The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the world. It extends more than 1,300 miles through the coral sea off northeastern Australia and it is even visible from outer space. It is also home to more than 400 types of coral and 1,500 species such as the tropical fish, birds, dolphins, and reptiles. The reef is not only home to the coral but it is also breeding ground for humpback whales and a habitat for endangered species. The Great Barrier Reef was listed as a protected site by the World Heritage Trust in 1981 to help maintain it’s beauty allowing for tourists to keep wanting to visit, which greatly affects the economy in Australia and more specifically to keep the marine life alive. However, the reef is undergoing huge …show more content…
Coral bleaching is the next threat that the reef is facing due to climate changes in the water.
There are several things people are doing to stop this from continuing like joining groups to help save the reef by educating people about the destruction of the coral reef. They are encouraging the government to put more emphasis on pollution, into the ocean and in the air. They even build artificial reefs to replace the damaged ones. In the following pages I will be going more in depth on how the destruction of the Great Barrier is affecting us as humans, how climate changes is affecting it, and how ocean acidification is destroying it.
The destruction of the coral has an impact on the tourism industry. Corals are the main attraction to national parks and if they are destroyed tourism will go down. Tourism is the one of the main things that give profit to the countries who use it as a source of revenue. In 2005-2006 the Great Barrier Reef had an income of 22.716 million dollars, which was less than what it had 2004-2005 by about 1.259 million dollars. If the coral reef becomes extinct, the money and jobs
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:
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
Many people travel out to snorkel, go on glass bottom boats and do helicopter flights over the Reef. All of these things pour money into our economy. My evidence to support this, The reef contributed $6.4 billion to the national economy in 2015-16. That means for every $200 of wealth created in Australia, $1 is generated by The Great Barrier Reef (Huffington Post Australia, 2018). The Great Barrier Reef provides many jobs and holiday experiences, it would be such a shame to let our beautiful reef keep getting bleached, only you can change your actions, so maybe think next time your using electricity, how is that electricity being generated?
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.
What if all the coral reefs of the world vanished or died? According to Karen Kirkpatrick of How Stuff Works, if the coral reefs of the world vanished completely, experts have predicted that hunger, poverty and political instability would occur as the livelihoods of up to 500 million people and the livelihoods of some entire countries would disappear (Kirkpatrick). Recently, an online story by Outside magazine said The Great Barrier Reef or the GBR was dead. This article went viral and caused much debate and outrage among scientists and the general public. 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
Australia has set aside about one-third of the reef complex as a marine protected area in which all extractive activities are banned. Overfishing and other destructive practices have been halted, but other problems still threaten the reef. Warm water has been causing bleaching (For reasons we don’t fully understand, when they’re stressed by warm water or other factors, the corals expel their algae symbionts. If the bleaching is too severe, the corals die). In recent years, bleaching incidents have become increasingly widespread and severe. In 2002, between 65 and 90 percent of the corals within the 284,000 km2 of the Great Barrier Reef showed signs of bleaching. Global warming can only make this situation worse. Another serious concern is that the increased CO2 concentrations are making ocean water more acidic, which interferes with the coral’s ability to create the calcium carbonate exoskeletons that create the reef. Some marine biologists warn that if current trends continue, all the coral could be dead within the next 50 years.
Irreversible destruction is occurring to our coral reef system. The majority of this destruction is caused by the human race. It is important that the people of the world come together to determine how to keep our precious resources in tact for future generations.
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
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.
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. According to Lewis (2016), it covers more than 300,000 square kilometers and has more than 3,000 reefs, 600 islands, and 300 coral cays. (Immediate response on social media section, para. 4). Because of high sea temperatures, the algae on the coral become stressed and release from the coral, which causes coral bleaching. As the coral reef is normally bright with color, the bleaching has caused the coral to become dull and lifeless. The marine life use this coral for shelter and food. Without the live coral reefs, the fish are dying of illness, variety of species are disappearing, and economy businesses are not productive.
Barrier reefs are defined as, a coral reef running parallel to the shore but separated from it by a channel of deep water ("About The Reef“). These reefs are all over the world and are some of the most beautiful sites to see. In fact, one of the seven wonders of the natural world is a barrier reef. The Great Barrier Reef is in Australia off the Queensland coast ("About The Reef“). The reef stretches around 1,800 miles down the Queensland coast, and can get to 40 miles wide ("About The Reef“). The Great Barrier Reef is home to many animals including: 1,500 species of fish, 200 types of birds, and 20 different types of reptiles ("About The Reef “). The amount of life that lives in these waters just add to the amazement of the Great Barrier Reef. Many people go to this reef for many different reasons. People go to see the amazing coral reefs, humpback whale breeding, and many endangered species ("About The Reef”). Although there are so many beautiful aspects of the Great Barrier Reef, there are many things that make it a Not-so Great Barrier Reef.
There are many things that the Great Barrier Reef contributes to society environmentally that we overlook and take for granted every day. One example is tourism. As stated in Skwirk, “It is estimated that each year about two million visitors travel through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Most of the tourism, about 85 percent, is focused around Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands.” There are many people that go to the reef every year to explore and witness the wonders of it. This develops into many positive
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.
Brightly colored reefs, and a variety of creatures swarm over the Great Barrier. The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system! The Great Barrier Reef has been around for an extremely long time, and it has thrived for thousands of years. Sadly, scientists have noticed that as of lately, this beautiful reef is in fact dying. Scientists have been studying the main contributors to this decline, and have been proficient in examining the smaller details. They have also been studying how the dying of this reef is not only affecting ocean ecosystems and organisms, but it has the potential to also greatly affect a part of our world’s population.
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