Environmental Impact On Coral Bleaching

Corals build colonies that secrete calcium carbonate to form ocean reefs. When they're healthy, coral reefs provide shelter and food for animals all along the food chain, including the top: us. Across the planet, half a billion people rely, directly and indirectly, on corals for their living. That's why what happens to the 9,000-year-old Great Barrier Reef, as well as to other reefs worldwide, is critical. The floods in Queensland have hurt the Great Barrier Reef by funnelling into the ocean vast plumes of freshwater and agricultural runoff that could severely damage the coral. Besides the extreme rain that sparked the floods, rising ocean temperatures, changes to the ocean's chemistry and the global trade in natural resources — all symptoms of our fossil-fuel economy — are waging a multiform war on the marine

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

Many issues have contributed to the Great Barrier Reef’s decline. The majority of these issues are human caused. This makes the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef so much more disappointing. The Great Barrier Reef is basically dying off. The amount of coral dying is increasing at an alarming rate. An issue that has contributed the most is Global Warming (Board). A journal called Nature stated,

For over 25 million years, the Great Barrier Reef has lived off of the northeastern coast of Australia. The first human civilizations started around 5,000 years ago and industrialization of humans about 200 years ago (History of Humans, 2016). The human race’s timeline is just a small fraction in comparison to the reefs, but somehow humanity has managed completely derail mother nature in an incomprehensible amount of ways. Healthwise, the Great Barrier Reef is in the worst shape of its life and which just so happens to match ever so nicely with the rapid pandemic of global warming that has increased over the past couple of decades. The rise in air temperature is gradually increasing the ocean 's temperature as well which is causing colossal damage to Great Barrier Reef and reefs across the globe. If we do not take action immediately in reducing our planet’s rising temperature and ever increasing CO2, it will soon be too late to save this natural wonder as well as the countless organism that call it home.

The Great Barrier Reef is slowly dying sometimes because of humans. The species of animals and plants and in danger. Some of the factors that are causing it to die can’t be stopped like natural disasters. But the pollution can be prevented. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest reef in the world and we need to protect it from dying

When thinking of oceans, people imagine the only living things that are in the waters are fish and small organisms. But there is much more some individuals may not know. Some shallow and deep oceans are home to coral. These groups of coral are classified as marine invertebrates. They breathe and consume microscopic animals called zooplankton. Coral reefs receive their energy from the sunlight, they turn it sugars for their energy. The marine invertebrates are living things that are a vital part of the ocean and human beings. Saldy these communities are in major trouble

The researchers from the Australian universities has identified genes that allow some algae living in corals to tolerate higher ocean temperatures than others. The problem of coral bleaching is becoming more urgent throughout the world, so Australian scientists decided to study it on a genetical level. The genes could act as markers to understand the risk of coral bleaching in different areas of tropical reefs including the Great Barrier Reef.

Big chunks of the Great Barrier Reef are dying and it is causing a big impact in Australia. For example, Australia gets billions of dollars for tourism per year, but if the reefs keep on dying the economy will be affected. Since Australia is the largest coal exporter, the last thing that they don’t want to do is make the situation worse. Also, scientist warned that if they keep on burning fossil fuels, it will expose greenhouse gases, causing the ocean to warm. Whenever the water is two or three degrees Fahrenheit of too much warming can sometimes kill the reefs. Fish sometimes use coral reefs as protection from predators.. Many people get their protein from reef fish, but with the loss of that food source it could become a humanitarian problem.

The Great Barrier Reef is Australia’s natural gifts. The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef. The Reef is located off the coast of Queensland. It is the largest living thing on Earth and even visible from outer space. The area is 348,000 km² and considered a one of the world’s heritage sites. Thousands of reefs and hundreds of islands made of over 600 types of hard and soft coral. It's home to countless species of colourful fish, molluscs and marine animals (starfish, dolphins, turtles etc.). The Great Barrier Reef is a large tourist attraction of Australia and is important to some cultures such as aboriginals. It reaches from Torres Strait to the north of Lady Elliot Island. The Australian and Queensland governments are

