Global Warming On Coral Reefs Essay - 1294 Words

Global Warming on Coral Reefs The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. According to Lewis (2016), it covers more than 300,000 square kilometers and has more than 3,000 reefs, 600 islands, and 300 coral cays. (Immediate response on social media section, para. 4). Because of high sea temperatures, the algae on the coral become stressed and release from the coral, which causes coral bleaching. As the coral reef is normally bright with color, the bleaching has caused the coral to become dull and lifeless. The marine life use this coral for shelter and food. Without the live coral reefs, the fish are dying of illness, variety of species are disappearing, and economy businesses are not productive. Richard Vevers is the chief executive of the Ocean Agency and a professional diver. Vevers is chief of coral bleaching, which he travels the world documenting dead and dying coral reefs. On one of his dives, Vevers (2016) stated, I can’t even tell you how ba d I smelt after the dive – the smell of millions of rotting animals. The hard corals were dead and covered in algae, looking like they’ve been dead for years. The soft corals were still dying and the flesh of the animals was decomposing and dripping off the reef structure. Fish can no longer use the coral structure as shelter – blocked by the plants – and before long the coral structures themselves are likely to collapse, leaving little chance of full recovery within the next 10 years.Show MoreRelated The Effects of Global Warming On Coral Reefs Essay976 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effects of Global Warming On Coral Reefs Graphs Missing Introduction: The effects of global warming touch every human, animal, plant, ocean, landmass, and atmosphere level on this planet. The numerous effects of global warming are mixes of good and bad results, depending on how your definition of good results and bad results are. 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Sea turtlesRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Great Barrier Reef1443 Words   |  6 PagesHow has Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels frequently increased global warming and the massive increase of global ocean temperature which have risen from 0.74oC during the 19th century to 4oC in modern day society (NOAA, 2016), and how does CO2 contribute to one of the biggest tragedies seen on the Great Barrier Reef today, known as coral bleaching and what can be done to slow the increasing rate of this terrible tragedy? â€Å"Coral reefs are extremely important for biodiversity, providing a home to over 25%Read MoreCoral Bleaching Essay1019 Words   |  5 PagesCoral Bleaching Coral reefs are the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet. There are more than 25,000 known species of organisms and countless others that have yet to be identified (Helvarg, 2000). 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