Coral reefs around the world are threatened.
They are threatened by changes in the oceans, such as rising temperatures and acidity, and also the influx of sediment from the land surface. There is also the threat of tourism, and the removal of certain species as they are seen as a resource, or have some specific value e.g.
Clown fish after the launch of Pixar's
'Finding Nemo' film. These are part of the reef ecosystem of course, so removing this one animal can then impact on the other
Coral Reefs also sometimes have
UNESCO World Heritage Status, which means that they are protected from change. One reef which falls into this category is the
Great Barrier Reef.
There are, however, some problems with the reef's standing due to plans for some dumping of industrial material, and also routes for shipping through the reef.
This follows
plans in 2012 to develop some new ports for larger vessels and allow them to pass through the reef.
Simon Reeve's series on Australia touched on this issue too, and the article had the great headline 'barrier grief'...
Explore this issue over the summer.
I've also got a case study that I wrote for a book that was never used, which I'll be putting to use next year.
