Essay Sample: Climate Change Terminates the Great Barrier Reef

“When are we going to stop pretending that +2°C is safe for the Great Barrier Reef, when +1°C already bleaches 93% of it?” admonished Prof. Hughes of James Cook University. The Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s 7 wonders, is situated in the north-east coast of Australia, Queensland. Climate change, the variation in the planet’s climate stimulated by human activity causes drastic changes in the weather, leading to the acidification of oceans which resulted with intense coral bleaching leaving the Great Barrier reef and the economy greatly damaged.

Sea temperatures are rising due the extensive amounts of heat trapped in the atmosphere. All this heat is released into the ocean as it has nowhere else to go, which leads to rises in sea temperatures. With the rising of sea temperatures, the corals begin to release algae (zooxanthellae) which leads to the bleaching of corals. Unfortunately, even slight variations in water temperatures damages the corals. Bleached corals have a lower reproductivity rate and this can lead to a decline in the variety of species that the reef presents. If this were to happen, the economy would suffer greatly. Tourism, commercial fishing and recreational fishing alone confers $6.9 billion per year to the economy. Could you comprehend all the repercussions of coral bleaching? Just the thought of it is frightful and finding a conclusion should certainly become a priority. The economy would be suffering the loss of billions of dollars, and imagine of how that could affect your family.

Just like how you protect your family the corals protect the marine animals by building skeletons. However the corals are struggling to do this because of the acidity of the oceans which is caused by the amount of CO2 that the ocean absorbs. Since the industrial revolution, scientists say that the oceans pH level has dropped by approximately 0.1 units (8.2 to 8.1, becoming more acidic) and we can see its impacts already. It disrupts growth rates amongst corals and the marine animals that consider the reef they’re home. The ocean is a source of food for us and if animals aren’t reproducing, sooner or later we won’t be able to look to the ocean for food. It pains to empathise with the helpless animals suffering because of our selfish desires. Immediate action needs be taken as ocean acidification imposes a threat to marine life and humans.

So, extreme and unusual flooding is a tangible and observant effect of global warming. The increase in freshwater entering into the sea from flooding affects coral. Global warming has triggered alternations in rainfall patterns and has increased the intensity and frequency of weather events as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel researching Climate Change. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park experienced 10 cyclones (category three and greater) from 2004 till 2018. During the 2011-2010 summer south-east Queensland underwent extreme rainfall which was reported to be 400% greater than usual. March 2009 was when Cyclone Hamish impacted 50% (and more) of the coral reefs that it passed through. These abnormal weather events have negative effects on the coral reefs. Tropical cyclones can damage the reefs’ structure and cyclones can also create strong waves which contributes to the damage of landforms and habitats. Extreme rainfall can also cause flooding in low-lying areas. The water that flows from the land into the ocean also carries with it sediments, that shades the light that seagrass and corals need to grow, and nutrients.

Coral bleaching, acidifying oceans and weather events are all results of climate change. We are playing a significant role in the death of the Great Barrier Reef. We are compromising the life of the organisms along with our lives and the lives of our children. Do you not realise that your lives and your children lives depend on the ocean, which needs coral reefs to survive, for food. There are many things we can do to decrease mainly reducing our fossil fuel usage. This can easily be done if huge corporate companies and the government took initiative. These people should take the first step and lead us.  Climate change is a threat to all life on earth and we are climate change’s accomplice.