The Great Barrier Reef is another natural wonder in danger of extinction due to rising water temperatures which lead to coral bleaching. This unfortunate happening has terminated much of the corals. On Monday, the Australian government announced that the red will receive $48 million in the next 18 months.
What will be done with the investment?
The money will be used to stop pollution from entering and toxifying the reef and to fight against the crown-of-thorns starfish The Australian government will spend AU$10.4 million to increase the number of vessels culling the pest to eight.
The rest of the money will be administered by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and CSIRO. They will conduct research to find ways to make corals more resilient. AU$4.9 million will be invested in hiring field officers to monitor the reef and spot bleaching events ahead of time.
A pledge to protect the reef was made
Back in 2015, The Australian government pledged to preserve the reef and spend approximate $AU 2 billion in 10 years. Apart from saving the Great Barrier Reef and additional 64,000 jobs will be created and an additional AU$ 6.4 billion will be added to the economy.
What is coral bleaching?
The warming waters stress the algae, which are responsible to provide the coral with the necessary nutrients through photosynthesis. The algae get heat stresses and it produces a toxin. The coral expels the algae and it bleached. The bleaching process can turn fatal to corals. Also, the crown-of-thorn starfish is a creature that eats coral and in recent decades its population has been increasing drastically. A difference between the warming waters and the crown-of-thorn starfish is the time. Bleaching waters event occur every few years, while starfish are a natural depredators existing at all times.