The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The majority of naturally occurring freshwater on small islands is groundwater, which is primarily recharged by precipitation. Recharge rates are therefore likely to be impacted by climate change. Freshwater resources on small islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change because they are limited in size and easily compromised. Here we …
As one of the most prolific and widespread reef builders, the staghorn coral Acropora holds a disproportionately large role in how coral reefs will respond to accelerating anthropogenic change. We show that although Acropora has a diverse history extended over the past 50 million years, it was not a dominant …
In recent decades, coral reef ecosystems have declined to the extent that reefs are now threatened globally. While many water quality parameters have been proposed to contribute to reef declines, little evidence exists conclusively linking specific water quality parameters with increased disease prevalence in situ. Here we report evidence from …
The Caribbean is a sprawling sea of deep nutrient-poor waters punctuated by great oases of biomass production and diversity of species, otherwise known as coral reefs. These reef systems circumscribe the shallow seafloor surrounding islands and delimit the continental shelf edge abutting contiguous landmasses: They also populate sunken and receding …
Experts are sounding a new alarm about the effects of climate change for parts of the Caribbean - the depletion of already strained drinking water throughout much of the region. Rising sea levels could contaminate supplies of fresh water and changing climate patterns could result in less rain to supply …
Overfishing and plankton decline may have contributed to collapse of fisheries, risking dire consequences for Caribbean The collapse of sardine fisheries in the southern Caribbean during the past decade may have been driven by global climate change, according to a study. Researchers from the US and Venezuela linked ecological measurements …
Rising ocean temperatures have reduced rates of coral calcification and increased rates of coral mortality, thereby negatively impacting the health of coral reef ecosystems. Nevertheless, the response of corals to thermal stress seems to vary spatially across the reef environment. Here, we show that between 1982 and 2008 in the …
More research and better policies are needed to protect the world's most vulnerable seas, lying off the coast of West Africa and the Caribbean, local experts have told SciDev.Net. The two regions have some of the world's unhealthiest seas, according to a new index that assessed the health of seas …
Rising ocean temperatures have reduced rates of coral calcification and increased rates of coral mortality, thereby negatively impacting the health of coral reef ecosystems. Nevertheless, the response of corals to thermal stress seems to vary spatially across the reef environment. Here, we show that between 1982 and 2008 in the …
Colorado State University researchers on Friday raised their forecast for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season to 13 tropical storms, with five hurricanes and two major hurricanes. In April they forecast 10 tropical storms, with four strengthening into hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 miles …
ELKHORN coral looks just like elk antlers. With its complex, large branches, this important reef-building coral in the Caribbean is haven to numerous reef species. But, not any more. The Caribbean has lost 90 per cent of the coral in 15 years. Apart from human activity and warming of seas, …
Indian shipping companies, reeling under low freight rates and high fuel prices, will face further cost pressure due to new emission norms set by International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Shipping firms, including the country’s largest — Shipping Corporation of India — may have to spend more than . 1 crore per …
Two Cuban research centres have started using bacteria to treat the oil contaminated water in several parts of the Caribbean island in order to reduce the presence of hydrocarbons in soil and water bodies in the country. The Center for Environmental Studies of Cienfuegos (CEAC), in collaboration with the Center …
Ocean acidification (OA) refers to the ongoing decline in oceanic pH resulting from the uptake of atmospheric CO2. Mounting experimental evidence suggests that OA will have negative consequences for a variety of marine organisms. Whereas the effect of OA on the calcification of adult reef corals is increasingly well documented, …
The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in …
Coral reefs are in dramatic global decline, with seaweeds commonly replacing corals. It is unclear, however, whether seaweeds harm corals directly or colonize opportunistically following their decline and then suppress coral recruitment. In the Caribbean and tropical Pacific, we show that, when protected from herbivores, ~40 to 70% of common …
Disease, bleaching events killed corals in the Caribbean caribbean coral reefs have lost their complex structure and flattened over the past 40 years said a study by University of East Anglia in the UK. The marine population and fishing industry that depend on them feel the impact of this change …
Action delayed: Even a 2oC rise above the pre-industrial levels would lead to 20-40 per cent of the Amazon dying within 100 years, said climate change experts from the UK. The study will appear in the journal Nature Geoscience. Declining corals: The number of fish in the Caribbean reefs has …
BY MIKE MELIA Miles from shore in the open Caribbean Sea, cruise ships are dumping ground-up glass, rags and cardboard packaging. But vessels in other waters such as the Baltic and North seas are prohibited from throwing any solid waste overboard other than food scraps. The difference? Many countries with …
