How Does Global Warming Affect Australia Bleaching

As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, global warming will increase ocean temperatures and, along with that, the frequency and severity of bleaching events. In 2010, one of the hottest years in recorded human history, reefs bleached throughout the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean and off the coasts of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Without the necessary reduction in the production of emissions, the death of the Great Barrier Reef will result in 6 billion dollars less in the economy and the loss of more than 50,000 jobs, If the oceans' corals were to collapse, the whole food chain will

Coral reefs are found in shallow tropical waters along the shores of islands and continents. Coral bleaching is a topic that gets left in the dust. Not many people really pay attention or show much interest in it. Widespread bleaching, involving major coral reef regions and resulting in mass coral mortality has raised concerns about linkage of the events to global phenomenons including global warming or climate change and increased UV radiation from ozone depletion. Corals provide a lot not just for us humans but for marine life as well. Marine Biology provides information about how bleaching happens and how it affects the coral. Buchheims’ article is full of logos and a few pathos while the other source is full of ethos. In The Nature Conservancy’s director Stephanie Wear provides us with lots of professional opinions

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

Bleached corals have reduced growth rates and have an elevated mortality rate. Coral bleaching also affects species such as fish and invertebrates that depend on living coral for food and shelter. Changes in the population and composition of reef fish occur when the corals they utilized are killed as a result of coral bleaching. Reefs affected by coral bleaching lose the aesthetic appeal that is fundamental to reef tourism. This aspect is highly relevant to the Great Barrier Reef because it is a popular tourist destination. It is estimated that the current bleached state of the Great Barrier Reef will cause Australia a loss of $1 billion in tourist income. Finally, coral reefs can be farmed for pharmaceutical compounds used to treat heart disease and cancer among other diseases. Bleached and dead corals are far less likely to provide these

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

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

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.

Coral reefs are natural formations that host around twenty-five percent of the world’s marine species, however, these reefs are majorly threatened (“Air”). The Great Barrier Reef in particular is an important marine location, home to major marine diversity with over 3,000 reefs over 1,400 miles (“Great” World Book). The Great Barrier Reef is a limestone formation made of coral polyps and algae, and lays off the coast of Queensland, Australia. For many years, this reef has been exposed to several threats. The threats facing the Great Barrier Reef include pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is experiencing bleaching. According to France-Presse, bleaching of a reef is “coral...that has been stressed by the heat” (France-Presse). When a coral has been “stressed by heat,” (France-Presse) the coral discards the algae that lives within itself which causes the coral to be more susceptible to disease. It can take up to several decades for a coral to recover from bleaching. Because of that fact that most coral does not have enough time to recover, it dies.

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

One particularly visible sight that brings climate change to the attention of the public is the series of large tracts of bleached coral on the Great Barrier Reef resulting from unusually warm summers. The Great Barrier Reef is an Australian icon, symbolic of the wealth of Australia's biological diversity. It is the nursery to fishing industries and is visited by thousands of tourists each year, bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into our community. While the high visibility of coral bleaching has made us aware of this impact of climate change we should be equally concerned

Australia's tropical marine ecosystems are already reflecting the consequences of global warming with a 0.4°C rise in the tropical ocean temperatures, including the Great Barrier Reef, over the past 100 years. Further increases in sea temperature will lead to increased coral bleaching and more frequent outbreaks of coral disease.

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 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

Biophysical interactions refer to the ways in which the four spheres, atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere interact with each other, which in turn leads to their diverse ecosystem functioning and the extent and nature to which they operate. The Great Barrier Reef is a diverse underwater marine ecosystem located off the coast of northern Queensland, it stretches 2300km to Fraser Island, has 3 000 different reefs and it is considered the largest living structure on the planet. The biophysical interactions including the dynamics of weather and climate, geomorphic and hydrological process biogeographical processes and the adjustments in response to natural stress all lead to the diversity and functioning of the Great Barrier Reef