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The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority considers the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef to be climate change, causing ocean warming which increases coral bleaching. [ 64 ] [ 65 ] Mass coral bleaching events due to marine heatwaves occurred in the summers of 1998, 2002, 2006, 2016, 2017 and 2020, [ 66 ] [ 13 ] [ 67 ] and coral ...
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterised by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed by colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate . [ 91 ] Coral reefs are important centres of biodiversity and vital to millions of people who rely on them for coastal protection, food and for sustaining tourism in many regions.
A major coral bleaching event took place on this part of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems, stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down at Cape York to the town of Bundaberg, [1] [2] is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays that stretch for 2,300 kilometres (1,616 mi) and cover an area of ...
This contributes to the conditions which allow the Great Barrier Reef to thrive, keeping the east coast around 18 °C year round instead of dropping to 12 °C in the winter. [4] The current is very low in nutrients but remains important for the marine ecosystem. The EAC transfers heat from the tropics to the mid-latitude water and atmosphere. [5]
Heron Island, Australia. A cay (/ ˈ k iː, ˈ k eɪ / KEE), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef.Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef.
It describes the organisms and ecosystems of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, and the biological, chemical and physical processes that influence them. Issues discussed include climate change, coral bleaching, coral disease and coral reef fishing. The book includes a field guide to help people identify the common animals and plants on the reef.
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
The islands, cays and reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are not part of the territory, belonging to Queensland instead. The outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef is the boundary between Queensland and the Coral Sea Islands Territory. The territory is a possession or external territory of Australia, administered from Canberra.