Climate Change is real, it is happening and it won't be stopped unless we, as humans, do something.
For anyone who doesn't believe that climate change is real, or that humans aren't the problem, wake up and take a look at what's happening around you. Climate change is not just the change in temperature or the random fluctuations. It's the bigger picture. With these temperature fluctuations comes rising sea levels, endangered species, crop failure, marine life depletion and even species extinction.
Recently, news articles and obituaries have surfaced claiming that the Great Barrier Reef is dead. However, they are false.The reef is not completely dead, despite being under ENORMOUS and FATAL stress.
In a previous, June 2016 article, The Decline of the Great Barrier Reef, I spoke about how the reef was in trouble. However, now it is facing a life or death situation.
The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of northern Australia in Queensland, is the largest on earth and is so big that it can even be seen from outer space. The massive system is composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands that stretch for over 1,400 miles. Billions of coral polyps make up, support and house thousands of individual organisms and hundreds of species, including 6 species of turtles, 215 species of birds, 17 species of sea snakes and more than 1,500 species of fish.
You may ask what is causing the reef to die. The answer is Humans. Yes, we as a population are to blame for the decline of this 25 million year old treasure.
When scientists say that the reef is "dying," they are referring to the bleaching of coral. Coral bleaching occurs as a result of climate change which leads to four main stresses. Warming water temperatures, pollution, low tides and over sun exposure. Coral bleaching causes marine life to struggle for survival.
We live in a consumer society, and because we do, we take advantage of things. We use cars to go everywhere, however we don't tend to use hybrids or fuel efficient ones. We dispose of garbage, however we don't always recycle. We use energy and "dirty" sources like coal, yet don't want to try to conserve or use renewable sources. It's things like this that are hurting and endangering the species around us and the overall health of the environment.
Although the damage already done to parts of the reef is irreversible, altering our ways of living and acting can help save the parts of the reef that are still alive.
Even though the articles and obituaries that you read about the Great Barrier Reef being dead are not true, if we continue our bad habits and do not try to help the environment out, it will be entirely dead.
Nature, the earth and the species around us were alive and thriving way before humans, therefore it is our duty as the human race to do our part and respect our elder....the earth.
