Save the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier reef is in huge trouble. Over 50% of the corals have died in the past 30 years. If we don't act now, our children wont be able to see the greatness of the coral reef. The reasons are bleaching, water quality and acidification. The first thing that is happening is that the corals are turning white due to the greatest and worst bleaching event the corals have ever experienced. This is due to global warming, because the high temperatures cause the corals to get rid of algae. Due to the loss of algae, the corals feel "stressed" and turn white. The water in the Great Barrier Reef is also becoming dirtier and dirtier every year. This is caused by human pollution and runoff going into the reef. During a period of year, there is flooding on farms. This rain floods into the reef in which is high in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous. This is when a coral killer is flourishing. It is called the crown-of-thorns starfish. The last thing is that the oceans have become more polluted from us injecting greenhouse gasses into the sky. Oceans absorb a near quarter of the global release of CO2 in the atmosphere. When it absorbs carbon dioxide, they go through chemical changes and become more acidic. But in cases like the reef, even a slight change in the reefs acidity, can kill many parts of the reef.

Check out The website I made on the situation for more details: https://sites.google.com/stu.boone.kyschools.us/the-great-barrier-reef/home