GREAT BARRIER REEF

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world, and pulling
away from it, and viewing it from a greater distance, you can understand why. It is larger
than the Great Wall of China and the only living thing on earth visible from space.

The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia, is the
largest living thing on Earth, and even visible from outer space. The 2,300km-long
ecosystem comprises thousands of reefs and hundreds of islands made of over 600 types of
hard and soft coral. It's home to countless species of colourful fish, molluscs and starfish,
plus turtles, dolphins and sharks.
Area: 348,700 km²
One of Australia’s most remarkable natural gifts, the Great Barrier Reef is blessed
with the breathtaking beauty of the world’s largest coral reef. The reef contains an
abundance of marine life and comprises of over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays
and literally hundreds of picturesque tropical islands with some of the world’s most beautiful
sun-soaked, golden beaches. Because of its natural beauty, the Great Barrier Reef has
become one of the world’s most sought after tourist destinations.

A visitor to the Great Barrier Reef can enjoy many experiences including snorkeling,
scuba diving, aircraft or helicopter tours, bare boats (self-sail), glass-bottomed boat viewing,
semi-submersibles and educational trips, cruise ship tours, whale watching and swimming
with dolphins.
 The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system[1][2] composed of
over 2,900 individual reefs[3] and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi)
over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi).[4][5] The reef is
located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef can
be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living
organisms.[6] This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms,
known as coral polyps.[7] It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World
Heritage Site in 1981.[1][2] CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
[8]
 The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which
helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental
pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by
mass coral bleaching, and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish.
According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
The Great Barrier Reef has long been known to and used by the Aboriginal
Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is an important part of local groups'
cultures and spirituality. The reef is a very popular destination for tourists, especially in
the Whitsunday Islands and Cairns regions. Tourism is an important economic activity for
the region, generating over AUD$3 billion per year.[11] In November 2014, Google
launched Google Underwater Street View in 3D of the Great Barrier Reef.
A March 2016 report stated that coral bleaching was more widespread than
previously thought, seriously affecting the northern parts of the reef as a result of warming
ocean temperatures.[13] In October 2016, Outside published an obituary for the reef; [14] the
article was criticized for being premature and hindering efforts to bolster the resilience of
the reef.[15] In March 2017, the journal Nature published a paper showing that huge sections
of a 800-kilometre (500 mi) stretch in the northern part of the reef had died in the course of
2016 due to high water temperatures, an event that the authors put down to the effects of
global climate change.

Submitted by:

MARK JAMES FULGUERINAS