The increased export of coal from Queensland, Australia has overshadowed the need for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef and its endangered species. “The rampant destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, given the green light last Friday by the federal government, epitomises the values of our modern world. “Economic development” and “jobs” reign supreme while our reef, one of the seven wonders of the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is in great jeopardy.”
The article continues to mention the potential medical uses this area can provide, which directly benefit humans. Regardless of this benefit, there is an expected increase of 547 tons of coal exports by 2030 to Chinese and India economies. Gladstone and Abbot Point are also expected to become two of the busiest ports in the world. The federal government has fully supported this extraction, at the expense of the demise of the reef’s dugong population, down 97% since 1960. Without even caring about the noise pollution that directly harms organisms in and near the reef, the process of extraction itself disrupts the seabed by destroying benthic structures and releasing sediments that have ended in catastrophic algal blooms. The management of coal extraction near the Great Barrier Reef is screaming for adaptive management practices to be implemented.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/02/18/0909335107.abstract
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