Australia

Tourism has a massive impact on the Daintree Rainforest. More than 400,000 people visit the region each year, which means thousands of buses, 4WD's, and passenger cars will drive through the rainforest. Tourism is arguably the most destructive environmental force to the Daintree's vulnerability. The demand for tourism will also increase the amount of cars and land development in the area. A major reason for the large number of tourists who visit the Daintree each year is due to its close proximity to another major Australian tourist destination, the Great Barrier Reef. Tourists may stay in nearby Cairns or Port Douglas and visit both the rainforest and the reef in the one holiday. Many tourists will litter the area without thinking twice, such as outside a hotel. While there may be no fines for this, rubbish can easily get blown into rivers and streams which many animals depend on for water.

Development by private enterprise impacts negatively on the vulnerability of the Daintree. Due to an increasing emigration to Queensland from other states due to a lower cost of living along with tourism, the demand for more public and housing infrastructure has increased in North Queensland. This has caused the creation of many fences, subdivision of land in the area, building of roads as well as sewage and drainage infrastructure taking place for homes and hotels. These impacts create dangerous conditions for fauna in the Daintree and may cause animals to cross roads or fences in order to search for food. It will also increase pollution due to the development and creation of new infrastructure. Development will also make the rainforest more accessible to tourists which will increase the number of tourists even more.

Miningis another threat, although has not yet become active. Tin mining leases are held over parts of the area, and if these go ahead many plants and animal species will be lost. Even though parts of the Daintree are protected, mining may become another threat as people seek sources of income. By making laws to protect all of the Daintree, this will not become a threat in the future.

Loggingis an industry that put the Daintree Rainforest on the map decades ago, and remains a force in the area. From the mid-late 20th century, logging has been a major factor contributing to the vulnerability of the Daintree. Undisturbed rainforests absorb one fifth of all CO2 emissions and the Daintree Rainforest must be one of these to protect the future. Cutting and burning trees releases more greenhouse gases than all the vehicles in the world. The Australian government must put a stop to this as the world's precious rainforests are being cleared rapidly- a shocking 11 000 000 hectares a day.

Even the most minor logging impacts will affect the vulnerable Daintree Rainforest as species extinctions are likely to occur for more than a century after logging. Laws must be passed immediately to protect Australian rain forests' vulnerability.

Of the 19 primitive plants in the world, the Daintree is home to 12 of them. Land use change, mainly logging and clearing land is responsible for 20% of CO2 emissions and contributes to the growing impact of global warming.

Global warming affects the world and threatens our environment and animal species of the world. Recent bushfires are believed to have a link with global warming and we could face more environmental disasters.

The lower house of Federal Parliament in Australia is the House of Representatives.

It should be noted that Commonwealth and State parliaments have different names in their bicameral system. To see the different names for the lower houses of state parliament in Australia, see the related question.

The great barrier reef is being destroyed becuase of global warming, pollution and other factors. Most of it is due to people though.

Further information:

The Great Barrier Reef is not actually almost being destroyed. It does not even have an official listing of endangered: but it is shrinking, and 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 done so in the past. Destruction and regeneration is all part of the reef's natural cycle. parts of tye northern Great Barrier Reef that have been damaged during a warming cycle have been found to regenerate after just twelve years.

However, it should be noted that pollution and chemical runoff pose a very real threat to the reef. The water quality of the reef is affected by sediment and nutrients, and 80% of this is caused by cattle grazing on the land adjacent to the reef. Mud and chemical runoff tend to limit the sunlight that reaches the coral, causing it to die off, and they increase the macro-algae, which is a weed.

Tourism is a threat to the reef, as tourist boats damage the delicate framework of the reef; fishing and pollution left behind by visitors also is a threat.

Although the Australian indigenous people knew of the Great Barrier Reef for thousands of years, the first European discovery of the reef was made in 1770.

In June 1770, Lieutenant James Cook became the first known European to sail up the eastern coast of Australia. His ship Endeavour ran aground on the reef just outside where the town of Cooktown now lies, and nearly sank. The Endeavour managed to stay afloat for another week whilst the crew sought desperately for land, eventually sighting the harbour formed by the Endeavour River. The ship was landed on 10 June 1770, and Cook spent almost two months repairing it, thus giving rise to the fledgling township of Cooktown.

Cook did not name the Great Barrier Reef, however. That was done by Matthew Flinders in 1801.

Yes, it does flood from time to time. According to Wikipedia, it flooded so bad once in 1956, that the water was up for six full months.

Correction:

There is no such river as the Murray Darling.

The Murray River floods, and the Darling Riverfloods. All rivers in Australia flood from time to time.