~In the 1770’s, as countries began to send ships to Australia, multiple cases of ships running against the GBR occurred. Other than a few shipwrecks and a low number of deaths, the explorers were fine; the GBR was what took the most damage. One specifically bad incident was when the HM Bark Endeavour ran aground causing considerable damage (which has since mostly recovered).

~Beginning in the 1830-40’s, run off from farming has impacted the GBR. People were uninformed of this, so they constructed farms near streams because of the plants they supported. However, waste from cattle (and eventually fertilizer) washed into the stream and was carried into the GBR. Then, during WW2, increased fertilizer usage worsened the problem. They used fertilizer on top of the soil instead of in it. The nitrogen attracted crown of thorns starfish, which destroy coral.

~Islands in the GBR were mined for deposits of guano to use for fertilizer throughout the 1800’s. In a sense, this not only damaged the reef from mining, but the fertilizer would later rise nitrogen levels in the water causing even more damage (from attracting invasive species).

~In the late 1800’s more coral was mined to make way for/construct lighthouses. The coral could be used for construction if turned into limestone, but this practice was not very common in Australia.

~In the late 1900’s, many industries had plans to mine the GBR for construction purposes, limestone, and potential gas or minerals. By 1975 when the government officially named the GBR a Marine Park, but many ports had already been built with their environemntal footprints irreversible. Limestone mining ceased as well.

~The effects of global warming on coral reefs did not become apparent until the 1990’s. It caused coral bleaching- essentially corals becoming lifeless skeletons. Global warming was not yet an accepted occurrence in the scientific community, making it difficult for certain scientists studying its effects on coral to spread their message. This prevented the government from making needed changes to sustainable energy sources, which has over time worsened the effects of climate change. Now, organization such as the Clean Energy Council of Australia are making these changes.