The coral reef is the largest single structure to be built by living organisms. But the precious structures, built by a battery of tiny organisms called corals polyps, are especially vulnerable to man’s impact on the environment.
Slow increments in levels of CO2 are gradually making the oceans more acidic and dissolving coral in the process.
And temperature rises caused by the same emissions are bleaching the coral, as the beauty fades.
A recent report by marine scientist Charlie Veron claimed that global warming will destroy the World Heritage site within just 20 years. The former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science says that CO2 levels have risen so much it is now impossible to save the natural structure.
