The Effects Of The Great Barrier Reef

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:

The Great Barrier Reef is rather sizeable; it stretches over 2,600 kilometers which means it is roughly half the size of Texas. It is so large it can even be seen from outer space. Also the reef its self is made up of about 2,900 individual

Recently, an online story about The Great Barrier Reef or the GBR went viral and caused much debate and outrage among scientists and the general public. The article stated that the Great Barrier Reef was dead. The Great Barrier Reef is located off the coast of Australia and is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is home to unique plant and marine life and supports humans, economically through tourism and fishing. The Great Barrier Reef is endangered, but not yet extinct due to changes in the environment that are both natural and man-made, but the most significant cause is the warming of water temperatures that led to the loss of protective algae or coral bleaching.

The Great Barrier Reef, it has a length of 1,600 miles (2,600 km) and covers 133,000 square miles (344,400 sq. km). The Great Barrier Reef is the largest structure in the world created by living organisms. It supports a wide diversity of life, this includes fish, whales, dolphins, sea turtles and many more. This is the same reason why reef corals exist, also known as the “rainforest of the ocean”.

Climate change is a main concern throughout the world. When referring to climate change people think of a change in climate patterns that can not be reversed once started. The Great Barrier Reef is one that is greatly affected by climate change. Reefs can be hurt easily by this major effect that is taking place on the Earth. According to one article climate change will effect coral reefs so bad that it will take them to a their tipping point and they won’t be able to make a turn around (O. Hoegh-Guldberg, et al).

The increasing population of the Crown of Thorn’s starfish (COTS) is currently a hot topic, especially with regards to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef. The COTS feeds on the living coral using its hundreds of sucking tubes within its arms, and its eating habits are not sustainable and too much coral is being consumed. This is a major contributor of the decline in coral cover at the Great Barrier Reef (Lucas, 2013). This is one of the main causes of coral cover decline along with cyclones, pollutant discharge from the land, coastal development and climate change affects. (The conservation 2012).

According to “Great Barrier Reef Is Imperiled, Much of It Dying or Dead”, published March, 16, 2017, Australia’s coral reefs were believed to be under tremendous danger; however, scientific evidence has now solidified that prediction. Over three-fourths of the reefs off the coast are dead despite the slim chance of recovery. This event has impacted not only the ecosystem, but society and researchers as well.

Apart from the threat of the mining industry the Great Barrier Reef is also threatened by the increasing water pollution through plantations and farms in Queensland due to a great use of fertilizers. The waste water that incur on these plantations are often flushed into the sea or get disposed there and therefore these waste waters have a direct impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Besides many toxins that are harmful for the inhabitants of the reefs and the corals the nutrients of the fertilizers enhance the growth of plankton and various species of algae which in turn increase the propagation of the crown-of-thorns starfish, which cause enormous damage in the reefs.1

In conclusion, The Great Barrier Reef will never be the same again. If coral bleaching keeps going on in the reef , the reef could die, and the world would lose one of the seven natural wonders of the world. So if the people of the world don’t want to lose one of seven natural wonders people have to try to save the reef from the coral bleaching, and get the reef back to its healthy

The article The 27–year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of coral cover, identifies the main drivers of coral mortality, and quantifies the potential rates of recovery for the Great Barrier Reef. Authors Glenn De’ath, Katharina Fabricius, Hugh Sweatman and Marji Puotinen express concern about the continued degradation of the ocean’s coral reefs. The question the authors are interested in answering is what is cause the degradation of the reefs. They explore the effects on the reefs from things such as coral predation by crown-of-thorns starfish, tropical cyclones and coral bleaching. One popular idea is that whole reefs have been destroyed by the crown-of-thorns starfish. The starfish is known to prey on coral and digest the surface of its living tissue from the coral skeletons. These skeletons are essential for reef integrity alongside with the mass of coralline algae. Tropical cyclones serve as another disturbance for the reefs. Studies show that coral breakage increases with maximum cyclone wind both inshore and offshore. On average about 5% of corals are broken on reefs at “22 cm s-1 winds”, while 50% are broken at the reefs with strongest winds (Fabricius, 2010). Coral bleaching is defined as the loss of intracellular endosymbionts from reefs coral through either way of expulsion and or loss of algal pigmentation. Bleaching happens when conditions necessary for sustaining coral 's

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. It stretches to 2300km which means it can be seen from outer space. It provides a home for a huge number of plants and animals. Some of these include turtles, crocodiles and algae. The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 2900 reefs and 900 islands.

The Great Barrier Reef is a coral reef that covers 23000 kilometers making it the largest in the world. It is made up of living organisms.

The Great Barrier Reef is the most substantial living structure on Earth; this complex aquatic system houses around 1,500 different species of fish. Coral polyps living in the GBR released their algae as water approached 88°F, resulting in the coral becoming white. These vast bleaching events are becoming increasingly critical, lasting longer, and are occurring closer together; this is undoubtedly tied to climate change. This bleaching process is typically due to pollutants, an overabundance of sunlight, or very hot waters driving corals to eject algae. This process doesn't kill corals instantly. In fact, if conditions improve, algae can re-colonize corals and recoup. Without the algae (the coral’s main source of food), however, corals become

Located in off the coast in Queensland, Australia, it is home to more than thousand single living organisms. According to the ARC Centre of Excellence, 93% of the reef is affected by bleaching that can lead to extinction. Bleaching is an result that happens from changes in temperature, light or nutrients. While it’s not past recovery, Scientist believes that many people believe it is. Professor John Pandolfi from the ARC center believes"It is critically important now to bolster the resilience of the reef, and to maximize its natural capacity to recover." As if the Great Barrier Reef is not just another head scratcher. Pollution that has other negative affects also creates Carbon Dioxide. A Significant amount of Carbon Dioxide Carbon increases the n increases the consumption of pH levels and kills the top levels of marine food

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living coral reef that has the most diverse marine ecosystem expanding thousands of kilometers across Queensland coast. It has been identified that climate change is one of the greatest threats towards the coral reef, due to a sudden change of ocean temperature (reference). The coral reef is a sensitive ecosystem that is very important in the marine ecosystem because they provide homes to many marine organisms and nursery grounds for the diversity of fish. However, they are significantly impacted.(Bauer, 2018). These corals are manufactured by calcium carbonate containing photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, which live in their tissues. Zooxanthellae are known to give coral their unique colors.