Great Barrier Reef??

Question

1. Why was it put on the World Heritage Site?

2. Why is it in Danger?

Answer 1

1- Australia has one of the longest coral reefs in the world, containing species of fish found no where else. The ancestors, the aberiginial people, probably used to hunt these fish, leading to a hunter gatherer culture.

2- The Coral reef is home to many dangerous fish, like the box jelly. But danger, could be the vast depeltion of the reef due to water polution. By killing off this paticular reef, species of fish could become extinct.

Answer 2

The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organic collective visible from Earth's orbit. The Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Australia, is one of the wonders of the natural world - it is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem. It was declared a World Heritage area in 1981.

The Great Barrier Reef area abounds with wildlife, including dugong and green turtles, varieties of dolphins and whales, more than 1500 species of fish, 4000 types of mollusc and more than 200 species of bird life.

Human activity in the Reef areas has led to increased pollutants and the reef has suffered damage.

One of the greatest dangers to the habitat is the Crown of Thorns starfish. Since the 1960s the Crown of Thorns has been destroying the corals which make up the reef.

Another scourge of the reef is bleaching, where corals have died in large numbers. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, but has been observed on reefs throughout the world. It is thought the bleaching has been caused by rises in water temperature related to the El Nino effect, although the evidence is not conclusive.

More than two million people visit the reef each year generating more than $AU2 billion in tourism dollars, making tourism a major earner for the north-eastern Australian economy. Tourists are carried to the reef system by more than 500 commercial vessels, and tourism is permitted through nearly all the Park.