What is the Great Barrier Reef? The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system located in Australia, but it is also the largest coral reef system in the entire world. It is home to a massive variety of fish, it is home to over 900 islands, and it is also composed of over two-thousand sub-reefs. The Great Barrier Reef remains under constant distress which can be mostly attributed to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and tourist activities, these include, but are not limited to: boating through the reef, tropical storms throughout the reef, and the pollutants released all through the reef.
There are many tourist attractions spanning throughout the Great Barrier Reef, such as cruising the Michaelmas Cay. Michaelmas Cay is the largest coral area located in Cairns, Australia. Unlike various other cays, the Michaelmas Cay is always able to maintain a water level that is above the coral no matter the tide. This unique fact about Michaelmas Cay exemplifies
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A tropical storm is defined as being a storm with low wind pressure occurring over tropical oceans and is it is very similar to a hurricane. The most recent tropical storm suffered by The Great Barrier Reef occured in 2017. It wasn't referred to as a storm, but a “tropical cyclone” (Copp). The tropical cyclone had a name, and the name was Debbie. Debbie was the most harmful of these storms killing 14 residents of Australia. Cyclone Debbie packed very strong winds as well as a very large amounts of rain smashing down towards the Australian coast. The Great Barrier Reef suffered massive amounts of damage as a result of Cyclone Debbie. Much of the corals were broken and marine life had been harmed. Cyclone Debbie left deep holes in the nations pockets. The tropical cyclone left damages which cost Australia approximately 2 million