A Million Tons of Toxic Sludge Heading For Great Barrier Reef
Critics are up in arms about Australia ‘s governments approval to dump waste near the reef. Toxic sediment scooped up from the sea floor during maintenance work at nearby Hay Point Port will be ditched near the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Experts claim this will mean more than a million tons of sludge is to be dumped close to the Great Barrier Reef!
Ditching industrial waste treats world heritage waters like a rubbish tip environmental experts say.
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland.
A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which helps to limit the impact of human use, such as fishing and tourism. Other environmental pressures on the reef and its ecosystem include runoff, climate change accompanied by mass coral bleaching, dumping of dredging sludge and cyclic population outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish. According to a study published in October 2012 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985.
Critics of the plan to dump the waste have voiced concerns online.
Like Really #Australia? You approve dumping of 1 million ton of sludge near Great Barrier Reef | The Independent #WTF #ourplanet https://t.co/Q6Vrz86wfl
— Oscar Torres (@MANATICO) February 22, 2019
Ocean Sciences Article of the Day – Australia approves dumping of 1 million ton of sludge near Great Barrier Reef (The Independent) https://t.co/bbUZ2TkW0Z
— Rick Rigazio (@CAPTRick74) February 22, 2019
