Academy Fellow Professor Terry Hughes has been named one of the Ten people who mattered in 2016 by science journal Nature.
Professor Hughes is the only Australian to have earned a spot on the list this year, in recognition for his work documenting and alerting the world to the worst-ever coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.
He is joined on the list by other science and technology leaders including Demis Assabis, co-counder of the artificial intelligence company Deep Mind whose computer program AlfphaGo beat the reigning Go world champion; Celina Turchi, who instigated the global response to Zika virus; and Guillem Anglade-Escudé who discovered the nearest known planet outside the solar system orbiting Proxima Centauri.
As Distinguished Professor at James Cook University and Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Professor Hughes led aerial and underwater surveys of over 2,300 kilometres of the reef in 2016, finding that 67% of coral in the northern section of the reef had died. He did 35 interviews with journalists on the day that interest in his story peaked.
Professor Hughes recently authored an article for ‘The Conversation’ on the findings, predicting long-term impacts in the northern corals, with higher levels of disease, and slower growth rates and rates of reproduction. Researchers expect the replacement of these dead corals to take at least 10 to 15 years, depending on conditions.
‘The message to people should be that we’ve got a closing window of opportunity to deal with climate change,’ he told Nature.
The Australian Academy of Science is conducting a review of Australian climate science capability and future requirements, looking to understand the expertise and infrastructure needed to shape Australia’s responses to changes in the climate.
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
