John "Charlie" Veron—widely known as "the Godfather of Coral Reef(珊瑚礁)"—is a celebrated expert who has personally discovered nearly a quarter of the world's coral species and has spent the past 45 years diving Australia's Great Barrier Reef.But now the 73-year-old is raising the alarm about its future.The Great Barrier Reef,one of the natural wonders,is 2,300 kilometres long and is the only living organism that can be seen from space.It is considered a World Treasure Site due to its biodiversity with 30 species of whales,dolphins and sharks.Within the reef itself,there are also a number of tiny organisms and fishes.
However,its health is threatened.After the recent mass bleaching(白化) events,Veron dived in many areas of the Great Barrier Reef to see the damage for himself."I was seeing and feeling it and it was absolutely shocking," he says.
Veron says the mass bleaching events in the past few years—and the possibility of losing one of nature's greatest treasures—were a wake-up call for the world in the wider battle against climate change,which,together with the rising sea temperature,is considered the greatest threats to the reef.
Fortunately,earlier this year,the Australian government announced nearly 400 million dollars in new funding towards scientific projects designed to help the reef.
There has been criticism in Australia about the slow process for the funding."It won't be wasted,though," Veron says."As scientists will be able to create a sort of seed bank to protect the species until the climate is good enough to rebuild the reef.What the scientists hope to do is help nature along a bit after the big carbon dioxide increase is over and it starts to come down."
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