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Nicholas Lee
UWRT 1104
9/27/17
Introduction/Overview
Corals exist in all the worlds oceans. Coral reefs are more prominent in the equatorial
zone, with most being found between 30 degrees N and 30 Degrees S. They are composed of
coral polyps living over a skeletal layer of calcium carbonate. The Great Barrier Reef is the
largest reef system in the world. It has 3,000 individual reefs, and 900 islands. Many
observations conducted on the Great Barrier Reef have shown scary facts, the reef is being
bleached. Bleaching has been happening for a very long time on reefs, but recently it has gotten
very bad. The Great Barrier Reef was hit very hard last year by this coral bleaching, with parts
Due to the newest developments, and the great increase in speed of the coral bleaching, I
will be researching what caused the it, and what happens next.
Coral bleaching occurs when the coral polyps expel the algae that helps to keep them
alive by providing them food. After the algae is gone, the coral begins to run out of energy and
eventually starves. This leads to the absence of the coral polyps, and leaves behind the skeletal
remains of calcium carbonate. Mass bleaching was recognized as early as the early 1980s.
Generally, bleaching lasts one summer or one year. The Great Barrier Reef has seen mass
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bleaching seven times. The worst were during the summers of 1981 to 1982, 1997 to 1998, and
2001 to 2002. The first time any correlation between a factor and the bleaching was made in
1981 with the discovery of water temperatures being higher than average. Mass bleaching does
not only occur on the Great Barrier Reef, in the worst years, reefs in several countries may be
affected. During the 1997/1998 bleaching event, almost 50 countries showed signs of mass
bleaching. Corals that had been alive for nearly 500 years died, leading researchers to believe
To find more information to answer my questions on bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef,
I first used the Academic Search Complete to find two books about the Great Barrier Reef. The
books I checked out are The Great Barrier Reef written by Hutchings and Kingsford as well as A
Reef in Time written by J.E.N Veron. After getting those books, I began to look up more
information online and found a scientist by the name of Dr. Terry P. Hughes who is a director of
the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at John Hopkins University in Australia. I
sent Dr. Hughes an email to see if he could provide more insight. He replied back with an article
he helped write on the Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals. I found out
about Dr. Hughes by finding an article on the New York Times webpage called Large Sections
of Australias Great Barrier Reef are now Dead, Scientists find, which also has a lot of very
good information.
Currently, there is not very much debate on whether the bleaching of the Great Barrier
Reef is occurring. It has become very evident that it has escalated in recent years. The debate is
on the factors causing the bleaching, if the coral can come back, how long the reef has before it
becomes extinct, and if there is anything that can be done to reverse the effects. Currently, there
are a few ideas on the causes of the bleaching. The major cause currently is the sudden rise in
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water temperature. The reason it is debated is the factors causing the water temperature to rise.
Many believe that it must do with the release of Greenhouse Gasses that is causing Climate
Change. However, other politicians and researchers argue that the world goes through periods of
warming and cooling naturally. Another debated topic is how long the bleaching will take to
wipe out all the reefs in the Great Barrier Reef. For example, CNN claimed in July, 2017 that the
reef would be extinct by 2050. However, Dr. Hughes, one of the highest credited researchers on
the subject, believes that based on this last year of beaching we may see the reef extinct in less
than 12 years.
Currently, the debates are taking place on a world level. The threat of the Great Barrier
Reef going extinct could cost Australia 70,000 jobs and Billions of dollars according to New
York Times. Australia is the leading coal exporter in the world, which is a great threat on the
reef, and lobbyist and CEOs of the coal companies are attempting to combat the accusations
against their companies. Another issue on the global stage is that President Trump is opting out
of the Paris Agreement, which was made to begin to lessen the effects of climate change. This,
along with the Australian Conservative government that supports the growth of the fossil fuel
What are the factors leading to the warming of the ocean that is causing the coral
bleaching, and what can be done to reverse or lower the process that has already begun?
I have always been fascinated by the ocean. My whole life I have lived on the beach, with
my dad working on and running boats. When I was 8 years old, 3 marine biologists from
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National Geographic came to stay at our house to do a study with my dad on blue fin tuna
populations and migration patterns. Since then I have been fascinated with marine biology. Even
though it is not a field I am looking at going into, I will always learn more about it. My dad has
always said that hunters and fishermen will always be the biggest conservationists you will
meet, because they want to keep doing what they do. This still resonates to me and compels me
to want to learn more as its an industry I have been around my whole life.
I have drawn a specific interest with the Great Barrier Reef because it is where the marine
biologist that stayed with us were from, and I have a sharks tooth on my desk one of them found
while diving the reef. Coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystems in the world, and if we lose
them then a lot of species will go extinct. Also, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the 7 natural
wonders of the world, making it a very big topic when climate change is being discussed. I know
that the Great Barrier Reef is to the East of Queensland, and that it is home to some species that
only live there. I also knew that it was supposed to die by 2050. I did not know that certain
scientists now predict it to be dead sooner. I also did not know what was causing the bleaching, I
originally thought it was just a disease going through the population of coral.
Next Steps
I will be continuing as much conversation with Dr. Hughes as I can. I also am from the
beach and plan on visiting the UNC Marine lab, NOAA, and the Marine Fisheries to see if I can
make any correlations to events here that could harm the Great Barrier Reef. The books I
checked out from the library are filled with information that I plan to continue to read to ger a
better understanding on the workings of the reef. The document that I received from Dr. Hughes
will also be a very big source of information. To see the other side of the argument, I plan on
researching more online. I will read the CNN article that claimed the reef would be dead by
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2050, and I will continue to seek leads from political resources as well. To do so, I will be
looking at online (hopefully unbiased) articles, using the librarys resources, and keeping up to
date on current news regarding climate change and the Great Barrier Reef.