Great Barrier Reef Death

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:

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

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.

Since the beginning of time man has shown a desire to alter his physical surroundings based on his perception of inequalities, injustices, survival or even due to his own innovations. Perhaps it stems from the primal instinct to survive and along with that a common theme behind this desire seems to be an effort to make the world a better place, either more aesthetically pleasing, or easier to survive in. Technological advances for human survival and comfort may come at the expense of animals, climate, air, land and sea. Human ignorance often leads to the natural wonders of our world being destroyed due to these technological advances and human arrogance. Humans have wiped out many species that they come in contact with and almost destroyed other natural environments and ecosystems. Along the northeast coast of Australia is a cluster of reefs known as the Great Barrier Reef, the most diverse underwater phenomenon in our world. This natural wonder is not being cared for and everyone needs to take responsibility for what is happening to this reef, especially in adjacent locations and help in as many ways as possible. The Australian Government is responsible for the protection of the natural resources within their country. They need to act as the main spokesperson for the Great Barrier Reef. The government needs to be more proactive because if nothing is done the Great Barrier Reef will no longer exist. Even though it is not just the Australian Government that is to blame for

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

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

The large heat wave that happened early in March 2016 has continued to kill the reef. Scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, Charles Vernon, has agreed that The Great Barrier Reef was “on death row” back in 2009. It has been declared dead by the environmental stress impacts, meaning

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

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.

Australia has a rich hold in the world’s environment due to its diverse ecosystems and one of its biggest holds is through the Great Barrier Reef. The coral reefs here have a significant role by protecting shores from waves and storms, provide food and medicine, and help the economy though tourism. The reef is known for its great beauty and sustainability of life, but in recent years that opinion may change. Many environmental factors are causing great distress on the reef and its marine life, which then causes disruptions to not only the reef, but also the rest of the world’s environment. Three of the reef’s major problems are pollution, coral bleaching, and overfishing; these problems alone are doing enough damage to severely impair the function

Changes in the environment have had a negative effect on the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Development of coastal areas around the Great Barrier Reef and other land use has hurt the health of the reef. The effect of global warming has altered water temperatures which have killed off algae with which live on the reef and that has led to coral whitening. Contaminated water from farms and surrounding land development has disrupted the pH balance of the water by introducing more acid into the water, which does not allow proper growth. Overfishing can alter the food cycle and change the patterns on how the reef gathers food. Marine scientists are concerned that the Great Barrier Reef is vulnerable to man negative outside

The Great Barrier Reef has recently been faced with threats of climate change which is set to wreak irreversible damage by the year 2030. This is because over the past century, human activities have released considerable amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The majority of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy, although deforestation, industrial processes, and some agricultural practices also emit gases into the atmosphere. the increase of these greenhouse gases can change Earth's climate and result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare and to ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef has been and will be more and more soon, greatly effected by this as well as other serious threats such as, catchment pollution, coastal development and fishing.

The GBRCS indicates other stressors such as over-fishing, maritime and tourism; however, plan outline has not stated its obligations or compared itself to relevant acts such as the Fisheries management Act 1991and the heritage listing section of the EPBC act. The GBR is a world heritage listed site and is of high international interest. In June 2012, the world heritage committee considered the state of the reef and released a management report which was a turning point for GBR conservation (Department of Environment, 2015). However, there is little mention of this report and Australia’s international obligation on the GBR management and conservation. The lack of detail in terms of related legislation is a weakness as it results in obligations and responsibilities of various surrounding parties and Australia’s obligations on an international level not being clearly

Microalgae plants called zooxanthellae coexist in symbiosis with corals. The algae provide for the corals beautiful colours and other important factors (Nace, 2016). When the algae plant dies, the colours on the corals disappear and when the corals turn white - they are basically considered as dead (Cotes, 1998, p. 26). This is why it’s called coral bleaching! The relationship between corals and zooxanthellae are so critical that if the symbiosis between them gets disturbed - the corals cannot survive without. Further zooxanthellae plants can not survive when the water temperature becomes abnormally warm or contaminated (Nace, 2016). This explains how mass coral bleaching appears. Mass coral bleaching won’t only cause the destruction of corals, but also the habitat for the fish would be long gone. And without the coral reefs incredible colours or the fishes, it’s arguably that GBR won’t appeal to visitors in the same way, and that the reef may end up with an ecosystem that will not longer attract visitors (Newsome et al, 2002, p. 60). This might further lead Queensland to lose a billion dollar tourism industry and in addition a workplace for thousands of people (Armbruster,