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

Many people have gone scuba diving at some point in their lifetime, even going out to some of the world's most famous and beautiful coral reefs such as the Great Barrier reef or the Belize Barrier reef. But doing so does more harm than good, adding on to reasons for their decline. When doing recreational activities like these many touch coral reefs which can devastate and eventually kill an entire colony. In addition, when any type of boat is above a coral reef the harm done can be monumental, as boat groundings and damage from anchors can cause the breaking of the coral reefs, scraping, and there is always the potential for a accidental oil spill which can permanently kill coral reefs. Furthermore, coral reefs are being over exploited for a number of reasons. Coral mining is used to obtain coral to sell as jewelry, medicine, and some construction materials. But the methods for removing coral are disastrous as they use mining blasts which could lead to a coral reefs death. In addition, our own fishing markets are over fishing and have used incredibly harmful ways to catch the most fish in one go possible. This has the same effects as coral mining because the coral reefs have the potential to deteriorate, taking an incredibly long time to regenerate, or even cause its death. Although, coral reefs have been most gravely impacted by pollution and the detrimental effects of global warming. Due to a rise in ocean pollution, coral reefs can be impacted in a number of ways. One being the fact that it can cause disease to appear on the coral, but also lengthen the reproduction of coral. Due to plastics large numbers with in the ocean it can also cause the death of numerous marine organisms and other reef species. Furthermore, coral reefs are greatly impacted by climate change, which is

The reef is dying and there are ways to prevent that from happening. If all countries lower their pollution rate by just a little then it will do wonders in the process of saving the Great Barrier Reef. In order to clarify, “Professor Marshall knows that measuring the health of the coral is not going to immediately stop its bleaching. The facts indicate that to have a real chance of saving the world's reefs, countries around the world must decide to do something about humankind's acceleration of global warming” (Cox 7). If all we do about the Great Barrier Reef problem is try and fix the mistakes that have already been made then it will be very hard for the reef to flourish once again. What needs to be done is fix the mistakes that haven’t been made yet. It’s not too late to recycle more or pollute less. There is a way we can reverse the coral bleaching process. After all, “Gates believes corals can make a comeback. She has discovered that some corals seem to withstand bleaching events better than others. Gates and her team are working on breeding these hardier corals, which could be implanted into dying reefs in the future. They're also introducing corals to warmer temperatures in their lab to see if they can adapt” (Barth,18). If they are able to successfully implant these hardier corals throughout the dying reef then that could be able to get most of the reef back to where it once was. If the corals are able to adapt to warmer temperatures then they will be able to withstand global warming. Once we are able to make corals adapt and reverse the bleaching process then

Even though most of the coral reefs are dying, there are still many things that we can do to preserve the rest of them, and all of the animals that live with them. One thing is that people could help reduce global warming by walking or riding a bike. The fuel emissions that are released into the air, are causing the air to warm up. This is causing the ocean temperatures to rise slowly. This is bad because when there are warm waters algae starts to disappear. The algae is what gives the coral most of its color, so when it is gone the coral is under a lot of stress, and all

Across the world’s beautiful oceans, there is a vast and marvelous selection of coral reefs all of which house copious species of coral. Many of these coral are the key element in a marine ecosystem by providing food, shelter and protection for the underwater community. However, this ecosystem is threatened due to the events of coral bleaching, as this event kills the coral and the creatures dependent on them. Without coral, these creatures will become more vulnerable and may be at risk of endangerment or extinction. Bleaching doesn’t just affect the ecosystem it can also cause a lot of damage to local towns and tourist points whose livelihoods depend on their beautiful reefs. Some have already taken action to help prevent bleaching, but what should we do? What can we do to prevent this phenomenon before it’s too late?

Corals are greatly complex organisms that help buffer the ocean and provided an ecosystem for many other marine organisms but the coral and therefore these ecosystems are in immense threat. The decrease of coral cover is increasing with a 50% decrease seen from the years 1985-2012 (1). This is not just due to the natural threats of predators like COTS and large scale weather events like cyclones but also due to human activities such as overfishing, pollution, disturbance in the reef and global warming. The bleaching of coral due to natural activities can be hard to control but the negative effects caused by human activities can be. Although if the reefs have any hope of recovery drastic actions needs to be taken to reduce carbon emissions, and to control policing and protection of these areas.