In response to the jokingly-written obituary on the Great Barrier Reef on Oct. 11, 2016, social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook exploded with reaction tweets and posts mourning the Reef and responses to the news.
But the Great Reef is not dead…yet.
The decline of the Reef’s health can be a result of multiple things. Coral bleaching is the most damaging affect. Because of the rising temperatures that have occurred because of global warming, the coral is more likely to be effected by the coal bleaching.
Coal bleaching is when the natural algae leaves the coral which causes the coral in reefs to lose its vibrant color, causing it to look dead and lifeless.
Other threats to the Great Barrier Reef include other coal diseases, sea-level rise, pollution, coral harvesting, destructive fishing techniques and damages from storms.
Senior biology major, Allie Vallen, said, “I think communities can help stop raising water temperatures by reducing pollutants in our oceans, as well as reducing fossil fuel emissions from things such as cars and oil industries.”
Since the effects of climate change have emerged, 93 percent of the Reef is suffering from coral bleaching.
The increase in water temperature is growing at almost .18 degrees Fahrenheit every decade according to National Geographic. When considering this statistic, the extreme problem of warming ocean waters does not seem extreme at all. In hindsight it is.
“I do acknowledge climate change and I don’t see how other people in the scientific community choose to not act to stop it,” Meghan Barth, a Cabrini biology major, said. “It clearly impacts our planet, especially our oceans.”
The ecosystem is so fragile and it reacts to these slight changes. The slight increase in ocean temperatures harms the ocean’s reef and its marine life. Even on land, temperature increases–although they are more drastic than a fraction of a degree–causes droughts, flooding, extreme weather and more.
Although a majority of the Reef negatively reacted to climate change, some scientists believe that some of the coral might be able to adapt to climate change. By 2100, coral may adjust to the warmer sea levels and have a higher chance of surviving if temperatures continue to rise.
