The Great Barrier
Reef is undisputed as one of the world’s most important natural assets.
The Great Barrier Reef is the
world's largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs
and 900 islands stretching for 2,600 kilometres (1,616 mi) over an area of
approximately 344,400 square kilometres (132,974 sq mi).This unique and diverse
marine ecosystem comprises about:
•2900 reefs
•600 continental islands
•300 coral cays.
Geographical LocationThe
reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast
Australiafrom just south of the Tropic of Capricorn to the coastal waters of
Papua New Guinea 24°30'N-10°41'S, 145°00'-154°00'E.
Climate
The Great Barrier Reef has a tropical climate influenced primarily by two
features of the southern hemisphere circulation: the equatorial low pressure
zone during the summer months and the sub-tropical high pressure zone during the
winter months. As the area lies between the continental land mass of Australia
and the open ocean of the South Pacific, its climate is also strongly influenced
by both the adjacent land mass and oceanic effects. Wind patterns are dominated
for the greater part of the year by the south-east trades. During January to
March, north-westerlies prevail in the north of the area under the influence of
the inter-tropical monsoonal front. The rainfall is seasonally and
geographically variable. The wettest period is summer, under the influence of
the monsoon and irregular tropical cyclones and depressions. Heavy rain may
occur in the south during winter. Air temperatures vary betweenan average
maximum of approximately 30°C in January and 23°C in July and an average minimum
of approximately 24°C in January and 18°C in July. Mean water surface
temperature is at a maximum during February and at a minimum during July
Wildlife There
are over 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 4,000 species of mollusc
and 242 species of bird within the park, plus a great diversity of sponges,
anemones, marine worms and crustaceans. The site includes major feeding grounds
for dugongDugong dugon. Several cetaceans are present, including humpback whale
Megaptera novaengliae , minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata and
killer whale
Orcinus orca. Dolphins include bottle nose Tursiops truncatus,
Irrawaddy Orcaella brevirotris and Indo-Pacific humpback Sousa
chinensis. Offshore, spinner dolphin Stennella longirostris is also
occasionally seen. There are nesting grounds of world significance for green
turtle Chelonia mydas and loggerhead Caretta caretta , and
habitat for four other species of marine turtle.
Australia has the largest area of coral reefs (purple) of any nation. (Inset)
Acropora corals in Ningaloo Reef
Credit: Australia Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Bigger than the entire area of
Italy, it is probably the best known marine protected area in the world. The
Great Barrier Reef's great diversity reflects the maturity of the ecosystem,
which has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. It is the world's most
extensive coral reef system and is one of the world's richest areas in terms of
faunal diversity.
Satellite image of part of the Great Barrier Reef adjacent to the Queensland
coastal areas of Proserpine and Mackay
Credit: NASA
The Great Barrier Reef can be
seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living
organisms.
River Plumes
Threaten Great Barrier Reef
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center
The Great
Barrier Reef could soon be another casualty of climate change
Carbon dioxide is increasing the
acidity of the oceans. Ocean acidity is increasing at a much faster pace
according to marine scientists meeting in Australia's capital, Canberra, at the
Coral Reef Futures 07 Forum, October 18-19, 2007. "It appears this acidification
is now taking place over decades, rather than centuries as originally predicted.
It is happening even faster in the cooler waters of the Southern Ocean than in
the tropics. It is starting to look like a very serious issue." said Professor
Malcolm McCulloch of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS)
and the Australian National University.
Over time, the acidic water
dissolves the shells of coral and marine life. The Barrier Reef is losing one to
two percent of coral each year and all of the reef’s coral could be gone in 40
years. The environmental problem is not just restricted to Australia, almost
half of the world’s reefs are under threat, with 44 percent of the world’s reefs
already severely degraded.
Reef Relief founders Craig and DeeVon Quirolo retired from the grassroots
organization last July, only to begin an effort to provide an online resource on
coral reefs. Their new website provides all the award-winning educational tools,
grassroots strategies, project reports and images of coral reefs assembled
during their work over the past 23 years in the Florida Keys and throughout the
Caribbean protecting coral reefs. You can find it at
www.reefrelieffounders.com
credit: NOAA, NASA, Reef Check,
UNEP, Reef Relief, Australian Government, University of Texas, Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Coral Reef Alliance
