Mesa 1

Arieona Mesa

Mrs. Polasek

Communications

21 April 2022

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Is Suffering Mass Coral Bleaching

I. Intro:

A. Attn. Getter: Carbon emissions and the rising ocean temperatures are

responsible for the death of coral polyps, especially in the Great Barrier Reef.

B. Credibility: Recently, I have researched this topic with the aid of various

magazines, newspapers, and credible internet sites. About coral bleaching and

how the increase in temperature is impacting aquatic organisms such as coral.

A. Connect to audience: Some people may not see the relevance of helping coral

reefs; however, coral reefs are beneficial to the human population and are very

important for marine ecosystems.

C. POMP: This afternoon I will start off by informing you about coral and how life is

dependent on coral reefs. Second, I will discuss what coral bleaching is and why

it occurs. Lastly, I will talk about the different actions that marine biologists are

performing to reverse coral bleaching.

II. Coral is a marine organism that has an important niche in our ecosystem.

A. Coral polyps are small organisms that exist in colonies, which then form coral

reefs (Hampson, 2017).

1. Calcium carbonate forms a hard skeleton for coral.

B. Coral and algae have a symbiotic relationship, meaning that both organisms

depend on each other to survive (James, 2018).

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1. Coral polyps consume algae, formally known as zooxanthellae (Torr,

2017).

a. Coral receives nutrients from the algae.

b. The zooxanthellae also give coral its color.

2. Algae also benefits from coral.

a. Algae also receive nutrients from the coral.

b. Coral provides algae with a safe environment to live in.

c. Humans and many aquatic organisms are dependent on coral

reefs.

d. Coral reefs can be considered keystone species (Reece, 2017).

a. This is because coral reefs have a large role in the ecosystem.

b. The death of coral reefs will have a great impact on the

ecosystem because many other species would not be able to

survive.

2. More than 11,000 species depend on the Great Barrier Reef

(Torr, 2017).

3. Humans also depend on coral reefs

a. Coral reefs protect the coastlines to ensure that they do

not erode (Knowlton, 2001).

b. Humans also depend on coral reefs through the food chain

[Next, we are going to talk about coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef and how it occurs.]

III. Coral bleaching is a phenomenon in which coral loses the algae that it consumes

(Zooxanthellae).

A. The warming temperatures cause the coral to expel algae (Torr, 2017).
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B. The coral loses nutrients that it had obtained, and therefore starves (James,

2018).

C. Because zooxanthellae also provide pigment in coral, the coral loses its color and

looks bleached (Torr, 2017).

a. Coral can survive if the polyps are able to reabsorb the algae.

b. If the coral cannot retain the algae, then it will eventually die due to a lack

of nutrients.

B. Coral bleaching is majorly impacting the Great Barrier Reef, which is

the largest coral reef on earth (Torr,2017).

1. The first coral bleaching phenomenon in the Great Barrier reef

took place in 1998.

2. Since 1998, coral in the Great Barrier Reef has progressively

gotten worse with a large morality.

3. Other serious bleaching events have occurred in 2002, 2006,

2008, 2011, and 2016 (Torr, 2017).

C. Coral bleaching occurs when temperatures of the ocean rise

(James, 2018).

1. According to the national geographic in 2016,

temperatures rose in the northern management area of the

Great Barrier Reef, and 80 percent of the coral died.

2. Carbon dioxide reacts with water and forms carbonic acid

(Torr, 2017).

a. This lowers the overall pH of the ocean and results

in changes in the ecosystem.

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b. The coral and organisms that depend on the coral

are more likely to face adverse effects of this.

[Finally, I would like to talk about how marine biologists and other people have been working to

improve coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef.]

IV. Possible solutions

A. The Australian government has proposed actions in order to improve water

quality (Torr, 2017).

B. The coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef has already been pretty severe and

in most irreversible; however, there are still actions that have and can be taken.

[At this time, I would like to recap.]

V. Conclusion

A. The Great Barrier Reef is home to thousands of aquatic species that depend on

the coral reefs for protection. Because of the increase in ocean temperatures,

coral has started to lose its algae and become bleached. This results in the coral

dying, making the marine life that relies on them more vulnerable. Although coral

bleaching has already greatly impacted the Great Barrier Reef, scientists believe

the strict government regulations regarding water quality could make a

difference.
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Works Cited

Hampson, M. (2017, June 1). Scientists pinpoint how coral build their bony structures.

Retrieved from

https://www.aaas.org/news/scientists-pinpoint-how-coral-build-thier-bony-strcutures

James, L. (2018, August 7). Half of the Great Barrier Reef is dead. National Geographic,

Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com

Knowlton, N. (2001, May 8). The future of coral reefs. National Academy of Sciences, 98(10)

5419-5425 Retrieved from https://www.nasonline.org/

Reece, J.B., et al. (2017). Campbell biology: concepts and connections. Boston, MA: Pearson

Education.

Torr, G. (2017). TO HOT to handle Geographical (Geographical Magazine Ltd), 83(1) 40.

Retrieved from https://www.geographical.magazine.co.uk/