As our sense of environmental responsibility continues to die so does our Great Barrier Reef.

As Australians we pride ourselves on being environmentally conscious global citizens yet we cannot care for the environment that sustains our very existence. We pray for the wellness of the sick, we fund millions of dollars into the research for cancer cures, we change our diets to be healthier, we see counsellors to improve our mental health, we go on fitness regimes to make us physically fit yet we continue to do virtually nothing about the sickness of our environment. We know when those closest to us are sick, unhealthy, depressed, unfit, or battling a terminal illness yet we cannot and will not recognise or open our eyes to the dying of our very own Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the largest coral reef in the world. At 300km from north to south, it is larger than the great wall of China and is the only living thing on earth visible from space. In 1981 it was declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site, which recognises its unique physical and geographical importance. Yet Australians still vote for a government who are ignorant of this, believing that income is more important than the survival of our ecosystems, our environment, and our Great Barrier Reef.

Most of us are aware of the effects of global warming on the reef. We’ve all heard terms like ‘coral bleaching’ and ‘rising sea temperatures,’ but do any of us really understand what these misinterpreted and at times misused terms actually mean? They mean CLIMATE CHANGE. They mean the extinction of thousands of plant and animal species that call the Great Barrier Reef home, many of them unique to North Queensland alone. They mean that the tourist industry in Northern Queensland will be almost completely eradicated. They mean that coral is forced to expel the microscopic algae that live in their structures, that give them their myriad of amazing colours. When the algae dies the coral bleaches, turning it a ghostly white.

But that’s not all, it gets worse. Yes, colour loss is reversible but many coral species have a symbiotic relationship with this algae, algae that can provide more than 90% of the coral’s energy in some cases. Without them, the coral cannot feed themselves and many species die. And with a temperature change that can be as low as 1 ̊C to trigger this, it is no wonder we’ve been seeing headlines all over the news including “Coral wonderland at tipping point,” “Great Barrier Reef’s future could be grim within 20 years,” and “Grief on the Great Barrier Reef.” Even this small change we see mass bleaching events. Coral communities struck by a severe bleaching event can take decades to recover. Climate doesn’t just cause coral bleaching, it can affect fish, marine reptiles, sea birds and microscopic organisms. The Great Barrier Reef is supported by a vast and complex food web, small changes can have massive and unforeseen consequences on organisms from algae to whales.

Any government website will tell you that the Australian Government is doing great work helping to reverse climate change’s effects on the Great Barrier Reef, claiming to be “meeting our climate change targets, improving the environment and supporting an effective international response.” Scientists across the globe however would beg to differ, one of these such people, Steve Palumbi, a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University states that “…with only the consensus statement there will be no change - it's political leaders that change the world, it's people that change the world. The turning of the corner from science to policy is really difficult to do. That's where we are right now, and that's why we're reaching out to the political leaders of the world.” Ignorant politicians however continue to speak another tale and treat us as mindless zombies trained to believe everything that is said in the matters of environmental affairs. In the G20 summit former Prime Minister Tony Abbott tried to reduce the global renewable energy target, and has repeatedly voiced his disbelief in climate change. In fact, efforts for positive change have been met with resistance at every turn, with the government making consecutive pro-business decisions, often at the expense of the natural environment.

Not only is the government tip-toeing around the issue of preserving the reef, they are potentially jeopardising a major economical resource in tourism. The Great Barrier Reef currently acts as Queensland’s number one tourist destination, attracting over 2.9 million visitors a year, and supporting tens of thousands of jobs. We see increasing pressure from governments for the public to believe their lies about the ‘advantages’ for the economy and the ‘benefits’ for Australian citizens from the coal industry and other major businesses that continue to pollute that atmosphere. We must make our own educated opinion about the health of the Great Barrier Reef. With the implications of it’s destruction already beginning to gain prominence, it doesn’t make sense, whichever way you choose to look at it, to destroy an area so precious to the planet’s ecosystem and makeup.

Climate change isn’t the only thing impacting on the reef, the mining industry has a large part to play as well. Coal seam gas (CSG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) not only release toxic chemicals and other nasty substances into the environment, but they also require extensive infrastructure for support. This development has negative impacts in any environment, but the dredging of the reef and construction of large ports are just another stress the fragile ecosystem needs to handle. As part of the growth of the CSG industry, the government is undertaking six major port projects. There are concerns that these new ports will potentially put the reef in jeopardy and also negatively impact on the industries it already supports, such as fishing and tourism. The main process in these infrastructure projects is the dredging of the sea bed inshore from the reef. In order to accommodate large vessels, the shipping lanes that hug the coast need to be deepened, but what happens to all the sediment that must be removed? The answer to this is both unsatisfactory and unclear. Some of the proposed sites are within 1 kilometre of the Great Barrier Reef! Not only does sediment dumping change underwater landscapes and affect marine ecosystems, it can also lead to outbreaks in disease which impact on marine species and the food web. Increased shipping in these areas will also lead to greater rates of environmentally damaging oil spills and groundings.

Once again government decisions have favored business and economic productivity over the environment and other industries including tourism and fishing. The government wants to put all their eggs in one basket, the mining and the raw material export basket, leaving all others empty and vulnerable. Make no mistake, the mining industry creates thousands of jobs and has contributed to making Australia a prosperous nation. However, the extraction of non-renewable resources is not a long term plan we can rely on to keep our economy going, and it comes at a fatal cost to the environment which sustains these industries. According to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, there are 1.3 trillion barrels of proven oil reserve left in the world's major fields, which at present rates of consumption should last only 40 years.

Unless we invest and support renewable sources of income and energy, we will have a very deadly and very expensive mess to clean up. And who will be responsible for cleaning up this mess? We will! In 40 years current high school students will be the politicians, the thinkers, the activists, the environmentalists, and the world leaders of tomorrow. But the Great Barrier Reef won’t last that long, to save it we must strive for change today, because if we wait for it to become all too clear, it will very quickly become all too late.

For this month’s blog I’d like to give credit to Samuel Bakker, who helped in the writing of the article.

Thanks for reading. Love to hear any feedback.

#Environment