...Coral reefs are biologically diverse marine ecosystems, but are also the most fragile and endangered of them all. Covering 0.1 percent of the earth, coral reefs provide crucial habitat for over a quarter of marine species, many of which are endangered and threatened. For centuries, people have depended on reefs not only for food but also protection from storms and sand for beaches. More recently, with the development of the SCUBA, reefs help to provide communities with income and employment through tourism and recreation. They are also crucial to pharmaceutical development, providing scientists with certain chemicals compounds. Despite this, they are constantly being destroyed by human activities such as overfishing, mass collection of coral and coral species and pollution. Although the United States government is involved in the conservation of these ecosystems, an estimated 25% of reefs have been destroyed beyond restoration. They, along with other organizations, are working to preserve the estimated...
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...The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, is the largest living structure on the planet and it is in grave danger of dying. What can we do to save this amazingly beneficial ecosystem? Luckily, there are many things we can do, but we need to do it fast. Less and less attention has been generated through the years about the coral reef’s condition. Many organizations such as The World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Citizens of The Great Barrier Reef, Australian Marine Conservation Society and The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, all are working to fight for the continuation of the reef’s life. There is nothing like this in the world today, it is one of a kind and we need to take huge steps forward, quickly and powerfully to save this beautiful...
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...Australia is renowned as among the most beautiful countries in the world, with the contrast of bustling coral reefs teeming with wildlife and endless expanses of desert making it seem a world away from the shores of home. If you are keen to discover this outstanding beauty for yourself, here are some sights you won't want to miss through your camera lens. The Pinnacles Renowned as one of the very best limestone formations found anywhere in the world, the Pinnacles are located inside the Hamburg National Park and while they remained largely unknown to most Australians until the 1960s, today they receive over 250,000 visitors every year. A strange yet captivating location, there are thousands of pointy rocks and some measure more than a few...
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...Benefit generating from Tourism industry http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/visit-the-reef/visitor-contributions Visitor contributions Tourism is a major industry along the Great Barrier Reef coastline and it contributes exponentially to both the Queensland and Australian economy. Up to 2 million visits are made each year to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by visitors using a tourism operation. These visitors usually pay an environmental management charge (EMC). It is a way for visitors to contribute to keeping the Great Barrier Reef great for future generations to enjoy. The EMC funds received by GBRMPA are vitally important in the day-to-day management of the Marine Park. It is used to monitor, manage and improve the resilience of the Great...
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...natural science research. The study discusses (and recommends) steps that could help to build a stronger support system for the reef management and also advance the efficiency of the already existing conservation techniques. International researchers and scientists – Shankar Aswani, Rhodes University (Africa), Peter J. Mumby, University of Queensland (Australia), Andrew C. Baker, University of Miami (USA), Patrick Christie, University of Washington (USA), Laurence J. McCook, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Australia), Robert S. Steneck, University of Maine (USA) and Robert H. Richmond, University...
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...has been defined as a “concerted effort of an organization to build socially responsible relationships by achieving research-based goals through the application of communication strategies and the measurement of outcomes” (Kendall 1996, p.3). This paper examines the value of the modern-day IPR practice through a case study from an overwhelmingly successful IPR campaign ‘Best Job in the World’ sponsored by Tourism Queensland, Australia. Firstly, the research methodology will be introduced. Secondly, an introduction of the campaign will be sketched. In the third section of the paper, the analysis of the campaign is structured in three subitems with theoretical references. In the following section, a post-hoc evaluation tries to examine the case through a logical model. Lastly, by drawing from the previous analysis and evaluation, the paper exposes the findings in the values of modern-day IPR campaign. Research Methodology When considering what research methodology is appropriate and shall be adopted in the course of analyzing and evaluating this IPR campaign, it is important to understand the patterns and attributes of the study case. In view of the ‘Best job in the world’ IPR campaign is a typical model of modern-day IPR campaign, which is different from traditional PR campaign in terms of the PR strategies, execution and communication channels. Therefore, research methods correspondingly adopted contrastive analysis and evaluation in a literature review in accordance with academic...
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...Australian government and its people that it's serious about marine conservation. However, the closure of some of Australia's richest fishing grounds will directly impact on commercial fishers and game charter operators, seafood distributors and wholesalers and other shore-based industries in regional ports such as Cairns. Many of these people claim the outcome has been achieved by the government based on emotive scaremongering campaign driven by a cashed-up environmental lobby without scientific basis. So, who is right? In a community where the local economy has become so reliant on the dominant tourism industry, isn't the marine park sending the right message to the rest of the world about its iconic natural wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage rainforest and now, the Coral Sea? Or, as others suggest, has the balance been lost and too often other industries are being forced to sacrifice jobs and livelihoods in the name of the almighty tourism dollar? Tourism contributed almost $8.4 billion or 3.1% to gross state product in 2010-11 annually (Queensland Government, business and...
