The turquoise waters around Lady Elliot Island, a speck on the southern edge of the GreatBarrierReef.lookpristine. Coral, turtles, manta rays and brightly-coloured fish thrive. They are lucky. Formed from a cay of ancient coral, the island sits about 8okm from the Australian state of Queensland: just far enough into the Pacific Ocean to avoid being affected by human activities that have helped bring the reef to a crisis. unesco named it a World Heritage Site in 1981. Nowhere else, the organisation says, contains biodiversity to match its 400 types of coral, 1,500 fish species and myriad other forms of ocean life. But in June it will decide whether to add it to the short list of world heritage sites-just 46 out of 1,007-it regards as in danger. In the past 30 years half the reef's coral has disappeared. Marine scientists say people are largely responsible for its decline. Rising sea temperatures and acidification, both linked to global warming; and nutrients and pesticides washed from farms into its waters, help to feed coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. The effect on coral skeletons, says John Gunn of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, is similar to that of osteoporosis in humans.
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