Coral reefs have exceptional levels of biodiversity and provide important social and ecological services, including food, coastal protection, recreation, tourism, and cultural connections. However, local stressors and climate change are causing a sharp decline in coral reefs and the more than 230 international agreements with coral reef provisions have failed …
Coral reefs are doomed even if COP21 talks are a success(Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland) Coral reefs, as they were 50 years ago, will not be found anywhere on Earth by the middle of the century, an expert has warned. Professor Peter F Sale, from …
If carbon levels are limited and we manage coral reefs well, they could grow vertically and maintain pace with rising sea levels. At least, researchers from Florida Institute of Technology say that could very likely happen, and they recently reported their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The …
A U.S. shipping company has agreed to pay Hawaii more than $15 million to reimburse the state for the cost of cleanup and restoration following a massive molasses spill in Honolulu Harbor two years ago, officials said on Wednesday. About 1,400 tons of brown, sticky liquid leaked into the harbor …
Since the Mid-Holocene, some 5000 years ago, coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean have been vertically constrained by sea level. Contemporary sea-level rise is releasing these constraints, providing accommodation space for vertical reef expansion. Here, the researchers show that Porites microatolls, from reef-flat environments in Palau (western Pacific Ocean), are …
Some animals have the remarkable capacity to acclimate across generations to projected future climate change however, the underlying molecular processes are unknown. We sequenced and assembled de novo transcriptomes of adult tropical reef fish exposed developmentally or transgenerationally to projected future ocean temperatures and correlated the resulting expression profiles with …
A massive coral bleaching event currently ravaging coral reefs across the globe could destroy thousands of square kilometres of coral cover forever, US government scientists have said. In figures exclusively released to the Guardian, scientists from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said about 12% of the world’s …
A numerical model, XBeach, calibrated and validated on field data collected at Roi-Namur Island on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of Marshall Islands, was used to examine the effects of different coral reef characteristics on potential coastal hazards caused by wave-driven flooding and how these effects may be altered by …
Coral reefs are essential to ocean health, but dangerous coral bleaching is occurring more often and more widely due to warmer water, scientists report Abnormally warm ocean temperatures are creating conditions that threaten to kill coral in the equatorial Pacific, north Pacific and western Atlantic oceans, the National Oceanic and …
Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister, has said a UN decision not to list the Great Barrier Reef as in danger shows that Australia is a “role model to the world” in environmental protection. On Wednesday, the 21 nations on Unesco’s world heritage committee unanimously endorsed an earlier draft ruling …
With the Australian sun illuminating the crystal clear waters of the Great Barrier Reef in all their glory, UNESCO World Heritage delegates snorkeled for hours surrounded by manta rays, dolphins and reef sharks. Their mission was to check the health of the world's largest living ecosystem, thousands of multi-colored coral …
Coastal communities are particularly at risk from the impacts of a changing climate. Building the capacity of coastal communities to cope with and recover from a changing environment is a critical means to reducing their vulnerability. Yet, few studies have quantitatively examined adaptive capacity in such communities. Here, we build …
Australia’s environment minister Greg Hunt names scientists tasked to advise the government on Great Barrier Reef health priorities Scientists with expertise in climate change and marine science are among a panel of 16 experts announced to advise the federal government on priorities and actions relating to the Great Barrier Reef. …
The Regional State of Coast Report for the western Indian Ocean (WIO) is the first comprehensive regional synthesis to provide insights into the enormous economic potential around the WIO, the consequential demand for marine ecosystem goods and services to match the increasing human population, the pace and scale of environmental …
The kind of muddy waters often seen around the Great Barrier Reef increase disease rates in fish and damage their gills, according to reef scientists. A new study by James Cook University researchers simulated the levels of suspended sediment “frequently found” in the reef due to floods, coastal agriculture and …
An analysis by environmental advocates claims the degradation of the reef meets five out eight possible reasons for listing by the world heritage committee Degradation of the Great Barrier Reef overwhelmingly meets the criteria for an “in danger” listing by Unesco, according to a joint report by environmental lawyers from …
Coral reefs have been the subject of much research given the ongoing threats they are dealing with related to climate change. Ocean acidification, for one, is wreaking havoc on these delicate ecosystems, but a remarkable new study says that coral reefs in Palau may be able to defy the odds. …
Ocean acidification threatens the survival of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. The negative effects of ocean acidification observed in many laboratory experiments have been seen in studies of naturally low-pH reefs, with little evidence to date for adaptation. Recently, we reported initial data suggesting that low-pH coral communities of the Palau …
Rising sea temperatures attributed to global climate change could drive many marine creatures away from the equator, but their move toward the poles promises to put them in peril in habitats that are smaller and less hospitable, scientists say. Two studies published on Thursday in the journal Science illustrate dangers …
Research into the Great Barrier Reef has discovered coral disease levels are four times lower inside no-take marine reserves – where fishing is banned – than outside reserves. Scientists from James Cook University surveyed more than 80,000 corals around the Whitsunday Islands for six different diseases that commonly harm reefs …
Alfredo Quatro says we must defend mangrove forests – which protect our shorelines and diverse marine life – against man-made development Mangroves are a cornucopia of life – a rainforest by the sea – surviving in inter-tidal zones of tropical and sub-tropical regions. Over the last 23 years, I have …
