Recent scientific work sponsored by the Spanish government on the subject of sea level rise and higher ocean acidification, both resulting from increasing green-house gas levels in the atmosphere, has been summarised as: "Very worrying indeed because the oceans are so important in capturing atmospheric carbon and providing natural thermo-regulation of our planet".

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven wonders of the world, contributes at least $7 billion to our annual economy and provides about 69,000 jobs. Global warming and ocean acidification puts all this at risk.

This is only a small part of the 'story' of man-made global warming.

Within our oceans lies a solid form of methane (called clathrate) which will respond to increased ocean temperature and acidity by releasing the gas methane into the atmosphere.

Methane is a far more potent green-house gas than is carbon-dioxide, so the release of increasing amounts of methane gas will fuel catastrophic run-away global warming.

This then will be the outcome of 'business as usual' as dictated by Tony Abbott.

There is now no carbon tax and, more alarmingly, there is no creditable, serious and effective replacement carbon-emission reduction policy.

The increasing severity of global warming in coming decades will combine with Mr Abbott's lack of vision for Australia, to ultimately unleash far more damage to our economy than what might have been.

Bipartisan acceptance of the inevitable impact of global warming and an immediate unified transition to a modern clean economy is the best and only way forward.