Is the Great Barrier Reef shrinking?

Answer 1

Australia's Great Barrier Reef could lose 95 percent of its living coral by 2050 should ocean temperatures increase by the 1.5 degrees Celsius projected by climate scientists.

While the Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's healthiest reefs, coral reefs are particularly fragile ecosystems, partly due to their sensitivity to water temperature. When corals are physiologically stressed -- as is the case when water temperatures are elevated -- they may lose much of the their symbiotic algae, an event known as "bleaching." Corals can recover from short-term bleaching, but prolonged bleaching can cause irreversible damage and subsequent death.

Answer 2

The Great Barrier Reef is shrinking, but it is unknown by how much. Climate scientists who subscribe to the theory of anthropogenic global warming (i.e. caused by man's activities) predict that the Great Barrier Reef may lose up to 95% of its coral by the middle of the current century. Although the coastline parallel to the Great Barrier Reef has been settled by Europeans for less then 200 years, these scientists believe that the Reef has been shrinking by 20% every 100 years.

Climate scientists who subscribe to the theory that global warming is cyclical perhaps have a less drastic view, as they believe that the coral will regenerate, as it has apparently done so in the past. It is a very emotive topic.

However, it should be noted that pollution and chemical runoff pose a very real threat to the reef. Mud and chemical runoff tend to limit the sunlight that reaches the coral, causing it to die off. Global warming issues aside, the Great Barrier Reef is most definitely shrinking.

Answer 3

Overfishing is threating the Great Barrier Reef. The polluted water, climate conditions, its damaged by shipping routes, and global warming are all effecting the Great Barrier Reef in dramatic ways. Pollution in things like boats are changing the reef because it is being damaged. :O

Answer 4

It is shrinking, dying because of climate change and other human caused conditions.