Great Barrier Reef Climate Change

Many different theories have been suggested to explain why the East Coast Fishery collapsed. A few examples include overfishing, destructive fishing practices, and changes in natural conditions. Primarily, overfishing plays a huge role in the collapse of the East Coast Fishery. The amount of catch allowed by the federal government was extensively high. Scientists may have overestimated the number of fish reaching adulthood each year, due to this more fish were caught then reached maturity. In addition, the collapse of the East Coast Fishery also revolves around the theory of destructive fishing practice. Many fishing practices can be extensively proficient at harvesting fish, but they often accidently catch non- target species, these species (also known as bycatch) are usually thrown/tossed away.

This happens when they become overly stressed especially when exposed to warmer than normal temperature and excessive sunlight” (“Coral Bleaching- Essential Facts”). Although the coloring of the coral may not seem too important, it is. The Great Barrier Reef is home to more than “1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral, one- third of the world’s soft coral, 134 species of sharks and rays, six of the world’s seven species of threatened marine turtles, and more than 30 species of marine mammals” (“Australia’s Great Barrier Reef under Threat”). The coloring of the fish species correlates with the coloring of the corals in terms of survival for the species. Gradually, certain species of the marine life that live in the Great Barrier Reef have adapted to the colors of the reefs to camouflage themselves which ultimately helps them survive and decrease the threat of predators. With the coral turning to a white, dead looking color, those fish that have adapted to the color now stick out predators become a stronger, more direct threat to them. Over time, this will change the Great Barrier Reefs ecosystem because certain fish populations will sharply decrease, in some cases even go extinct, while other populations will

Not only is Australia home to the Great Barrier Reef, but it is also the only continent in the world that is its own country. The Great Barrier Reef is the world 's largest coral reef system that stretches 1,250 miles off the Northeast coast of Australia. The coral reef support much of the marine life such as fish, sea turtles, and other marine mammals. In 1981, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, became in charge of the environmental protection of the Great Barrier Reef. Research found that because of the acidity in the ocean, the coral reef is at its slowest growing rate in at least 400 years. In 2014, the Great Barrier Reef was added to the UNESCO 's Endangered Sites list. Along the coast of Queensland, where the coral reef is, there are many ports located there and oil sludge is constantly being dumped into the ocean. The Great Barrier Reef is in dire need of being restored and protected.

Primary consumers are normally herbivores therefore they feed off of producers. There is a wide variety of herbivorous animals that reside in the Great Barrier Reef. These include invertebrates such as molluscs and echinoderms, as well as certain species of fish, the most notable being the parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, rabbitfishes, rudderfishes and damselfishes. The primary consumer’s role in the Great Barrier Reef’s food chain consists of them feeding off of the primary producers such as coral, therefore transferring the energy from the producer to consumer. The primary consumer only obtains around 10% of the producer’s energy as they may not eat the whole entity or energy might be lost through waste. The population of the largest and most significant vertebrate plants feeds, including sea turtles, dugongs, have been severely decimated by the impacts of humans on the reef. The loss of these vital animals has and will more severely disturb the coral reef food web in a significant manner, although the specific impacts are not clear

When the water of the sea becomes warmer due to higher temperatures which diminishes the oxygen content, the coral expels the algae that exists within their tissues causing it to turn completely white. This results in coral bleaching. Thus, the elevating heat stress which results from high sea temperatures serves as the main factor that induced damage to the coral reefs. If the heat prevails, the reef may even die instead of recovering. Coral reefs provide home to a significant number of sea species and coral bleaching causes their habitats to destroy completely and effect the marine life adversely. Thus it is much better to prevent coral bleaching than to accomplish its recovery which may take many

Coral Bleaching is caused when elevated seawater temperatures result in extensive coral loss. When the water becomes too warm coral will expel the algae living in their tissue, causing the coral to turn completely white. Pollution from urban or agricultural run-offs, sedimentation from undersea activity like dredging, and changes in the salinity are other contributors to coral bleaching. Although coral can survive the bleaching they are under more stress and are subject to mortality. This issue is not a new problem; coral bleaching has had a substantial effect on coral for many years. “In 2005, the U.S lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event”(National Ocean Service). Another article states that in January 2010, cold-water temperatures in the Florida Keys caused a coral bleaching event that resulted in some coral death. Researchers have evaluated the cold-stress of the water will make coral more susceptible to disease, in the same way warmer water impact coral. Luckily there are things that we can do to help stop this

