Unesco: Great Barrier Reef should be listed as 'in danger'

• Integrity Education, Delhi
• 27, Jun 2021

Whats the Issue?

Climate change has led to three big events of coral bleaching in 2016, 2017 and 2020.

About GBR

• The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the natural world
• The GBR is about 2,300 km long and extends across a breathtaking 346,000 sq. km. area
•  UNESCO listed the Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

About World Heritage Committee 

• The World Heritage Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention
• The World Heritage Committee is composed of representatives of 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention who meet annually.
• The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is an international agreement that was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972.

Coral Bleaching

• Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching. 
• When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. This is called coral bleaching.
• When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. 
• Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.