《2025年情景导学高中英语必修第一册外研版》

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its corals since 1995 due to warmer seas driven by climate change, a study has found.
Scientists found all types of corals had suffered a decline across the world's largest reef system. The steepest falls came after mass bleaching (漂白) events in 2016 and 2017. More mass bleaching events occurred in 2020.
"There is no time to lose — we must sharply decrease greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible," the researchers said.
The study was conducted by marine (海洋的) scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland. Scientists assessed (评定) the health and size of coral colonies (群) across the reef from 1995 to 2017. They found populations had dropped by more than 50% in all coral sizes and species, but especially in branching and table-shaped corals. These are the large, structural species which usually provide habitats for fish and other marine life. Prof Terry Hughes, a study co-author, said these coral types had been "worst affected" by the back-to-back (接连发生的) mass bleaching events which damaged about two-thirds of the reef.
Bleaching occurs when corals under stress drive out the algae (藻类植物) that give them colour. Corals can recover if normal conditions return, but it can take decades.
A study in 2019 found that damaged coral colonies had struggled to regenerate (再生) because most of the adult corals had died.
"A vibrant (充满活力的) coral population has millions of small, baby corals, as well as many large ones," said lead author Dr Andy Dietzel. "Our results show the ability of the Great Barrier Reef to recover — its resilience (恢复力) — is compromised compared to the past, because there are fewer babies, and fewer large breeding adults."
阅读完以上段落,让我们一起来讨论以下问题吧！
1. Do you have any good suggestions for ways of protecting the Great Barrier Reef? Try to share your idea.
2. There are more and more endangered plants and animals these years. What can we do to prevent them becoming extinct?

答案： 1. Sharply decrease greenhouse gas emissions, carry out artificial coral reef restoration, reduce pollution and control overfishing. 2. Establish nature reserves, strengthen anti-illegal laws, conduct artificial breeding, raise public awareness.