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Foreign Correspondent: Mesoamerican Reef threatened

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Yachts at sea
Foreign Correspondent: Mesoamerican Reef threatened

SUBJECTS:  Geography

YEARS:  7–8, 9–10


The Mesoamerican Reef, just off the shore of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, is under major threat.

Listen to oceanographer Roberto Iglesias-Prieto explain how untreated wastewater affects the underground river system and the reef.


Things to think about

  1. 1.A coral reef is an amazing ecosystem. How might water quality impact it? The Mesoamerican Reef in Mexico is the second-largest reef in the world. Where is the largest coral reef?
  2. 2.What does oceanographer Dr Roberto Iglesias-Prieto identify as the threats to the Mesoamerican Reef? There is a lack of basic infrastructure on the Yucatán Peninsula, despite mass tourism. What problem with septic tanks is suggested? How does this impact the reef?
  3. 3.What kinds of pollutants have been found on the Mesoamerican Reef? What is the source of these pollutants? What can be done to reduce pollution of the Yucatán aquifer and Mesoamerican Reef? What steps would the Mexican government need to take on the issue?
  4. 4.Before 1970, Cancun had a very small population numbering in the hundreds. By 2011, the population had grown to over 700,000, with about 13 million visitors arriving that year. Find out about changes that have occurred in Cancun since 1970. What are some of the successes there? What are some of the problems? Does Cancun appear to be a successful model for development? Why or why not?

Date of broadcast: 12 Mar 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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