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Article: Exposing environmental myths about the Great Barrier Reef.
- Article from:
- National Observer - Australia and World Affairs
- Article date:
- December 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Council for the National Interest. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Over the past four decades, hardly a year has passed without some dire threat to the Great Barrier Reef being proclaimed. Crown-of-thorns starfish, over-fishing, tourism, anchor damage, pesticides, fertilizer, cattle, cane, oil shale, coastal development, roads, marinas, shipping, global warming and sundry other menaces have repeatedly been declared to threaten the reef, and "experts" cited in support. None of these things has ever been dealt with in any effective manner, yet the reef remains much as it has always been. Credibility, however, never seems lacking for another threat nor for more expert opinions.
Although reefs in many other parts of the world have ...