The Great Barrier Reef Is In Worse Condition That It Was Believed

The Great Barrier Reef is in need of help because some recent surveys showed that it was in worse condition than everybody believed. The ones that are in charge of the Barrier Reef are trying to get the help the reef needs.

GBRMPA is the organization that is responsible for the reef and they mentioned that everybody needs to do something before this heritage site is lost. The director of the organization mentioned that it is almost impossible to improve the water quality which is poor in the areas that are close to the coast.

One of the factors that are affecting this area is the global warming. In order to save the Great Barrier Reef a lot of people need to make some changes. These efforts need to be made by the community, the governments, and industry.

The high temperatures were the ones that damaged the corals. The coral death rate is now more than 20% which is a big number. This is only the beginning because the effects of the global warming are getting even worse.

The director of the organization that is responsible for saving the Great Barrier Reef, David Wachenfeld, mentioned that last summer the rate of coral deaths increased even more.

“Essentially, this is confirming that this is the worst bleaching event that the reef has seen by a very, very long way,” he said.

Last year, the United Nations decided that the reef is not in danger and that the government should solve this problem in 5 years. Now that things are getting worse the Australian government is going to update the UN in order for them to establish if the reef is really in danger.

In order to prove that the Great Barrier Reef is not in danger, a Senator snorkeled there. Many people claim that the Senator did not swim in the damaged area and that she saw just the parts that were barely damaged.

The part that was the most damaged was the Lizard Island. Many corals were killed there because of the high temperatures. The environmental organization mentioned that this is a serious problem and that people need to make some efforts in order to solve it as soon as possible.

Image source: Flickr