Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

Written by: Madyson Studenec

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The Great Barrier Reef is a household name in the sense that anyone who knows anything about wildlife, will typically have heard of this majestic sea beauty. Jennifer S. Holland writes, “The biology, like the reef, transforms from the north—where the reef began—to the south. The shifting menagerie is unmatched in the world.” This is essentially a work of art, except the artist, in this case, is nature. Yet, it seems to be facing some challenges that it cannot handle, “Time and tides and a planet in eternal flux brought the Great Barrier Reef into being millions of years ago, wore it down, and grew it back—over and over again. Now all the factors that let the reef grow are changing at a rate the Earth has never before experienced. This time the reef may degrade below a crucial threshold from which it cannot bounce back.” After recognizing how serious this situation may be, scientists have taken measures to ensure the safety of the animals who live there since there are so many who inhabit these corals and other sea plant life: “A plethora of coral thrives here, along with a sweep of parrotfish, surgeonfish, barracuda, and sharks.” It’s very unfortunate that the reef is having such a hard time since it is home to so many animals, and is such a beautiful creation. It is highly necessary that money and resources are put into an effort of saving this reef and in turn our planet and we should be putting in time and devotion to ensure the recovery of this wildlife phenomenon. In order to gain a full understanding of what coral bleaching is see this interview with an Australian Coral Reef Studies Professor.

One thing that many are concerned about is the tourist aspect of what is going to happen now that the reef has so much damage. Since it brings in about $6 billion in total revenue a year, there are many who are advocating for something to be done in order to save it: “If it was up to me and I was the Australian government looking at the loss of this asset, I would be announcing a plan to close down all of our coal-fired power plants over a given period of time, shift to clean energy, and do whatever it takes in the transport sector and so forth to make that transition” (Slezak). In this case the opportunity cost greatly outweighs other outcomes since they result in the rest of the planet facing these resources disappearing and loss of revenue due to diminishing visitors. There has been no discussion on what the budget constraint would be since this situation is relatively new and very fragile at this point in time. Additionally, there is no private ownership so there is no one to be held accountable for these costs which brings about another issue: who is going to pay for this?

Climate change has been a popular and controversial topic over the past few years, and now with the Great Barrier Reef dying, there are more people who are up in arms when they are discussing the topic, “You’d be easily fooled into thinking this was some sort of natural event. But it has been caused by people. It’s the burden of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causing these unprecedented underwater heatwaves that these ecosystems have just never experienced before and just have no capacity to absorb. The coral just dies.” Additionally, Slezak had been taken on a boat to view the reef and describes, “As we approach the shore, a ship in the distance gets larger and larger and we slowly realise it’s a coal tanker. Having collected its coal from one of the ports that dot the Great Barrier Reef, it’s delivering it to somewhere in the world – perhaps India or China – where it will be burned, create more greenhouse gases and further warm the atmosphere, making the next coral bleaching more likely.” Hopefully now there will be more people who start to believe that climate change is a real phenomenon and encourage them to take a step back and realize the small steps they can take that could help.

Not only does this reef generate revenue from the tourists who are travelling to come and see it, it also employs about 70,000 workers who will all be unemployed if the decision is made not to restore it to its natural state. The risk of this is that the economy of Australia could fall into an unemployment trap, essentially welfare from the government which often times will put nations in debt,  which is an additional reason why so many are fighting to save it. Even still, more should be because this is a part of nature, it isn’t man-made we are the ones destroying it, we are responsible for it. In the short-run it may not seem as though this is very significant, but in the long-run this is just another part of what is sure to be a destructive path if nothing begins to change.

Works Cited

Barron, John. “Interview: Professor Terry Hughes, Centre for Coral Reef Studies.” Lateline, ABC, 30 May 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2015/s4472312.htm.

Holland, Jennifer S, “Great Barrier Reef.” National Geographic, http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/great-barrier-reef/holland-text.

Slezak, Michael. “'It's a Depressing Sight': Climate Change Unleashes Ghostly Death on Great Barrier Reef.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Sept. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/22/its-a-depressing-sight-climate-change-unleashes-ghostly-death-on-great-barrier-reef.

“Conserving the Great Barrier Reef.” Australian Conservation Foundation, https://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us/our-success-stories/conserving-great-barrier.