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 …
environmental sciences Foster care The large blue butterfly, Maculinea arion, knows how to fool ants into raising their caterpillars. But when the ant, Myrmica sabuleti, disappear there survival is at stake, a study has shown. The butterfly lays eggs on thyme flowers and the caterpillars fall on the ground after …
More than 800 animal and plant species have gone extinct in the past five centuries with nearly 17,000 now threatened with extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reported on Thursday. A detailed analysis of these numbers indicates the international community will fail to meet its 2010 goal of …
The world's seagrass meadows, a critical habitat for marine life and profit-maker for the fishing industry, are in decline due to coastal development and the losses are accelerating, according to a new study. Billed as the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass losses, the study found 58 percent of seagrass …
Kappaphycus Alvarezii is a source of livelihood in the Gulf of Mannar region, but with speculation that it might be bio-invasive, the onus lies with the Government of TamilNadu to strike the right balance.
More midwives needed: An additional 350,000 midwives are needed to ensure 95 per cent of the 160 million births the world over in a year are attended by trained health workers. As per the International Confederation of Midwives and WHO, maternal mortality is the
Bangladesh Academy of Science and the academies of 69 other countries around the world in a joint statement yesterday warned that ocean acidification, one of the world's most important climate change challenges, may be left off the agenda at the United Nations Copenhagen conference. The statement, which was published through …
Climate change is turning the oceans more acid in a trend that could endanger everything from clams to coral and be irreversible for thousands of years, national science academies said on Monday. Seventy academies from around the world urged governments meeting in Bonn for climate talks from June 1-12 to …
A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Honduras on Thursday, killing at least five people, knocking down flimsy homes and causing damage in neighboring Guatemala. The offshore quake destroyed some 60 houses and damaged scores of other buildings across the north of Honduras, a poor country of 7 million people, and …
The five-day World Ocean Conference has ended in Indonesia's Sulawesi Island with a focus on the state of the oceans, the role they play in the world's changing climate and the negative effects of climate change on the world's oceans. Speaking on the opening day, Richard Spinrad, the head of …
A commitment by six Asia-Pacific nations to protect a huge swathe of ecologically rich coral reef is an important step, although the pact is non-binding and key details still need to thrashed out, conservationists said. Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands border a …
Indonesia has opened Southeast Asia's largest marine park in the Savu Sea, a migration route for almost half the world's whale species and home to vast tracts of rare coral, the country's fisheries minister said. Environmental groups, The Nature Conservancy and WWF will help set up the reserve, where efforts …
Southeast Asia's biologically diverse coral reefs will disappear by the end of this century, wiping out coastal economies and sparking civil unrest if climate change isn't addressed, conservation group WWF said on Wednesday. The Coral Triangle, a reef network that spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon …
Manado (Indonesia), May 13: Coral reefs would disappear from the Coral Triangle by the end of this century unless effective action is taken on climate change, said a study released on Wednesday. The study, commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), said the destruction of the Coral Triangle …
This report sets out the full extent of the threats and proposes solutions to the challenges facing the Coral Triangle and its people. Based on a thorough consideration of the climate, biology, economics and social characteristics of the region, it shows why these challenges are increasing, and how unchecked climate …
J. Praveen Paul Joseph Nine types of diseases found in Gulf of Mannar Black band disease found in a coral. Tuticorin: Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) here has been conducting a study on the prevalence of the coral diseases in the Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and Palk Bay since …
This report addresses some of the major questions facing climate change researchers, and how those puzzles are being addressed by NSF-funded activities. Complex computer models are being developed and refined to predict Earth
The report, Resilience Assessment of Coral Reefs - Rapid assessment protocol for coral reefs, focusing on coral bleaching and thermal stress, shows that the amount of damage done to corals depends not only on the rate and extent of climate change, but also on the ability of coral reefs to …
