Summary: 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.

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:

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

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is one of Australia’s first and most significant world heritage sites. It is also one of the most ecologically diverse and the largest reef systems worldwide (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2013). Anthropogenic pressure on the GBR dates back to 150 years ago. Land clearing, agriculture, overfishing, poaching of endangered species such as humpback whales and human-induced climate change have posed a serious threat to GBR’s biodiversity in the past and present (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2013). Over the past 30 years, issues relating to water quality and irresponsible poaching and fishing practices have been addressed effectively. The Marine Park Zoning Plan of 2003 and Great Barrier reef water quality protection plan have become the primary management tools for GBR, along with a $375 million grant by the Queensland government to support various policy instruments such as a daily cap on some fish catches, protection zones for endangered species such as dugongs and improved reef monitoring and collaboration wih the local community (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

The Great Barrier Reef is a vast organic structure that has existed longer than man. It has always been present underneath the water surface near the coast of Australia, harboring many different types of sea creatures. Over the past few decades, the reef has slowly been dying. Humans have been negatively affecting it for a while now, although they may not have known it at that time. We, as humans, have the duty to correct our mistake and take responsibility for our actions by doing everything in our power to nourish and tend to the reef. Governments all across the globe have come together to collaborate and discuss what they can do to save the reef from extinction. Many solutions have been talked about and some have been put into place, but the effects of these won’t be seen until a number of years later. We must wait and hope that our ignorance up until this point won’t destroy an iconic landmark before we can try and save it.

Covering over 348,000 square kilometres, the reef is home to the most comprehensive coral ecosystem on the planet and is so large it can actually be observed from space (Australian government). Whilst predominantly being known for its large colourful reefs, is provides a home to a diverse array of marine creatures including 1625 different species of fish, around 600 types

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.

There are 1,625 species of fish, 1,400 coral reef species, more than 3,000 species of molluscs (shells), 630 species of echinoderm (starfish, sea urchins), 14 breeding species of sea snakes, 215 species of birds including 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds, six of the world's seven species of marine turtle, more than 30 species of marine mammals, including the dugong (which looks like a manatee), 133 species of sharks and rays, and much more. These animals are in danger because of the dumping of waste from port expansions and the dredging, cleaning out the bed of an area of water by scooping up debris, that is close to the Great Barrier Reef.

As the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)in Australia is the natural heritage, whose ecosystem is subject to

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

Environmental problems is and has been a big subject during the last couple of years. Global warming is threatening our world and causing damage on the nature and its living being. Michelle Innis in The New York Times, writes an article about how the Great Barrier Reef is threatened by climate change, chemicals and sediment (2016). She describes how the last years have provided evidence of a bleaching reef in Australia and how the behaviors of society and its population is a big factor to it (Innis, 2016). To reduce the problem, the government has set up goals to decrease climate change. However, there seems to be required a lot more to solve the problem.

Marine Park Authority’s conduct an outlook report every five years which examines the Great Barrier Reef’s health, highlighting current and future pressures. This

Easily the most well-known natural World Heritage Site in Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, which is the world’s most extensive coral reef ecosystem, was inscribed with UNESCO in 1981. The site covers approximately 348,000 square kilometers and includes a wide range of depths, comprising of shallow inshore, mid-shelf, and even extending into oceanic waters 2,000 meters deep. The Great Barrier Reef is actually made up of around 2,500 individual reefs, encompassing some 400 different species of coral, which makes for some of the most remarkable underwater scenery in the world. The massive size and varying depths allows for a wide array of ecological habitats and species, making the reef one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet.