The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest living ecosystem in the world. It is located off the coast of Queensland in north-eastern Australia, 16.4473° S, 145.8173° E, and has a surface area of about 344,400 km². The Great Barrier Reef is named one of the seven natural wonders of the world and named as a world heritage site. It is home to more than 1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral, more than 30 species of marine mammals and six of the seven species of threatened turtles. However, 90% of corals have been bleached in the GBR due to climate change and UNESCO may put The Great Barrier Reef in the ‘endangered’ list. Carbon dioxide and methane gas levels are the highest they have ever been for the past 420 000 years. These two gases, together with water vapour, nitrous oxide and halocarbons, make up the five predominant greenhouse gases. Climate is caused when fossil fuels, like coal, …show more content…
Mangrove and saltmarsh ecosystems are vital to the biological productivity and food webs of coastal waters and provide critical nursery areas for many fish and crustaceans, including commercially and recreationally important species. Land inundation may not have a direct impact on Australians but it will definitely put a strain on the Australian economy since the GBR is a huge tourist attraction and is worth $6.9 billion annually. Although the life of the Great Barrier Reef has major impact on Australians, we are still contributing to climate change by polluting water with oils spills and toxins, dumping waste like plastic bags and bottles on the ground which end up flying to the seas, agriculture because of pesticides and chemicals being brought into the country, outdated fishing methods and resources and coastal
In summary, in order to save the future of the Barrier Reef “we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and we need to make policies to protect the Barrier Reef. We also need shift away from power sources like different coal products.” The products that most people are using to this day pollute the air and slowly and slowly and damage the different types of reefs around the world; and we need to switch to renewable energy, because it is not as harsh to the environment as other products. If we do this we can save the Future of the Barrier Reef, Fringing reef, and the Atoll reef and all of the other reefs around the world.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most beloved regions of the world but due to recent human activity in surrounding areas and subsequent sediment delivery, coral and seagrass habits within are being negatively impacted. Extending 2000km along the North-eastern Australian coast (Brodie et al., 2007), the Great Barrier Reef is a major source of income for Northern Australia and fuels the growth of local businesses. As industrialization in areas adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon have increased since European settlement (McCulloch et al., 2003), the need for more resources to compensate for human population has led to harmful land practices such as overstocking and deforestation for cattle grazing inland. These are causing a significant
While government officials looked the other way, half of the coral has disappeared from along the length of the Great Barrier Reef. Additionally, vast areas of the reef’s coral have suffered serious degradation. It isn’t surprising that the area’s unique level of biodiversity is being threatened by the damage as well.
According to Dr Marji Puotinen from the University of Wollongong “cyclones were estimated to cause approximately 48% of the decline in coral cover”. However, Cyclones can be seen as being beneficial in the progression of reefs. Cyclone Larry (2006) aided the restoration and functioning of the reef as it lowered water temperatures and reduced the amount of coral bleaching that was
The Great Barrier Reef is an iconic Australian landscape, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1981, being the world’s largest living organism and being one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
One environmental issues posted on the facebook group on Ecologically Conscious Social is climate change’s effect impacts on Great Barrier Reef where is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. Great Barrier Reef is located in Queensland, Australia.
Because the GBR is such a highly visited tourist attraction for snorkeling and diving, there has been a large number of human structures that have been built in natural areas. Every five years, the Australian government publishes an Outlook Report that examines the Great Barrier Reef’s health, pressures, and likely future. “The report is required under Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 (section 54) and aims to provide a regular and reliable means of assessing reef health and management in an accountable and transparent way.” The report shows the actions that have been taken since 2009, including the focus on improving the quality of water that runs off the land. The increased freshwater run-off is in direct relation to the coastal development that has occurred since the major bleaching events have begun. The report released in 2009, states that the greatest risks to the Reef are still climate change, land-based runoff, coastal development, and some remaining impacts of fishing and illegal fishing and poaching. The report points out climate change as being the main cause of the destruction or bleaching of the reef (Department of Environment and Energy 2017). Most observers conclude that the climate change is a direct result of human
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. It is located in Queensland and stretches 2,300 km along the coast, covering 348,000 km2. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority was established in 1975 in order to sustainably manage the natural heritage for future generations.
The Great Barrier Reef is an oceanic/costal ecosystem off the coastline of Port Douglas, Australia. There are man costal systems that are significant to the role of the Reef including coral reefs, wetlands, and rainforests etc. The reef consists of many diverse corals and is a home for over 1,500 different species of fish. The reef is unique for many distinctive reasons; a reason that is unique is that it is acknowledged as one of the most imperative biological possessions. The Reef is a complex ecosystem with numerous organisms trusting on each other for nourishment and endurance. Broadly all collections of maritime plants and animals are extravagantly signified in the Reef. The animals range from dugongs
One environmental issues posted on the Facebook group on Ecologically Conscious Social is climate change’s effect impacts on the Great Barrier Reef where is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. The Great Barrier Reef is located in Queensland, state of Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is a huge, complex ecosystem located off the east coast of northern Queensland and is considered as an ecosystem at risk. It stretches approximately 2300km from Papua New Guinea’s Fly River in the north (8⁰S) to Fraser Island in the south (24⁰S) and has become the largest World Heritage site in the world. It has 1500 of the worlds 13 000 fish species in it area, 200 bird species, 5oo species of seaweed, 600 species of echinoderm, 125 species of shark and ray and around 360 species of hard coral.
Since the beginning of time man has shown a desire to alter his physical surroundings based on his perception of inequalities, injustices, survival or even due to his own innovations. Perhaps it stems from the primal instinct to survive and along with that a common theme behind this desire seems to be an effort to make the world a better place, either more aesthetically pleasing, or easier to survive in. Technological advances for human survival and comfort may come at the expense of animals, climate, air, land and sea. Human ignorance often leads to the natural wonders of our world being destroyed due to these technological advances and human arrogance. Humans have wiped out many species that they come in contact with and almost destroyed other natural environments and ecosystems. Along the northeast coast of Australia is a cluster of reefs known as the Great Barrier Reef, the most diverse underwater phenomenon in our world. This natural wonder is not being cared for and everyone needs to take responsibility for what is happening to this reef, especially in adjacent locations and help in as many ways as possible. The Australian Government is responsible for the protection of the natural resources within their country. They need to act as the main spokesperson for the Great Barrier Reef. The government needs to be more proactive because if nothing is done the Great Barrier Reef will no longer exist. Even though it is not just the Australian Government that is to blame for
Coral reefs around the world are in danger. One of the causes is global warming, which has been increasing the temperature of the ocean water resulting in coral bleaching. This essay will focus on damage occurring to the Great Barrier Reef.
Climate change creates significant impacts in the Australian context: in considering sea level rise is one of the most critical condition and as per the IPCC report, in 2100 it will increase by79 centimeters (Department of climate change, 2009). Further, it enhances natural hazards affect on the coastal region as flood, inundation, erosion, and storm surges, which will be a significant threat to the coastal community (Button et al.2013). In addition, sea level rise causes a significant change to beaches, coral reefs, estuaries, wetlands and low-lying islands.
The Great Barrier Reef is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is believed to be one of the most incredible places on this earth. This reef is the largest living organism on this planet and the only living thing on earth visible from space (2011). The warm waters of the southwest Pacific Ocean are the perfect environments to create the world's largest system of coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef is in such pristine condition that it was listed by the World Heritage Trust as a protected site and is therefore, managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure that its beauty is maintained for many travelers and sightseers (Edgar 2010). Due to the complexity of this natural phenomenon, human practices have led