Coral Bleaching: Saving The Great Barrier Reef

The Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world, and it is located in Australia. It is made up of different types of coral and fish, but sadly the reef is bleaching. Bleaching is the process of water temperatures getting too warm and as a result coral reefs can bleach. When water gets too warm, corals will get rid of the algae living inside their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. Although, when coral reefs turn white this does not mean that they are dead, coral reefs can actually survive a bleaching event. It just means that the coral is under a lot of stress and

In the past two years, the bleachings of 2016 and 2017 have hit the Great Barrier Reef, and once again they have done horrific damage. Kerry states that the constant bleaching is concerning for two reasons: the 12 month gap between the two bleachings is too short for any coral recovery and last years bleaching was most severe in the northern part of the reef. Kerry states that last year, the temperature peak in March causes 67% of the corals to die in a 700 km section in the northern part of the Barrier Reef. This is the greatest loss of corals ever recorded in history and it’s still too early to tell if the corals will make it after this years bleaching. Kerry goes on to say that most of the bleached corals in the southern part of the reef have regained their color, meaning they thankfully survived. Kerry goes on to say there are four huge factors in the geographic patterns of the bleachings. He then goes on to give the reasons for the south surviving. To sum them up, it’s simply because the sea temperatures were close to normal during the bleachings of 2016 and 2017 in the south, the rainfall from El Nino coincided with the heat waves in 2016, and two local weather events saved the south from bleaching. Kerry closes the article by concluding that the bleachings from this year and last year will continue to unfold in the coming

Global warming has been on the world’s radar for many years. For Australia and our world heritage site, the rising sea temperatures in the last three decades have seriously affected the Great Barrier Reef in many ways, the most concerning of which being coral bleaching. This incredibly beautiful but fragile underwater world is also

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.

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 article, Warming Bleaches Two-Thirds of Great Barrier Reef , talks about how Coral reef ecosystems around the world are threatened by human and climate change. The waters of the ocean are raising due to global warming, in turn

The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching at a significantly alarming rate. As scientists figured out it is contributed by three main perpetrators. The main culprit of the bleaching of the bleaching of the reefs is record warming water. This has been linked to El Niño and global warming. Next, acidification of the ocean from mainly human causes. Finally, fishing impacts have hurt the barrier a great deal. The northern part of Australia is bleaching much more rapidly than the south. The reef brings in a lot of tourism and money for Australia and losing it would also mean losing a lot of jobs for people as well. Scientists have noticed through the bleaching some coral species have survived and

When people think of bleaching they might think about bleaching their hair which is damaging if repeated often or perhaps accidentally spilling bleach on a shirt and ruining it. But there is another type of bleaching that a lot of people don’t know about, and that’s coral bleaching. It affects a large majority of the Great Barrier Reef which is a primitive host of living things. The Great Barrier Reef is desperate for attention and it’s up to us to try and save it and prevent more damage from being done.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. According to Lewis (2016), it covers more than 300,000 square kilometers and has more than 3,000 reefs, 600 islands, and 300 coral cays. (Immediate response on social media section, para. 4). Because of high sea temperatures, the algae on the coral become stressed and release from the coral, which causes coral bleaching. As the coral reef is normally bright with color, the bleaching has caused the coral to become dull and lifeless. The marine life use this coral for shelter and food. Without the live coral reefs, the fish are dying of illness, variety of species are disappearing, and economy businesses are not productive.

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.

Pollution is a major threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Not only does it slow down coral growth and reproduction, but also lowers water quality and

Global warming and climate change is the biggest threat the reef is having to face. Global warming is an effect of pollution caused by humans. Rapid urban development causes an increase ic carbon emissions which leads to an increase in greenhouse gases. A build-up of these gases cause temperatures to rise which will also increase the ocean temperature. This will have a negative affect on coral and put them under stress because they need a stable climate to thrive. During times of stress algae called zooxanthellae (gives coral vibrant colors) is expelled leaving the coral bleached white. This is called coral bleaching (Smithsonian). There have been two mass coral bleaching events in 1998 and 2002 (Great Barrier Reef). But, scientists anounce that these events aren’t over with yet. In fact, they will start to become more common with the rise of oean temperatures. Scientists are predicting that the biggest coral bleaching event yet will take place in the next few months (Smithsonian). Pollution and waste are also big factors in the decline of the reef. Not only do they affect the Great Barrier Reef, but many other ecosystems as well. Eight percent of the coastline along the Great Barrier Reef is used for cattle grazing or crop growing. Fertilisers, pesticides, and animal waste are all things that farms either use or produce and

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest and diverse coral ecosystem, and is home to a variety of organisms (Commonwealth of Australia 2016a). However due to environmental and anthropogenic events including climate change, pollution, poor fishing practices, mining and industrialisation (World Wildlife Fund 2016) the GBR is under threat of coral bleaching, eventually causing significant destruction to the ecosystem (Australian Marine Conservation Society 2016). There are numerous sustainability projects to improve the health of the reef including Reef Alliance-Growing a Great Barrier Reef, which is a partnered project of the Reef Trust Sustainability Project Phase Three. This scheme has been implemented to reduce the runoff of pollutants

Over the past year, 12 percent of the oceans reefs have become bleached due to ocean acidification. Ocean acidification and in turn coral bleaching, is due to carbon pollution causing global warming, this makes the oceans warmer, thus making them more acidic. Coral reefs and shellfish cannot survive these levels of acid in the water. In particular the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, is suffering from this bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef has been declining in recent years due to this acidification, however, as of recently it has come knocking on death 's door. Carbon levels started rising about 200 years ago during the industrial revolution, because the machines invented started pumping carbon dioxide

Unfortunately, the most diverse ecosystem on the planet has been ravaged by the effects of climate change. Record breaking levels of coral bleaching continue to deteriorate the Great Barrier Reef due to pesticides and nutrients flowing into the water