The largest coral reef on the globe — the Great Barrier Reef is 50 percent dead. That’s a whopping area much larger than the size of England.
The relentless quest for Queensland coal and thousands of super-coal tankers are delivering the final blow to Earth’s most magnificent marine wonder.
China is the largest importer of Australian coal. Last year they cut their demand by 10 percent. And now they are forecasting another 10 percent drop in coal consumption for 2015.
Chinese citizens are choking to death on coal, so the Chinese government is racing to diversify into wind and solar technologies.
Queensland’s coral reefs are in shocking shape and now the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is considering listing the Great Barrier Reef as a site “in danger.” This would protect the remaining coral reefs and prevent coal exports skyrocketing from 240 to 787 million metric tons annually.
The current Australian government is scrambling to preclude UNESCO from listing the Great Barrier Reef as a site “in danger.” This would curtail their business-as-usual of delivering more heat-trapping, poisonous coal to a subsidized world marketplace.
Clearly, it’s time to embrace innovation, keep coal in the ground and save the largest remaining coral reef on the globe!
Please support Fight for the Reef, the Bob Brown Foundation and Sea Shepherd Australia because they’re protecting the glorious Great Barrier Reef.
Earth Dr. Reese Halter’s latest book is “Shepherding the Sea: The Race to Save our Oceans.”