Climate change is a huge issue around the world. It is melting the polar ice caps, which is rising the sea level wiping out cities along the coastline. Also because of the ice caps melting many animals that live on it are going extinct. The animals that don’t live on the ice caps are also going extinct because they can’t adapt at the alarming rate that the climate is changing. Some animals are starting their migration earlier and other animals are going to higher elevations (higher than they should) to get cooler weather. There are some creatures that are thriving because of the heat, one of them is the bark beetle. The bark beetle is killing off trees by eating at the inner bark cutting off its circulatory system, leaving the trees with little to none nutrients to live on. Another thing that is killing off trees is wildfires. The amount of

The Great Barrier Reef is actually the largest living thing on Earth. In fact, it can even be seen from space. The only problem with reefs is that they can only survive under a certain temperature range. If the temperature is too low or too high for the reefs, this causes the algae, which gives the coral their beautiful and bright colors, to leave the coral, and therefore causing the coral to become bleached (National Ocean Service). This is exactly what has happened this year. Data has recently been released that El Niño has caused complete bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef (The New York Times). Let that sink in, the World’s largest living thing, that has been around for about 500,000 years, is dying this year. People need to realize that

When the Earth starts to warm many other things do to, the ocean will become more acidic and glaciers might partially melt. If the oceans become acidic, fish and other sea creatures will have an unlivable environment. If glaciers start to melt arctic animals that rely on the ice may start to become extinct. Many animals, whether they live in the ocean or the arctic are affected by climate change. Climate Change affects everybody in the world, even though some choose to ignore it, which is why it would be in humanity’s best interest to come together and find a solution.

The FKNMS is located off the tip of Florida containing over 1700 islands. These chains of islands are coral reefs that are just south from the Key Biscayne and extend southwest for approximately 126miles. These islands end about 90 miles north of Cuba. These islands are not suitable for people to live on because of there size. The FKNMS covers over 2800 square nautical miles. The FKNMS was established due to the demise of the coral reefs in the Keys. Low water quality, decline in coral reef habitats, and oil drilling eventually lead President George H. Bush to establish the FKNMS on November 16, 1990. FKNMS also contains the Key Largo and Looe Key sanctuaries, which were facing the same environmental challenges.

Warmer average temperatures hamperd eco- systems, causing a decrease in some key food-chain supporting species such as corals, and causing an increase in the growing ranges of some weeds, grasses, and trees that may increase the severity and prevalence of allergies.

This article talks about the effects of climate change in the northwest. For example things like water resources, coastal resources, and Impacts on Ecosystems and Agriculture.Climate change is affecting water resources

Environmental impacts for example, Climate change, especially the rising ocean temperatures and Ocean Acidification is as of now influencing the Great Barrier Reefs Ecosystem. Coral bleaching coming about because of expanding ocean temperature and lower rates of calcification in skeleton-building life forms, for example, corals, because of sea acidification, are the impacts of most concern and are as of now obvious. Agricultural sources are adding to the waterfront and inshore territories of the Great Barrier Reef by expanded Nutrients, Sediments and different Pollutants in the catchment runoff. With the coastal population continuing to grow the coastal development grows which contributes to the modification

Jenouvrier, S. , Holland, M. , Stroeve, J. , Barbraud, C. , Weimerskirch, H. , et al. (2012). Effects of climate change on an emperor penguin population: Analysis of coupled demographic and climate models. Global Change Biology,18(9), 2756-2770.

Global climate change constitutes arguably the single most important threat to mankind. From the onset of the industrial revolution, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2) have increasingly built up in the atmosphere, causing the climate to warm up slowly but steadily (IPCC, 2014). NASA predicts that 2016 will mark the hottest year on record. The effects of global warming are ubiquitous: Greenland’s glacier and the Arctic ice cap are melting, ocean levels are rising, occurrences of extreme weather are increasing, including hurricanes and areas of either intense drought or flooding. Collectively, these changes and their direct consequences are an imminent danger and they directly affect other urgent issues humanity is