The Great Barrier Reef – A Disappearing Destination «

So vast it is visible from the moon, the Great Barrier Reef covers 344,000 square kilometres, stretching a massive 2,600 kilometres off the north-east coast of Australia.

The largest coral ecosystem in the world, it is far bigger than Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland combined.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of some 400 different species of hard and soft coral in every imaginable colour. It is home to 1,500 varieties of fish and thousands of different shellfish, whose existence depends on the coral.

Higher water temperatures are very likely to have devastating consequences for the reef, as will increasing acidification of the oceans. If the water temperature rises 1.5°C2°C, many more parts of the coral will bleach and eventually die. An increase of 3°C would wipe the reefs out completely.

Global warming is expected to raise the temperature of the water in the area by at least 2°C by 2100. In other words, it is highly probable that the Great Barrier Reef will disappear from the surface of the Earth.