The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef, located off the coast of Queensland, is one of Australia's most renowned natural wonders. As the world's largest coral reef system, it stretches over 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) and is visible from space.
Definition: A coral reef is a underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals, which are tiny animals that secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
This magnificent ecosystem is home to an incredible diversity of marine life, including over 1,500 species of fish, 400 types of hard coral, one-third of the world's soft corals, and numerous other marine species.
Highlight: The Great Barrier Reef is not just a single reef, but a complex system of nearly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands.
However, the Great Barrier Reef faces significant challenges due to climate change. Rising ocean temperatures and acidification are causing coral bleaching events, where corals expel the algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white and potentially die.
Vocabulary: Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, causing them to expel symbiotic algae from their tissues, turning them white.
Conservation efforts are underway to protect and preserve this unique ecosystem, which is not only a natural wonder but also a crucial habitat for countless marine species and an important economic resource for Australia.