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...Rachel Bowman Megan Hodgson ENG 201 1 April 2016 Annotated Bibliography: Ocean Acidification Research Questions: What is ocean acidification? What are the causes? What are the consequences? Blackford, Jerry C. "Predicting the Impacts of Ocean Acidification: Challenges from an Ecosystem Perspective." Journal of Marine Systems 60.2-4 (April 2010): 12-18. Science Direct. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. This journal answers all three of my posed research questions. Ocean acidification is marine uptake of carbon dioxide emissions. These emissions can come from two sources, anthropogenic: originating in human activity, and natural causes: respiration, decomposition, etc. The consequences range widely and greatly depend on future rates. There could potentially be changes in composition, size, structure and succession in ecosystems that would then lead to greater consequences, energy flow and resources. In the greater picture food sources and economics could also be a resulting consequence. The journal includes several models that try to predict the future pH of the ocean and the effects each pH will have. Dupont, S., O. Ortega-martínez, and M. Thorndyke. "Impact of Near-Future Ocean Acidification on Echinoderms." Ecotoxicology 19.3 (2010): 449-62. ProQuest. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. This article focuses on how severe the issue is. By 2100 carbon dioxide concentrations are predicted to double. The ocean, being a major carbon dioxide sink, absorbs more than half the excess carbon, causing huge impacts...
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...High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland Australian Conservation Foundation Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Electrical Trades Union Friends of the Earth North Queensland Conservation Council Queensland Conservation Council Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance The Wilderness Society Cover picture: Mine tailings dam failure at Merriespruit, South Africa gold mine. On the day of the failure 50mm of rain fell in 30 minutes, comparable to flooding rain quantities in Qld in recent summers (source: tailings.info) High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland 1. Overview 2. Overstated economic potential 3. Environmental Impacts 4. Radiation and Health 5. Uranium and Indigenous Communities 6. Inadequate Regulation 6.1 Unresolved regulatory and operational issues 7. Beyond mining 7.1 Transportation 7.2 The myth of the peaceful atom: Weapons Proliferation 7.3 The myth of clean energy from nuclear power 7.4 A positive way forward for Queensland 8. Conclusions This report was prepared under the joint auspices of the unions and environmental and social justice groups listed on the cover. March 2013. Authors: R. Taubenfeld, D. Sweeney, J. Green High Risk – Low Return: The case against uranium mining in Queensland In October 2012 the LNP government broke its clear commitment not to allow uranium mining in Queensland. This commitment was the position of the LNP at the March 2012 state election and was reaffirmed...
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...Challenges and Strategies – Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Tourism Industry Anurag Dugar* Competitiveness is a comparative concept, primarily applicable at the company or firm level (McFetridge, 1995) and indicates towards its willingness and ability to compete in a given market, but the contemporary usage of this term has extended its traditional meaning to new dimensions. However, for one school of thought, competitiveness is equally applicable to all business enterprises, levels of government and nonprofit agencies and workers of the postmodern nation state. (Hillman C. H. 1992), but for another the underlying premise for competitiveness is - ‘firms compete, and not nations’, for example, according to Krugman - "The world's leading nations are not, to any important degree, in economic competition with each other" (Wikipedia). Similarly, Porter holds that - diversified corporate do not compete; only their business units do. Thus, according to the second school of thought competition occurs at the business unit level and hence the ‘corporate strategy’ must reinforce and focus on nurturing the competitiveness of each (business) unit. From this perspective, Nations can be visualized as diversified conglomerates and its sectors, industries and firms as its diverse business units, and then the role, relevance, importance and impact of “Government Policies” (Corporate Strategy), on the competitiveness of its sectors, industries and firms (business units) is clearly elaborated...
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...urbanisation have caused ocean acidity to increase by 26 % from preindustrial levels till today. (IPCC, 2014). Being terrestrial creatures, our focuses are on environmental impacts occurring on land, and less so in oceans. Yet, oceans are so fundamentally important that ignoring potential dangers of rising acidity could jeopardise humans’ sustainability on Earth. Even so, progress to tackle this issue has been slow, and little has been done so far. Hence, this paper explores the impacts of ocean acidification, reasons behind our inadequate efforts both past and present, and seeks to propose new ideas or improvise on existing ones to effectively tackle this issue. An Ocean of Problems Ocean acidification threatens fisheries, ecotourism, food production and marine biodiversity. Calcifying organisms such as corals and shellfish face severe environmental stress due to falling levels of carbonate ions needed to develop their exoskeleton or shells. In fact, studies have shown that the world’s largest coral reef system, Great Barrier Reef, has lost over half of its coral cover (De’ath et al., 2012), signifying huge habitat losses for numerous species reliant on corals for food and shelter. Not only will ecotourism be affected, the resultant decrease in population of marine organisms will be felt up the food chain, declining fish populations that in turn, affect fisheries and livelihoods of fishermen. Hence, ocean acidification poses numerous environmental, economical and social impacts that...
