A warming climate is one of the principal menaces to the dazzling, 2,300-kilometer coral reef system off the coast of northeastern Australia known as the Great Barrier Reef. Home to thousands of species of fish and other creatures, the world’s largest coral reef is highly sensitive to many of the climate changes that will accompany a warmer planet, including rising seas, warming waters, storms and greater ocean acidity. Higher temperatures threaten to accelerate reef decay, bleaching the coral and depriving it of nutrients, leading finally to its demise.

Global warming threatens jewels of nature and civilization. (2015, December 10). The Manila Times, p. A6.