The Great Barrier Reef is considered the largest living structure in the world. Being a 2,300 km long ecosystem off the coast of Australia, it is the home for a variety of countless fish, barracuda, mollusks, dolphins, sharks, and more. The Great Barrier Reef is mostly known for its coral; it is the home for over 2000 reefs, each with their own size and name. Due to its overabundance of life and beauty, it has earned its spot on the 7 natural wonders of the world by CNN.
It is one of the most fascinating things in this world, but it is also dying on the account of what scientists refer to as “coral bleaching.” Coral bleaching is a term that refers to coral that have expelled tiny algae, known as Zooxanthellae due to being affected by heat stress in the water, or rising water temperature. To add on, the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes the pH of the water to lower, which makes it more acidic.
The Great Barrier Reef is not the only location in the world where coral bleaching is taking place. There is a global trend of coral bleaching that has been ongoing due to climate change, in addition to an impact by this summer’s El Niño.
For those who don’t necessarily understand what El Niño means, it is a climate pattern that describes unusual warming of surface waters. Technically, El Niño refers to the warm phase of a larger phenomenon known as ENSO. This is relevant because 2015 and 2016 are both “El Niño years.”
According to National Geographic, the primary source of figuring out how many reefs are being affected are through careful surveys conducted by divers. These surveys not only tell scientists the severity of the bleaching issue in that area, but it also tells the expected amount of corals that will die in the region. Scientists have estimated that more than 50% of the reefs found in the Great Barrier Reef, and 12% of the reefs in the world, have shown signs of coral bleaching. Unfortunately, it is also estimated that this is leading up to what will be the longest global coral bleaching trend in history.
Due to the massive size of the Great Barrier Reef, conducted surveys provided that different locations had different mortality rates. The northern sections, such as Cape York, have the highest mortality rates, causing 85% of the mortality to occur between Cape York and Lizard Island. A trend illustrates that mortality rates decrease, percentage wise, the more south divers go to survey.
Is dead coral necessarily a bad thing? According to The Conversation, dead coral could be considered as an “economic asset,” which it was in the past. Australian settlers in the 19th and 20th centuries were able to crush down dead coral into building materials or fertiliser. Not only does the Great Barrier Reef provide a “limitless supply,” it also consists of the best reefs in terms of material quality.
On the other hand, the Great Barrier Reef is arguably one of the most wanted tourist destinations in the world. In fact, according to National Geographic, the tourism contributes more than $3 billion to Australia’s economy per year. The tourism couldn’t possibly be so efficient without the Great Barrier Reef. With that being said, would the “limitless supply” of dead coral be worth more than the vibrant beauty that attracts visitors from around the world? I don’t think so.
We’ve discussed the issue here; now, we must consider our options. Scientists believe that the ways to prevent further coral bleaching would be to: recycle, avoid pollution, conserve water, being informed, and other eco-friendly tips. However, the most crucial method is to reduce our carbon footprint, so to speak. It’s either cutting back, or we could lose one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.