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...sequenced. The sequences were then analyzed using Sequencher 5.0 and BioEdit where they were aligned individually and then against other sequences found in previous literature research. The aligned sequences were run in Genbank using the BLAST function to identify the zooxanthellae at the subclade level. Further research into current literature was done with the best matched subclades to our sequences to further investigate the thermal resilience of the zooxanthellae. It was found that thylakoid membrane lipid compositions as well as lipid energy reserves are correlated to bleaching susceptibility. Clade D symbionts have higher lipid energy reserves, allotting for more thermal resilience in comparison to clade C as well as increased abundances in D symbiont types among reefs after bleaching events. Bleaching susceptibility was also found to have variation within clades. More research is needed to fully understand the coral-zooxanthellae relationship and acclimatization under stress. Introduction Coral reefs harbor over a fourth of all marine species and therefore are one of the most biologically diverse systems of the oceans (Gills, 2010). The coral community is comprised of a collection of biological communities that all interact and depend on each other, thus creating a complex system. This great biodiversity is...
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...PROJECT TOPIC : GLOBAL WARMING MOHAMED HASSAN SPN150597 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 2 2. DEFINITION GLOBAL WARMING .................................................................................................. 3 3. WHY DOES GLOBAL WARMING OCCURE? ............................................................................................ 3 5. CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING ................................................................................................... 5 6. EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING .................................................................................................. 9 How will climate change affect you? Your community? The environment around you? .................... 12 4. SOLUTIONS FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING ............................................................................... 13 5. OTHER EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PREVENT GLOBAL WARMING ............................................. 15 1. Plant Trees and Bamboo................................................................................................................. 16 2. Ride a Bike ...................................................................................................................................... 16 3. Buy Less Stuff...................................................................................
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...Within the class Holothuroidea, there are about 1250 species, and these are distributed among 200 genera (Smiley et al. 1991). There is much variety among the habitats in which sea cucumbers reside. Some species, like Cucumaria fallax, inhabit quiet, still waters, while others, such as C. miniata, are found in areas that are constantly swept by tidal currents (McEuen 1988). Some holothuroids are tropical reef dwellers (Uthicke 1997); others live in temperate or polar waters (Hamel and Mercier 1995). Even the depth at which these animals can be found varies greatly. Many species live within the intertidal zone, but a few sea cucumbers live deep in the ocean, some among hydrothermal vents (Smirnov et al. 2000). Regardless of the environment in which they are found, sea cucumbers have become highly adapted to life in that environment, especially in their reproductive cycles. Sea cucumbers can reproduce through sexual reproduction as well as asexual reproduction. Each mode of reproduction has several environmental factors that have been proposed to control its timing. This paper will first introduce the two types of reproduction found in sea cucumbers. I will then discuss some of the factors that have been shown to regulate sexual reproduction, specifically the processes of gametogenesis and spawning, and the factors assumed to control asexual reproduction. Finally, I will make a few suggestions as to directions that should be taken during future studies on external cues for reproduction...
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...Business Proposal Professional Development II Prepared by: Casey Foo Don Lin Karen Lim Kim Hong Lawrence Lim 1 Executive Summary The airline industry is not young, and if it is not because of budget airlines who revolutionized how the industry works in terms of pricing strategies and marketing, it is honestly quite boring to fly! Since the September 11 attacks, airports around the world, including Australia has stepped up security measures extensively, which adds to the ʻhecticʼ experience of air travel. This is exactly the phenomenon what our proposal, called the WonderFlight program intends to address, by bringing our customersʼ flying experience to the next level. WonderFlight aims to bring our customersʼ flying experience to the next level by introducing themes into selected domestic B737-700 flights and each theme changes every three months. To start with, the launching theme would be Lady Gaga. For each WonderFlight, our flight attendants will dress up according to the theme and perform the usual in flight services such as serving meals & beverages. Passengers may also opt to take polaroid pictures on board with our well dressed flight attendants with a charge. On top of that, a custom flight safety demonstration will also be performed by our flight attendants according to the theme to encourage our customers of their interests in the safety features of the aircraft. Famous hits of that theme will also be played on-board to generate a fun and party going atmosphere. Passengers...
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