24 Stunning Places That Climate Change Is Destroying For Future Generations

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Image: Shutterstock/Brian Kinney

Why go to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia when you could go snorkeling in Florida or the Caribbean to find some coral and pretty fish? Because it’s the largest coral reef in the world at 1,680 miles long. Home to 1,500 species of fish, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the most colorful places in the world. In the past 27 years half of the coral reef has disappeared. It is continuing to vanish at a rapid rate. Climate change has caused warmer temperatures in the ocean, and warmer ocean temperatures have bleached the coral, turning the once-vibrant Great Barrier Reef into a ghostly, dying environment.

Industrial and agricultural waste have also taken a toll on the Great Barrier Reef. While you may not think industrial and agricultural waste have anything to do with climate change, our modern energy-, chemical-, and genetically-modified organism intensive industrial food and farming systems are all leading causes of global warming. A vital part of food factoring is deforestation and wetlands destruction. Industrial and agricultural systems contribute enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, and not just carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide.

In addition to global warming threatening the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian Government is allowing tens of millions of tons of seabed to be dredged in World Heritage waters, to make way for four mega ports, servicing up to 7,000 industrial ships crossing the Reef each year. The best thing you can do to help protect Australia’s magical reef is join Fight For The Reef to prevent further damage to the reef and preserve what remains of this natural wonder.