Climate Change In Great Barrier Reef

990 Words2 Pages

Nowadays climate change is the biggest problem of the human being. It is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. Climate change, also known as global warming is the seasonal change for a long geological period of time in the world that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, altering the composition of the global atmosphere. Australia faces significant environmental and economic impacts from climate change across a number of sectors, including water security, agriculture, coastal communities, and infrastructure. In Australia the climate is expected to become significantly warmer. Noting that the impacts of climate change will vary from region to …show more content…

Leading scientists advise climate change will cause increases to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Rising sea levels pose a significant risk to coastal communities, while the world’s oceans could become too acidic to support coral reefs and other calcifying marine organisms. Coral reefs contain only six per cent of the area of the Great Barrier Reef, yet they provide critical habitat and food for numerous species in the ecosystem. However, climate change has already impacted coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef as corals are very helpless against its potential impacts. Eight mass coral bleaching events has occurred since 1979, triggered by unusually high water temperatures. And because of this, zooxanthellae (photosynthetic algae) leave their tissues and corals will have no more colours hence ‘bleaching’. Without the zooxanthellae, the corals that remain gradually starve to death. Once the coral dies, fish and a multitude of other marine species are soon affected. Rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storm surges will see more erosion of Australia’s coastline, causing community and residential …show more content…

As humans, every aspect of our life is reliant on the natural environment, whether it’s the food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the clothes we wear or the products that are made and sold to create jobs and drive the economy. While Australia’s large agriculture industry may save us from running out of food, global shortages will drive up the price of staples making a trip to the supermarket more expensive. The increased frequency and severity of heatwaves may lead to death and illness, especially among the elderly. Higher temperatures and humidity could see increased mosquito-borne diseases in Aus. Climate change will affect our lifestyle in many ways such as; we will experience more extreme weather events more often, global politics will become unstable, our travel plans will change and some more. Climate change at a basic level will affect our food, health and leisure. Many people could also face war, starvation or losing their

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