Ecosystems at Risk Essay

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:

Unit One Aha Thesis - Ecosystems Ecosystems are filled with abiotic and biotic factors. They both need the other for survival. Energy and nutrients flow through the trophic levels which helps ecosystems change and survive. Abiotic and Biotic Factors Abiotic and biotic factors are connected in many ways. One connection in Planet Earth was an antelope jumping into the water to be safe from the hunting dogs.

The audience of this book is presumed to be the general person who is not fully intact with the ideas that he or she is disrupting the ecosystem and is not aware of the effects they are doing as a whole. The book argues that no ecosystem is completely inert as things such as climate changes or drought can also affect the enviorment. Without human interaction an environment can still have issues, but the introduction of human life and economy does take a grave toll on the climate. These are irreversible effects that mankind are doing to the ecosystem. The English

What do you think about when you hear the words Great Barrier Reef? Most people would imagine turquoise water, colourful and littered with endless fish, rays, sharks and turtles. Most people would imagine an everlasting wonder that has existed for tens of thousands of years, preserved by its sheer size and beauty. An icon indeed that is seen from Space. Being as reputable as it is, the Great Barrier Reef is surely not in any sort of danger right? Many believe that the reef is under no such danger however the scientific community old grave fears that Australia’s wonder of the world is in fact under threat, and is potentially facing its untimely ruin in our lifetimes.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef In the world being at 345, 000 square kilometres in size. This huge amount of reef is home to 1,500 species of fish, 30 species of whales and dolphins, and 133 species of sharks and rays (Act.greenpeace.org, 2018). Imagine you were one of these fish and your home was just dying off leaving you without food and having to move to different areas. We are the ones causing The Great Barrier Reef to die! Not only does the reef provide homes and food for all of these animals but it also provides the ocean and earth with large amounts of oxygen.

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

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 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

Australia’s scientists have released its comprehensive map of the Great Barrier Reef’s bleached corals revealing that less than 36% of the areas explored have not been severely bleached yet. The bleaching is caused by abnormally hot waters due to El Niño and climate change. These high temperatures cause corals’ symbiotic algae, which is their crucial food source, to become scarce and toxic, forcing the corals to expel it. Removing the algae turns the coral bone white and the coral begins to starve. Of the 911 individual reefs that researchers surveyed, a large 93%-843 reefs-experienced some kind of bleaching. Furthermore, the Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 different kinds of fish, 6 of the worlds remain seven marine turtle species

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.

The Great Barrier reef is the largest reef in the world.( It holds 2,800 reef’s total, and in some places the reef is 400 feet thick- compound). The reef generates $5 billion and employs 700,000 workers to keep the reef clean. The reef has had three massive bleaching events and one is still going on, and is affecting the reef worse than the other two. The other two events were in 1998 and 2002.

Since commercial fishing in Australia’s coral reefs began in the early 1970s, overfishing, climate change, dynamite fishing, and pollution have contributed to a large-scale decline in the health of the reefs and the marine life that reside within them. The Great Barrier Reef stands as one of the most varied ecosystems in the world, serving as a natural environment for thousands of species of marine life. The reefs provide millions of dollars in revenue for Australia by attracting many tourists, providing fish, and by advancing medical research. The coral reefs are beneficial to Australia because they serve as a barrier to protect the land from large waves and tsunamis.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s seven natural wonders and is the largest reef system and the biggest living structure on the planet. It covers an impressive area of 344, 400 square kilometers and is so large that it can be seen from space. It includes the world’s largest collection of corals with more than 400 different kinds of corals, coral sponges, mollusks, rays, dolphins, over 1500 species of tropical fish, more than 200 types of birds, around 20 types of reptiles including sea turtles and giant clams over 120 years old. The Great Barrier Reef is composed of 3,000 individual reef systems, 600 tropical islands and about 300 coral cays. In the past three decades, it has lost half its coral cover, pollution has caused deadly

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.

The Great Barrier Reef is the most abundant and diverse coral ecosystem on Earth. It contains, over 1600 species of fish, 6 out of the 7 species of marine turtles in the world, 215 species of birds, and more than 3000 species of shells. This rich and diverse range of species needs to be protected no matter the cost. The reef is also the only living organisms that can be seen from space. If we want any other life out there to see us, surely we want to be remembered by our beautiful and vibrant reef, not by dull and repetitive skyscrapers. It is even one of the seven natural wonders of this world along side Mount Everest.