching. Photograph: HOGP/AP

The Australian government pushed to soften the wording of a major report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading climate science authority, to say the Great Barrier Reef is not yet in crisis.

It has prompted accusations that the Morrison government had been unscientific, and was trying to play down the damage already being caused by global heating to avoid making deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

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