SCIENCE

Great Barrier Reef Faces Irreversible Damage and Destruction

When will awareness and action kick in as the clock keeps ticking and immeasurable losses add up?

By Anna Hansard 

Reefs are large gatherings of coral, which are colorful marine invertebrates that form colonies with 1,000 to 100,000 individual animals. The Great Barrier Reef is a very popular tourist attraction because of its beauty-- but it also plays an essential role in one of the most diverse oceanic ecosystems on the planet.

The Great Barrier Reef is home to hundreds of coral species, over 1,500 species of tropical fish, over 200 different types of birds, and around 20 types of reptiles. It is also home to a handful of endangered species, such as the Green Sea Turtle and the Sea Cow. It stretches for over 1,400 miles across the coast of Queensland, Australia, and has an area of approximately 133,000 square miles according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Recent investigation has revealed that without immediate climate action, the Great Barrier Reef faces an urgent threat.

Months after the World Heritage Committee’s initial recommendation to add the reef to the endangered list, a team of scientists from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) led a research mission to determine the state of the reef. After monitoring the reef for ten days, the team reported back that “The reef is facing major threats due to the climate crisis and that action to save it needs to be taken with utmost urgency.” 

The United Nations is working to have the reef globally recognized as an endangered heritage site in order to protect the reef’s natural waters from pollution. Recent Australian efforts to curb emissions have been ineffective, and the impacts of man-made climate change have led to an increase in water acidity around the reef. Without more money being dedicated to maintaining the waters surrounding the reef, the water quality will continue to decline. The UN cultural agency has initiated conversations with Australian authorities in an attempt to negotiate more rapid measures to preserve this landmark, but were repudiated by Australian officials. The Great Barrier Reef is not the only reef at risk: many species of coral are registered under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered. Without immediate, vigorous and sustained efforts, human-caused pollution will only continue to damage the world’s natural ecosystems. 

The United Nations is still pushing towards internationally concentrated efforts to preserve the Great Barrier Reef, but recent scientific studies have found evidence that calls into question the chances of the reef’s survival. Environmental science research has discovered that, since the 1950s, the global coral population has been cut in half as a result of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses, overfishing, and pollution. CNN states, “Scientists predict that within the next two decades, 80% of all living coral around the world will die.” One of the major threats to the coral’s survival is mass bleaching, which is damage to the reefs as a result of food deprivation caused by drastic temperature increases. The UN is still fighting to limit pollution and lessen the impacts of climate change in an attempt to save the reef. By adding it to the list of Endangered Heritage Sites and inducing international climate action, the Great Barrier Reef may soon be on the road to improvement. 

Artemis 1 Launches 

Blast off! NASA releases spacecraft sent to the Moon!

By Andrea August and Olivia Coish

NASA’s Artemis mission is on the move after being delayed four times. On Wednesday, November 16th, NASA launched Artemis 1, their first ever, “Mega moon rocket.” As of December 11, the Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down in the Pacific ocean and returned to NASA’s Space Kennedy center. 

The flight held a range of scientific instruments that allowed for further space exploration. Three ‘moonkins,’ or mannequins wearing the First-Generation Orion Crew Survival System spacesuit, were aboard the craft. Sensors were placed on the mannequins to provide the human crew with data, all of which went towards the goal of expanding lunar knowledge, making technological advancements, and bringing awareness to deep space radiation. 

The Artemis mission lasted 25 days. On the fifth day, the Orion spacecraft reached the Moon’s sphere of influence. This marked the point where the Moon became the gravitational force for the craft. The next day, the Orion achieved a flyby of the Moon where they covered nearly 130 kilometers of the surface. A few days later, the spacecraft left the lunar sphere, venturing further from the Earth. Orion broke the record held by Apollo 13 for the furthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed for carrying humans. Orion achieved the max distance of 432,210 kilometers from Earth on the 13th day of the trip. The spacecraft began its journey home on the 16th, making another lunar flyby. By using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot itself back toward Earth, Orion landed in the Pacific Ocean on December 11th. 

Following the success of the Artemis 1 mission, NASA has scheduled the launch of Artemis 2 for May 2024. This mission will be the first crew test flight to travel to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis 2 will make history being the first craft to carry a woman of color to the moon. In Greek mythology Artemis is the goddess of the moon and the twin sister of Apollo. The name has symbolic references to nature and hunting as well as female independence. 

It will also be the most powerful rocket to ever be launched. NASA plans to “explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, the moon’s south pole, and establish the first long term presence on the moon.” This journey will provide scientific discoveries and economic benefits. Eventually, NASA will shift their focus from Moon exploration to the investigation of Mars.