Fertilizer-soaked sediment is choking off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, putting its long-term survival into question, says the Australian Institute of Marine Science. After compiling the work of 30 scientists around the world, a researcher for the institute found that much of the wetlands and rainforests along the Queensland coast neighboring the reef have been cleared for sugar cane farming. Silt runoff from the farming is burying the reef, even reaching the middle of the reef system in some cases.
