Use of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) is one proposed approach that might be
ID: 802456 • Letter: U
Question
Use of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) is one proposed approach that might be used to emissions of greenhouse gases. Some commentators argue that use of a carbon tax is a better approach to use than an ETS. Explain which of these two approaches you favour and why, specifically focusing on how effective they are in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What kinds of benefits do we derive from the Great Barrier Reef? Discuss this question with reference to the ecosytem services the Great Barrier Reef provides and by relating these services to the different components of total economic value (TEV). Explain how we might value some of the most important of these components of TEV and discuss how reliable you think these estimates might be.Explanation / Answer
1)
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was adorned on the World Heritage List. Reef is covering an area of around 348,000 km and extends up to 2,300 km along the Australia’s northeast coast. It includes widespread areas of reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves. It is a wonderful example of main phase of the earth’s evolutionary history, important constant geological processes, biological developments and human interaction with natural environment. Also it contains unusual and excellent natural phenomena, and also are areas of excellent natural beauty. It offer habitat for atypical and endangered species.
Natural ecosystems offer a wide range of services that help people directly. In the case of coral reefs, these ecosystem services consist of fish production, shoreline protection, and also openings for tourism and recreation. Coral reefs protect the coastal areas from the harmful effects of wave action and tropical storms; It gives habitats and protection for many marine organisms; These are the main source of nitrogen and other necessary nutrients for marine food chains; It also help in carbon and nitrogen fixing and also assist in nutrient recycling.
The fishing industry mainly depends on coral reefs because many fish spawn there and juvenile fish spend time there before making their way to the open sea. From fishing and tourism, the Great Barrier Reef creates around 5 billion dollars every year for the Australian economy.
Many species originate in coral reef ecosystems creates different chemical compounds for attack, mainly the slow-moving or inactive species like sponges. Living things found in coral ecosystems are main sources of new medicines for various diseases such as cancer, arthritis, asthma, ulcers, human bacterial infections, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases; these are also main sources of food supplements, enzymes, and cosmetics.
Most of the Great Barrier Reef valuation studies have concentrated on a narrow range of Ecosystem Services such as tourism and fishing.
The Great Barrier Reef is a major source of economy for Australia. Around more than 2 million people from all over the world visit the Great Barrier Reef each year. It contributes around $5.4 billion every year to the State’s financial system and it supports around 67,000 jobs. Around 85 per cent of all tourism activity happens within only seven per cent of the Great Barrier Reef area.
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