The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is an aquatic wonder, full of rare marine life, hundreds of islands and almost 3,000 individual reefs. It spans an area that’s larger than the Great Wall of China, but its massive presence is diminishing, according to ecologists.
Reef is Shrinking Fast
Katharina Fabricius, a coral reef ecologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science estimates that half of the Great Barrier Reef has disappeared over the last three decades.
“I hear of the changes anecdotally, but this is the first long-term look at the overall status of the reef. There are still a lot of fish, and you can see giant clams, but not the same color and diversity as in the past.”
Fabricius has surveyed the reef since 1985 and believes several factors are contributing to the reef’s steep decline.
“The biggest factors are smashing from tropical cyclones, crown-of-thorns starfish that eat coral and are boosted by nutrient runoff from agriculture, and coral bleaching from high-temperatures, which are rising due to climate change,” according to the Huffington Post.
Efforts to Save the Reef
Right now ecologists are tossing around ideas to prevent the further decline of the reef. Experts believe an educational campaign could change the human behaviors that weaken the reef, but those efforts take time.
“International efforts to cap and reduce CO2 emissions are equally critical and must occur at the same time as cleaning up local impacts,” said Les Kaufman, a biologist and climate change specialist at Boston University.
“The problem is entirely soluble, and coral reefs can be saved through concerted effort over this and the following two or three generations,” Kaufman said.
“There is absolutely no excuse for failure to do this, and if we do fail our generation will forever be remembered for unimaginable, unforgivable stupidity and sloth.”
