Analysis Of Obituary: The Great Barrier Reef

Back in 2016 an article from Outside Online titled “Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016)” went viral. In it they wrote as if The Great Barrier Reef was dead citing climate change as the cause of death. While The Great Barrier Reef is not yet dead, if thing progress as they are now, it sure will be soon. Coral Reefs are the oceans’ cities with more than 25 percent of all aquatic organisms living within them. Not only are they good for the species that live within them, they are also fantastic for humans providing 172 billion dollars worth of economic revenue through tourism and fisheries. As well they protect coasts from large storms which could potentially damage human infrastructure. So one might see the importance of protecting them. Despite the positive effect of the world’s coral reefs, humans have been large ignoring the epidemic and not recognizing the importance of these phenomenal hubs of aquatic life and we have been letting them bleach and die. …show more content…
These polyps get 90% of their energy from small algae called zooxanthellae which also produces their colour. Bleaching occurs when the polyps get rid of the zooxanthellae which leaves the clear polyps on top of a coral skeleton (a calcium carbonate skeleton which is built underneath most corals). Without the energy from the zooxanthellae the polyps begin to starve. The cause? The increase of sea temperature caused by global warming caused by excess carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, so we are the cause. Between 2014 and 2017 the world experienced a coral bleaching epidemic never seen before, this impacted ever major coral reef on earth with some regions seeing 60% to 98% of all corals bleached. Although scientists say the bleaching event is slowing down they also fear that it wont be long till another world wide bleaching even