Two Perspectives

There are many reefs in the world being affected by climate change and cloral bleeching. Two of these reefs being affteced are the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Seychelles Reef in the Indian Sea. These reefs are being destroyed daily and soon will not be functioning. The reefs are to examples of how the world is being affected by global warming.

The Great Barrier Reef is being affected in many ways. Climate change is the main reason that the reef is drastically facing diffiulties. If the water stays warm for too long, the coral will die about a month after. Coral bleeching is a result of climate change. Many coral can not grow in place of the dead coral quicly enough. Coral bleaching can eventually become an annual tragedy. The rate of bleaching occuring is much higher than the reefs recovering. The Great Barrier Reef is at risk and can eventually stop functioning by 2030. Due to these effects, the Great Barrier Reef will not be able to survive in the next thirty years.

Another reef being destroyed is the Seychelles Reef. More than ninety percent of coral bleaching is caused by the El Nino effect and the Indian Ocean dipole. After the coral bleaching in 1998, the coral reefs in Seychelles have been damaged. Recently, researchers have found that coral bleaching has completely destroyed many reefs in Seychelles. The reefs can not be restored because the reefs are unhealthy and can not obtain enough larve to restore the reefs. The Seychelles Reef will be completely destroyed because of it's inability to restore the damaged coral.



coral bleaching



Biodiversity Loss in Coral Reefs

Around the world, coral reefs have been dying due to climate change. Coral reefs are very useful to the enviroment in many ways. Coral reefs provide benefits to humans in the form of food and medicine. They protect shores from the impact of waves and storms. Coral reefs provide economic benefits to local communities from tourism. Almost all species of coral reefs were affected by high sea surface temperatures in 1998.

There are many problems that coral reefs are facing. Increasing temperatures are affecting the coral reefs. About a fourth of all reefs are at risk of collapsing. Coral bleeching is destroying many reefs. Many coral reefs cannot be restored. There are many people involved and concerned about the loss of coral reefs. The UN Conferenceon Enviroment and Development focused on coral reefs and what they can do to help them. The Australian Agency and International Union of Conservation of Nature are both involved in conserving the coral reefs around the world.

If not helped, a majority of coral reefs will die off in the next 20 to 30 years. As a result, many ocean shores will be destroyed if the coral reefs are diminished. We will not be able to obtain the medicines the coral reefs provide for the world. Biodiversity will be lost in certain oceans if coral reefs are gone. To solve this problem, we can protect the coral reefs from the damage of the rising temperatures caused by global warming. We can use our resources to create the best plan for saving the coral reefs in the end.