Data Table

ACTIVITY	DESCRIPTION	ASSESSMENT
Coastal Development	The increase of human development in areas surrounding the coral reef causes sediment runoff into the ocean. The removal of vegetation and change in flow patterns also facilitates this runoff.	Coastal development stimulates algal overgrowth which can result in setting off outbreaks of potential coral predators.
Overexploitation	Local fishers and fishing industries in Australia accumulate large stocks of fish off the coral reefs.	The large removal of fish leads to loss of groups in the food chain in coral reefs that can cause widespread ecological changes.
Agricultural Run-off	Sediment, nutrients, pesticides, and herbicides enter the ocean due to increase in agriculture by the coast.	This run-off can create algal overgrowth and potentially kill coral from the toxins of the pesticides and herbicides.
Marine-based Pollution	Shipping and coastal developments dump chemicals into the ocean that can poison the coral. As well, the trash dumped can affect the marine life and harm them or block the sunlight needed for photosynthesis.	The marine-based pollution can change the ecological system of the GBR and change the marine life that inhabits the area or lead them to extinction.
Climate Change	The rise in temperature in the ocean and decrease of calcium carbonate are affecting the conditions under which coral reefs have prospered for the last millennia.	The climate change in 1998 caused 16% of the world’s coral to die, and has increased since then with the steadily incline of temperatures. Climate change is the number one threat to the Great Barrier Reef.

Source:

1. Hoegh-Guldberg, Hans, and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. "Implications of Climate Change for the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef." WWF Australia. (2004): 32. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://awsassets.wwf.org.au/downloads/cl029_great_barrier_reef_2050_the_implications_of_climate_change_1fev04.pdf>.