Raising concern of the environmentalists, world’s largest and longest coral reef system – Australia’s the Great Barrier Reef is under serious threat now. The threat is from the side of Global Climate Change and Global Warming.
The prevailing condition of greenhouse-gas emissions continue to concentrate in the air and constantly heat up the planet. By which oceans are warming up faster than ever and this particular factor proves to be devastating for coral reefs worldwide.
Warmer water temperature can give rise to the fatal phenomenon of coral bleaching – an occurrence where coral expels its algal food sources and turns ghostly white, increasing its risk of death.
Being one of Australia’s most incredible natural treat, the Great Barrier Reef is blessed with breathtaking beauty and it supports a wide diversity of life. This reef structure is made of by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It also has the credit of the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms which can be seen from outer space. With all such unique features the Great Barrier Reef was declared as a World Heritage Site in 1981 and its unmatchable natural beauty, has brought it the honour of worlds most coveted tourist destination.
Luiz Rocha, a diver from the California Academy of Sciences, recently has shared his experiences of photographing a coral-bleaching event over two months in Tahiti. He termed his adventure as “the saddest dive of my life.”
To his utter disbilieve his recent findings posed a completely contrast picture of what he found in Moorea island, a few months back ! In the month of March, when he last saw the corals there, he found them to be alive and healthy, but now, around 50% to 70% of them on the entire island are bleached and dead. This is alarming for sure.
Defying the prior estimation, with increasing global warming, world’s oceans are heating up 40% faster (on average) now. In fact last year itself, world’s oceans were recorded the hottest ever in history.
With this picture, it could be anticipated that 60% of all coral reefs will be highly or critically threatened by 2030, and 98% of reefs will be under potential fatal conditions each year. However, the current status shows, more than half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is in the process of decay as a result of bleaching.
So the time has come to take some drastic action to revese global warming – the root cause of this challenge. The situation is definitely serious and we all have roles to play in protecting this natural treasure.
