A World beneath the Waves - Dying?

Off the coast of Australia in the Coral Sea, extending over fourteen degrees of latitude, lies the world’s largest reef system, The Great Barrier Reef. It owes its pulchritude to the plateaux, slopes, deep-water canyon networks and over 3000 individual coral reefs which it is composed of.

Being the largest living structure in the world it is home to more than 9000 varied species ranging from the minute damselfish measuring just 2 inches, to the more than 12m long whale shark. However, with ever increasing global temperature and climate change The Great Barrier Reef is slowly, dying.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef on earth, and can even be seen from space.

Ever rising global warming levels have harshly impacted this massive underwater habitat causing them to turn a ghostly white colour, due to an effect known as coral bleaching. Corals of all shapes and sizes have the algae zooxanthellae which not only provide them with their vibrant colours but also with the crucial energy they need to survive. However, rising ocean temperatures have resulted in the widespread death of this invaluable algae, causing its lustrous appearance to be reduced to the pale white of its exposed skeleton. If these harsh conditions persist, it will not be too long before the Great Barrier Reef dies out completely.

Having understood the gravity of the situation, the Australian government has employed the ‘Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan’. This plan was in response to the recommendations made by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Moreover, the government has planned to spend a hefty $1 billion in improving the schemes and efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef and keep it thriving for many generations to come.

By Minnoli Pitale.

You too can save this small piece of heaven on earth by donating funds in local projects namely The Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation, the Reef Rainforest Research Centre, and Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef which have been set up for crowdfunding. Furthermore, making frequent visits to this underwater paradise increases the ‘reef-tax’ which helps pay for daily management routines of the reef.