In Hot Water: Inside the battle to save the Great Barrier Reef

by Paul E. Hardisty

In the ongoing climate wars, the Great Barrier Reef has become a symbol of everything that we have to lose from global warming. For years, reports of the world-famous coral being irreversibly bleached have fuelled an ideological battle between those fighting to stop the damage and those who insist the danger is overblown.
Paul Hardisty found himself in the middle of this fight during his six years as CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. In this fascinating, candid and urgent book, he dives into the history of the reef and cuts through the rhetoric to chart the circumstances and acceleration of its decline, as well as the determined efforts to save it.
In Hot Water is a crucial look inside the battle to save one of Australia's greatest treasures, describing what must be done to preserve it, and what is at risk if we fail to do so.

Genres: Nonfiction

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2024

About the author

For the past 30 years, Paul E Hardisty has worked all over the world as an engineer and environmental scientist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, and rehabilitated village water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Yemen in 1994 as the civil war broke out, and in Ethiopia as the Mengistu regime fell. His latest novel, Absolution, is the 4th in the Claymore Straker series. The first novel in the series, The Abrupt Physics of Dying, was shortlisted for the CWA Creasy dagger award, and was one of the London Telegraph's 2015 crime books of the year. It was followed by The Evolution of Fear, and Reconciliation for the Dead, both of which received critical acclaim. Paul lives in Western Australia, and is a keen outdoorsman, triathlete, and martial artist.

Reviews

[Bob Chee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all of Hardisty's thrillers, and I didn't know what to expect from this non-fiction. As it turned out, I had a most enjoyable read over five days this holiday season.

The author is a scientist and an engineer. He also is a brilliant story teller. The book feels like a memoir, like notes taken from his time as CEO of a scientific organisation. The facts he presented about the Great Barrier Reef are informative, the challenges and battles described are exciting, and the arguments why we have to act are compelling.

I had been detached from the issues around Climate Change as I learnt since young to be a critical thinker, and I didn't allow myself to be partisan. The "precautionary principle' cited a few times in the book appeals to me in how I should view urgent issues of the day. It helped that I didn't get the feeling of being lectured at, as so many books do.

The author knows his facts. And he uses them to good effect. I like this line, and the subsequent passage, where subtly, he persuades one to act: "As you approach the frontline, you can feel the change." The description is as if you were at a battlefront. And indeed, the author has been in battle fronts, and his writings are vivid and they sound real.

Read the book. It may change your outlook on life, as it did mine.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part memoir, part history, part fury as Hardisty recounts his experiences as CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Along the way, Hardisty clearly explains the threat of rising sea temperatures, the ways that clear science is obscured by politics, and the more complex issues around farm run offs. Someone primarily interested in those issues can probably find shorter form reads, however, and the real focus here is on the nitty gritty of managing science that becomes politicised. I did think the book would have benefiting from committing more explicitly to memoir - there is a brief reference to Hardisty's time in Ukraine which feels like it could have been a book - but I can see why the climate focus is too vital to shift too much away from.

[Michael Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul has presented a wealth of information regarding the complications that the reef is subject to politically and socially. Bringing AIMS back to the forefront of marine biological research is paramount for Australia’s climate goals. As an environmental scientist and an aspiring engineer, this book provoked a deep sense of inspiration and motivation that before reading felt lost. Definitely recommended.

[Dom Burbidge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just moved to Cairns. Will always see the reef in a different light after reading this. Fantastically honest and candid. It’s hard to read in places, with a feeling of hopelessness, but I hope by me leaving this review more people will read and learn and then ultimately take action.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Hardisty’s book is insightful, educational, and passionate. I learnt so much about the Great Barrier Reef and how so very important it is to fight for its survival. Plus. Just how intransigent climate deniers are despite having hard science presented to them!

[Sharon Gamble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Passion, frustration, hard work, challenges, personality types - history and future of our precious and beautiful blue globe. I also recommend reading “The Forest Wars” by David Lindenmayer.

[Mike Bromell · Rating 5 out of 5]

For fans of the great barrier reef this is definitely worth a read, upsetting to see so much pseudo science having an impact on getting the reef the research and development it so desperately needs.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daunting feeling, scary blue waves carrying stark realities.
Marine heatwaves and associated coral bleaching events are becoming more frequent and severe, and the Reefs natural ability to bounce back (given time and right conditions) might not last forever, data actually proves it's inability to keep up Climate Change is the greatest threat to the long term future of coral reefs, and as we all well know, pressure on the rise. In 1998, an intense El Niño triggered the first recorded mass bleaching on the GBR -all coral reefs worldwide- and even though ENSO cycles are natural, as climate change heat up the oceans, peaks are pushed way furtherer to record levels resulting in many tropical coral species rejecting their algal symbiont, the zooxanthellae that provide the coral with most of their energy and their fascinating colors, and you may not know this -nor did I- but once corals first start to bleach, the expulsion of the symbiont creates a fluorescent display: a hauntingly beautiful cry for help. Hardisty tracks history, first ever scientific expeditions to the GBR aboard with Maurice and Mattie Yonge, the First Nations, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples whose existence prior to calamities, points to an enduring connection to the sea and a deep respect for it, Jaques-Yves Cousteau and his game-changer aqualung, fights for funding, politics and Australian senators completely averse to bad news and future health of reefs, no chance of reaching greenhouse emissions reductions, harbour dredging along QLD coast, all the coal burn, sediment runoff, climate denialists voiced out and heard within Peter Ridd, claiming that all gloom and doom was based on unfounded fear mongering, scientists propelled by their passion, driven by the importance of their doings. An intricate scenario to protect one of the Worlds Heritage Area.
https://www2.gbrmpa.gov.au/learn/reef...