Using the Great Barrier Reef as their study case, they estimated the evolution of the region over the last 14,000 years and
showed that (1) high sediment loads from catchments erosion prevented
coral growth during the early phase of
sea level rise and favoured
deep offshore sediment deposition; (2) how the fine balance between climate,
sea level, and margin physiography enabled
coral reefs to thrive under limited shelf sedimentation rates at 6,000 years before present; and, (3) how over the last 3,000 years, the decrease of accommodation space led to the lateral extension of
coral reefs consistent with available observational data.
In my briefings to the Association of Small Island States in Bali, the 41 Island Nations of the Caribbean, Pacific, and Indian Ocean (and later circulated to all member states), I pointed out that IPCC had seriously and systematically UNDERESTIMATED the extent of climate change,
showing that the sensitivity of temperature and
sea level to CO2 clearly
shown by the past climate record in
coral reefs, ice cores, and
deep sea sediments is orders of magnitude higher than IPCC's models.
1966 Emiliani's analysis of
deep -
sea cores and Broecker's analysis of ancient
corals show that the timing of ice ages was set by small orbital shifts, suggesting that the climate system is sensitive to small changes.