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The Australian government鈥檚 new plan to save the Great Barrier Reef won鈥檛 work, say environmental groups.
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On Monday, the government pledged an extra in funding to protect the natural icon. Most of the funding will go towards removing crown-of-thorns starfish, which eat coral, and preventing farm run-off from entering the reef.
Indeed, these are major threats to the Great Barrier Reef. Crown-of-thorns starfish were responsible for . Sludge washing off farms has also been shown to smother coral and other marine organisms.
However, the most significant damage in recent years has been caused by extreme heat. Coral bleaching during the ferocious summers of 2016 and 2017 left two-thirds of the reef badly degraded. concluded that human-induced climate change was .
As a result, environmentalists say the plan ignores the biggest threat to the reef: climate change. , it will be 鈥渁 classic case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, unless the federal government moves quickly away from coal and other fossil fuels.鈥�
Despite this threat, Australia has among high-income OECD countries, according to the World Bank. The government continues to support coal projects, including the planned construction of Australia鈥檚 largest coal mine just 300 kilometres from the Great Barrier Reef.
