Great Barrier Reef Environmental Issues

Humans have been associating with ecosystems and changing them for as long as the start of human life. An ecosystem is a community of species and their non-living environment working in cohesion. Ecosystems at risk, such as The Amazon rainforest and the GBR are those which are heavily affected by change and if altered they require a long time to return to their former state. Human activities such as fishing, tourism and deforestation have had huge impacts on the balance of these ecosystems.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest biological organism in the world, the balanced ecology of the Great Barrier Reef is very vulnerable to even the smallest human influence. The range, frequency and the scale of human impacts on coral reefs are building to the extent that reefs are threatened globally. Pollution, global warming and over-fishing are the main factors that are tipping the stability of the ecosystems within the coral reefs. Pollution has made a huge impact on the Great Barrier Reef and its struggle for survival, human based pollution has caused such harm to our reefs that it needs to be stopped or reduced dramatically in order to save our this fragile ecosystem. The human pollution has been a major source for issues concerning the Great Barrier Reef and its struggle to survive in modern day conditions.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the
For example, many of the best edible fish such as the piracacu have had their populations greatly reduced by overfishing without any seasonal control to avoid the breeding season. The use of gill nets, dynamite and other environmentally unacceptable methods of fishing is having a drastic effect on the product that is the best source of protein in the region. Already river turtles have been over hunted to almost extinction through the use of their meat and eggs. The exploitation of natural resources has been great and has put the ecosystem at great