Australian Great Barrier Reef Essay

In the twenty-first century there are many issues for which environmentalists are promoting awareness. Some of the most heated topics include global warming, fracking, and even a decline in bee populations. Another pressing issue that some neglect to be concerned with is the human threat to coral reefs. Oftentimes humans appear to be more harmful than helpful concerning their surroundings. The absence of coral reefs would be detrimental to the environment and humanity. In order to fully grasp the severity of a world where they are in decline, their influence must first be properly understood; the origin and purpose of coral reefs require analyzation. The composition of a coral reef can be very intricate, and the three primary types are atolls,

Barrier reefs, which are larger fringing reefs, have a farther distance from the shore of their outer edge as well as a deeper channel. Perhaps the most well known barrier reef is the Australian Great Barrier Reef. It is a very largely fought for reef-related conservation project which has interested people across the globe. (insert) They generally have an abrupt descent toward grand depths with steep walls. Atolls are ring-shaped reefs oftentimes surmounted by numerous islets or perhaps a dry strip of land which encircles a lagoon; their outer walls have irregular slopes going down sometimes around 500 fathoms and lagoons are normally around 20 fathoms deep and may have a passage which connects to the sea. Examples of atolls would be the Maldive and Laccadive islands within the Indian Ocean. There are also reefs along Seychelles, Bourbon, Mauritius, and Madagascar’s northern coast. While not particularly common in the Atlantic, fairly large groups of coral may be seen along the bottom of Florida as well as around the Bermudas, Brazil, and the West Indies. In fact, the Bermudas are actually formed by coral and their high land is a result of wind causing an accumulation of sand which cements into