Environmental Issues Of Great Barrier Reef

A major stakeholder in the Great Barrier Reef is UNESCO – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO is in charge of the World Heritage List, a selection of sites across the world which are considered of “outstanding universal value” and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. This list includes such wonders as the Silk Roads in China, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in France, the Pyrenees in Spain, Stonehenge, and the Great Barrier Reef.

The 2,300 km Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world's largest protected reef system.

How the Australian Great Barrier Reef Succeeds at Preservation and Sustainable Use and How it Applies to a Worldwide Problem

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 under threat due to many human impacts and natural impacts. These impacts lead to other consequences that may harm our society as well. For example, if the Great Barrier Reef was to be damaged by pollution, tourism levels would decrease, which can lead to a drop in the economic stance of Australia. For these reasons, it is important to keep our ecosystems safe and protected. Some of the human impacts towards the Great Barrier Reef include:

Accordingly, environmental conservation groups estimated that the amount of CO2 emissions is around 130 million tonnes per year and this amount is accounted for about 25 percent of the total emissions of Australia. Furthermore, environmentalists suggested that emissions from burning of coal and coal mine processing are substantially contributing to the increase of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere that results in the global warming. Importantly, the effects of climate change will have a great significance of impacts on the Great Barrier Reef.

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.

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

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,

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.

Economic development is mostly compatible with maintaining the long-term biodiversity and ecosystem functions of the Great Barrier Reef as shown by its economic contribution. In north-east Queensland

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

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.

The UNESCO World Heritage meet once a year to discuss the preserve the world heritage sites. In July 2015 they decided not to put the Great Barrier Reef on the ‘in danger’ list. The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan (Reef 20500 Plan). The

Great Barrier Reef. Australia has adopted EBM to protect its coral reefs. As well it uses EBM to regulate the fish populations. It has gone further than any other country in enshrining EBM principles into law (McShane, Broadhurst, and Williams, 2007). The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is one of the great natural heritage sights not just in Australia but in the world. It is taking the right approach in protecting this great natural wonder. Olsson, Folke, and Hughes, (2008) reported, “The transformation process was induced by increased pressure on the Great Barrier Reef from terrestrial runoff, over-harvesting, and global warming that triggered a new sense of urgency to address these challenges”. It is unfortunate that change did not occur until the danger to the reef reached a critical status, but the Australian government moved fast and the reef is in much better shape now.