The Great Barrier Reef – level 2

The Great Barrier Reef is the world´s largest coral reef system of 2,500 reefs and islands. They stretch over about 248,000 square kilometers off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

In 1981, the Great Barrier Reef became part of UNESCO´s World Heritage, but now, the UN wants to change it. The UN report said that the corals are in danger because of climate change. The ocean temperature is getting higher, and it makes the corals bleach and die. The UN wants to put the Great Barrier Reef on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Australia does not agree with the report. Australian officials said that the corals were colorful, and tourists liked them. If something changes, tourists may not come because they will not want to see dead corals.

Difficult words: coral reef (an underwater system of corals which look like colorful rocks), World Heritage (a very important or special place which people must protect for future people), bleach (to lose color).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.