The Great Barrier Reef is on the verge of an ultimate demise. It is not completely dead quite yet, however it is dying at an astonishing rate. If the reef was a person, it would be on life support.

This beautiful, multi-colored reef has been in existence for around 25 million years and is just now facing extinction due to the unprecedented consequences and dangers of global warming.

The Great Barrier Reef is known as one of the world’s largest living structures. However, a 1,400-mile stretch of coral polyps that once existed off the coast of Queensland, Australia is no longer in good health. At it’s peak, it was once host to 2,900 individual reefs and 1,050 islands. Altogether, it was larger than the United Kingdom and contained more biodiversity than all of Europe combined.

This included about 1,625 different fish species, 3,000 species of mollusk, 450 species of coral, 220 species of birds, and 30 species of whales and dolphins. Many of these sea creatures relied on and were supported by the abundant food source of the reef. Either from eating algae off the reef itself, or larger fish that would feed off the smaller fish attracted to the reef, inhabiting it’s many nooks and crannies.

The reef was also home to one of the world’s largest populations of dugong, as well as provided the largest breeding ground for green turtles.

What Is Causing The Reef To Die…?

Corals thrive because of the symbiotic algae that live on them. These algae, called zooxanthellae, create sugars through photosynthesis, and are also the source of the impressive colors found throughout the reef. However, when sea temperatures rise due to global warming and climate change, the algae produce oxygen at a dangerously high level, leaving the corals with no choice but to eject them. Without the algae, the coral turns bone white and begins to starve, which is a phenomenon known as ‘extreme bleaching’.

In order for this whitened coral to be salvaged and preserved it must acquire new algae – which would only be possible if the water temperatures return to normal, or they begin to die within only months.

Due to the steady increase in climate change and the degradation of ocean water quality, mass bleachings have been common since the turn of the millennium. The winter of 1997-1998 brought about a large bleaching, followed by an even worse one in 2001-2002, as well as another in 2005-2006. These were happening due to the warming water, but also from the oceans becoming increasingly acidic as the waters absorbed more carbon from the atmosphere. This acid then began to dissolve the lining of the reefs themselves.

This isn’t to say the reef has officially died and there is no hope. Though it’s on the verge of death and treading awfully close to the tipping point of no return, there is yet a chance to salvage what is left of the reefs and rebuild it’s mass.

What Can Be Done To Save The Reef…?

According to Professor John Pandolfi from the ARC Centre at the University of Queensland;(1)

“It is critically important now to bolster the resilience of the reef, and to maximize it’s natural capacity to recover. The reef is no longer as resilient as it once was, and it’s struggling to cope with three bleaching events in just 18 years.”

The Australian and Queensland governments have released a $2 billion investment for the restoration of the reefs, entitled ‘The First Reef 2050 Plan Annual Report”. This was started back in March 2015 and has accomplished 29 of it’s 151 planned actions, yet there is an urgency underway to speed up the process to ensure the plan’s success.(2)

There is still a long way to go in order for the Great Barrier Reef to be saved and brought back into working, pristine condition as it once was. The key to working toward this is to tackle climate change harder than ever before, improve upon the water quality, and limit the over-exploitation of the reefs themselves.

“There is a lot we can do to minimize climate change and we need to get going on that. To say reefs are finished and we can’t do anything about it isn’t the message we need going forward.” – Kim Cobb, a coral reef expert at Georgia Tech

To further help support the salvation of the Great Barrier Reef, consider donating to marine conservation organizations and supporting their initiatives. Recycling is another form of helping out, considering much of the ocean’s water quality is polluted with refuse. Cutting back on home and office energy consumption helps considerably in regards to global warming, as does weaning yourself off plastic dependency. Also, consider walking or carpooling instead of driving to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Our mindset must transition from believing there is nothing that can be done, to thinking it’s time for us to do so much more, because we can! If not, then it’s vibrant colors and otherworldly patterns will be greatly missed.

Sources:

(1) https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/coral-death-toll-climbs-on-great-barrier-reef

(2) http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/frydenberg/media-releases/mr20160928.html

Image: http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/7484522-3×2-940×627.jpg

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