Global Warming Continues To Take Its Toll

Well I hope you have all enjoyed my blogs over the past 5 weeks, and have taken all of the information to heart.  I never knew how much the Great Barrier Reef was in danger to environmental threats until I started this blog; I thought it was just a beautiful area off the Queensland Coast in Australia, that was protected and its beauty was going to be preserved for thousands of years to come.  Boy was I ever wrong! I feel like I have even more of a reason to travel to Australia and see the Great Barrier Reef with my own eyes, as the pictures and articles I have come across are just not doing justice for me anymore.

I have spoken to you about things from the ocean acidification, to different types of pollution, to Cyclone Yasi that hit, to overfishing, and these are the major environmental threats the reef has had to face in the past, is facing today, and will most likely be facing in the future if we as humans don’t start to take extreme measures in protecting our environment! I know some things are out of our control, such as global warming; but over fishing, and preventing soil run off into the reef can be taken care of.



Massive Coral Porites



Global warming is affecting the whole world negatively, not just the Great Barrier Reef. Massive Porites coral, in the Great Barrier Reef are not growing as much anymore, most likely because of warmer and more acidic seawater from the effects of global warming.  This is difficult for me to see the damages it is doing to the life cycle of the coral, and the inability of anyone to fix it. The changing in global warming is damaging not only the coral reef, but the home it is to the fish, which is also affecting us.  We need to continue to take precautions with what resources we have available as we want to leave the environment the way it is now for future generations to come!:)

I would just like to thank all of my followers for taking the time to read about my deep feels for the Great Barrier Reef, and to end today’s blog on a positive note, I have provided a few pictures of the reef before the massive damage was done.

 

Heart Shaped Reef



Overfishing an Issue?

It’s great to continue my discussion with you on the Great Barrier Reef, I hope you are still enjoying this as much as I am! Over the week I have done a lot of research on the natural resources that we as humans need in order to live our lives, which so happens to be fish.  The Great Barrier Reef is a major source for this natural resource as the fish use the coral as their living grounds.  I had no idea how dependant they were on the coral, which makes sense why coral reef areas have bans and protected areas due to overfishing. 

Here is a picture that shows the home of the coral reef to these thousands of fish

The coral in the Great Barrier Reef is so large that it is home to probably millions of fish where they live and produce which gives us as humans more fish to consume.  If we were to continue fishing at a large impact this would not only affect the reef, but also limit our resource of fish.  We need to protect these areas better, and stop overfishing! Having only selected areas that allows fishing would be the best possible solution in my opinion. 

In addition to my blogs about the damage done by Cyclone Yasi and the huge amount of rain to the Great Barrier Reef and the years it will take to recover from this, I can see how local fishing industries have also been greatly affected.  With areas where the coral was completely damaged and killed from the storms impact, I know that this would have killed a large amount of fish, damaging their home and therefore, losing a huge portion of our natural resource! This is extremely sad to see, and I hope the fishing industry is not too affected by this in the Queensland area.  Hope you enjoyed my blog on overfishing this week, and I will keep you posted as I look more into our beautiful UNESCO Heritage Site the Great Barrier Reef!

Progress on Reserach of Coral Reef Damages

Hello fellow bloggers! I hope you are enjoying my posts on the Great Barrier Reef environmental issues, as I have more to tell you this week on the issue of flooding that was caused from Cyclone Yasi and extreme rain.  The vast plumes of fresh water and agriculture run off from the flooded farms is still said to be a major threat to the coral.  The more researchers look into this and the impacts it could cause scares me as I hate to such a beautiful natural resource be destroyed! The following pictures show the major impact on the Queensland coast from the flooding that is affecting the Great Barrier Reef.

I am relieved to see that researchers are taking extreme measures to try and protect the coral the best they can; such as hooking up computers and cables in the reef area to measure its pH levels.  Having these tests done could help researchers figure out what is really going on to the coral and maybe find a way to protect it better. The reef is over 9000 years old which makes me so concerned in protecting it; and seeing the researchers measure how the coral responds in its natural environment to ocean acidification as it absorbs the carbon dioxide that humans produce is reassuring that they are doing everything in their power to save it. However, I have discovered that the more carbon dioxide and acidity the coral takes in, the less it will be able to withstand things such as the pollution from the agricultural runoff and pressures from cyclones; this is scary!

I have also come across an article posted by Planet Earth, the natural environment research council who have done research themselves on the destruction of the coral and have found out that humans aren’t always to blame for the depleting coral reefs.  Beyond the environmental impacts to the reefs, overfishing used to be a problem as people needed the resources supplied by the reefs to survive. The information I have come across has helped me learn that the coral goes through an evolutionary life cycle before it shuts down... cool right! I had no idea.  In this case I understand why some of the reef stops growing and have degraded surfaces; it is not only due to the environmental stresses.

If you are interested in learning a little bit more about the age of the coral and how it works through its life cycle, this is a great article to look at http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=907  

Well I hope you have all learned something this week like I have and will keep you posted as I continue my research on the Great Barrier Reef! 

“Travel Smart”

Oil Tanker Spill Leaks into the Reef

Hello to all my followers!! It’s another week and the issues of the Great Barrier Reef pollution is still escalating.  Less than a year ago on April 5, 2010 an oil tanker crashed into the reef causing a massive oil spill, this is an extreme danger to the reef, it makes me very upset seeing things like this happening.  The reef is already suffering from global warming and bleaching of the coral, the reef cannot afford to have any more damage done to it! People need to be more careful and realize what they are doing.  It is said that the Queensland Ports are going to be a main exit for exports of coal and liquefied gas over the next few decades as Asia’s energy needs are developed, in this case the tankers really need to not go off path and close to the reef as the reef could not handle any more oil spills.  A video from Sky News covers the effects to the reef from the oil tanker spill and should be watched by all my followers so you can see how big of an impact it has on the damage to the world heritage site. 

The video can be seen at http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Australia-Fears-Of-Environment-Damage-To-Great-Barrier-Reef-As-Chinese-Coal-Carrier-Ship-Leaks-Oil/Article/201004115593270?f=rss or take a look at this picture

  I fear that the Great Barrier Reef is going to suffer so much damage, not only from the oil spills but also from the toxic farm chemicals leaking into the reef that it won’t be long until this tourist attraction looses all its beauty. As a student studying tourism, I know how important these tourists attractions are to be kept protected and preserved for the future.  I have not had a chance to go to see Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but when I do over the next few years, it would be very upsetting to see the level of damage it has been faced with. In this regards I hope my followers can take some of this information learned from my blog and help to better protect our environment and natural heritage sites, just one step at a time, that’s all it takes.  I will continue to keep you posted as I learn more on the Great Barrier Reef.