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 …
The ‘Lethal Consequences: Climate Change Impacts on the Great Barrier Reef,’ report shows the future survival of coral reefs around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, depends on how deeply and swiftly greenhouse gas pollution levels are slashed over the coming years and decades. Accelerating climate change has driven …
Coral reefs are the most ancient and diverse eco-systems on earth, occupying less than 1 percent of the ocean floor and host more than 25 percent of all known marine species of the world. Reefs provide wide range of economic and environmental services to millions of people. Despite their immense …
A recent monitoring programme on the reef of the Aldabra atoll has shown an increase in coral cover but a decline in fish numbers, an official of the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) said. The coral cover, which is the percentage of reef that is covered by hard stony corals, showed …
Rapid loss of coral reefs around the world would double the annually expected damages from flooding, and triple the costs from frequent storms, a study has found. When coupled with sea level rise, flooding could quadruple, according to researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the US. The …
Marine protected areas (MPAs) may be effective in saving coral reefs from the damaging effects of global climate change, according to a study which contradicts the notion that such efforts are futile. The study by researchers at the University of Maine in the US spanned 700 kilometers of the eastern …
Activists hailed a Kenyan court for ordering that almost 5,000 fishermen at a 14th century World Heritage Site receive millions in compensation for the loss of traditional fishing rights due to the construction of a major port. The fishermen in Lamu, the oldest Swahili settlement in East Africa, won 1.76 …
Coral bleaching is the detrimental expulsion of algal symbionts from their cnidarian hosts, and predominantly occurs when corals are exposed to thermal stress. The incidence and severity of bleaching is often spatially heterogeneous within reef-scales (<1 km), and is therefore not predictable using conventional remote sensing products. Here, we systematically …
Corals on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016, a study has found. Melbourne: Corals on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016, a study has found. Scientists from the ARC Centre …
Global warming is rapidly emerging as a universal threat to ecological integrity and function, highlighting the urgent need for a better understanding of the impact of heat exposure on the resilience of ecosystems and the people who depend on them. Here we show that in the aftermath of the record-breaking …
Corals in the Great Barrier Reef have a lower tolerance to heat stress than expected, contributing to a permanent transformation of the mix of species in some of most pristine regions, a team of international researchers has found. The scientists examined the impact of the 2016 marine heatwave that alone …
A protective film 50,000 times thinner than a human hair could be used to protect coral reefs from rising temperatures. By applying a layer of protection to the surface of the water researchers think parts of the Great Barrier Reef could be effectively cooled, preventing deadly coral bleaching events. This …
Beneath the crystal-clear waters of the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles, a fight is growing to save the coral reefs that shelter a range of creatures, from tiny invertebrates to the sprawling octopus, from climate change. The fragile reefs act both as a protective barrier for coastlines and …
CHENNAI: Coral reefs are on a decline globally. But it is in the understanding of the disturbances, which change the structure and functioning of the diverse underwater ecosystem, that lies the answer of preservation, at least for some of them. Despite the dwindling numbers of corals, over the years scientists …
Terpios hoshinota is an encrusting cyanobacteriosponge which grows aggressively over live coral colonies and has been reported to undergo outbreaks which kill corals. In an underwater survey conducted on the reefs of Gulf of Mannar, an outbreak of this coral-invading sponge was witnessed for the first time. Original Source
Coral reefs could start to dissolve before 2100 as man-made climate change drives acidification of the oceans, scientists said on Thursday. Acidification will threaten sediments that are building blocks for reefs. Corals already face risks from ocean temperatures, pollution and overfishing. “Coral reefs will transition to net dissolving before end …
Climate change is dialing up the pressure on species around the world. Polar bears may be the most iconic example, but creatures from corals to elephants are all affected by a warming, changing planet. Individual species aren't the only ones at risk of extinction. In the case of Pacific coastal …
The ocean around the Galápagos Islands has been warming since the 1970s, according to a new analysis of the natural temperature archives stored in coral reefs. The finding surprised the University of Arizona-led research team, because the sparse instrumental records for sea surface temperature for that part of the eastern …
Adani’s plan to build Australia’s largest coalmine has suffered another setback. The company has abandoned its March deadline for securing financing for the first stage of the Carmichael mine. In October, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, the chief executive of Adani Australia, told Reuters it aimed to settle financing for the project by …
Adani’s plan to build Australia’s largest coalmine has suffered another setback. The company has abandoned its March deadline for securing financing for the first stage of the Carmichael mine. In October, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, the chief executive of Adani Australia, told Reuters it aimed to settle financing for the project by …
Scientists have found that plastic trash - ubiquitous throughout the world's oceans - massively increases the chance of disease in corals. "We examined more than 120,000 corals, both plastic-free and with plastic present, on 159 reefs from Indonesia, Australia, Myanmar and Thailand," said Joleah Lamb, from the Cornell University in …
