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 …
Jeremy Jackson, director of the Scripps Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, cites the synergistic effects of habitat destruction, overfishing, ocean warming, increased acidification and massive nutrient runoff as culprits in a grand transformation of once complex ocean ecosystems. Areas that had featured intricate marine food webs with large animals …
Conservation zones in the Indian Ocean set up to protect fish stocks are not preventing coral reefs from collapsing due to warmer temperatures or helping to speed their recovery, researchers reported on Wednesday. The reason is many of these non-fishing areas are located in warmer waters where coral reefs have …
icebergs hit seafloor: Rapid global warming has caused Icebergs along the Antarctic Peninsula to break free and scour away all life forms along the seafloor, says a new study by the British Antarctic Survey. The report establishes for the first time the link between increased scouring and decline in winter …
HUMAN population growth is the primary threat to the world's environment. Each person requires energy, space and resources to survive, resulting in environmental losses. Our population is rapidly rising beyond the earth's ability to regenerate and sustain us with a reasonable quality of life. We are exceeding the carrying capacity …
Nearly all of the ecologically-fragile coral reefs in the Philippines are under severe threat from economic development and climate change. This is according to an update circulated by the Southeast Asian Centre of Excellence (SEA CoE) during the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium held here. The Philippines is part of …
By Christopher Pala Off the palm-fringed white beach of Butaitari, Kiribati, the view underwater is downright scary. Corals are being covered and smothered to death by a bushy seaweed that is so tough even algae-grazing fish avoid it. It settles in the reef's crevices that fish once called home, driving …
Amid a host of problems for the world's oceans, last week brought a reminder that coral reefs, the sentinel species for measuring the health of the seas, are taking a beating. One-third of all coral reef species face extinction worldwide, reports the latest study, released by Science magazine, with more …
In 2005, months of unprecedented higher-than-normal water temperatures started a cascade of bleaching, disease, and death among corals in the Eastern Caribbean. Such events are increasing in frequency around the world and threaten these fragile ecosystems, which shelter a wealth of biodiversity and provide sources of food and pharmaceuticals. Researchers …
Syed Akbar INDIAN MARINE scientists and oceanographers have artifically repopulated corals near the 10 islands of Lakshadweep. "Coral reefs in India have been under stress for some time. The Lakshadweep reefs bore the brunt of coral mining, souvenir collection, ground water pollution and mechanical damage owing to activities like dredging," …
The coastal marine environment provides enormous value in fishery and other products and in ecosystem services including coastal protection, water purification, and appropriate locations for ports, harbors, urban centers, tourist destinations, and numerous recreational pursuits. Current management practices are ineffective and to continue them will endanger coastal economies and ecosystems …
Caribbean islands will create new protected areas for fish and coral reefs under a $70 million plan announced on Tuesday that will help safeguard tourism-backed economies. "This is a trust fund for the future benefit of society," Bahamas Minister of Works and Transport Earl Deveaux told Reuters of the project. …
sunscreens almost always figure in a swimmer's paraphernalia. While it protects the skin from ultraviolet rays of the sun, it also causes considerable damage to marine life. If the idea appears far-fetched, consider this: a recent study has found that chemicals in sunscreen products threaten about 10 per cent of …
Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) Doty (Rhodophyta: Solieriaceae) is a Philippine-derived macroalga introduced into the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, South India for mariculture in 2000. Here we report its bioinvasion on branching corals (Acropora sp.) in the Kurusadai Island. Qualitative data collected using underwater photography clearly indicated its invasion and …
Contrary to expectations, a microscopic plant that lives in oceans around the world may thrive in the changing ocean conditions of the coming decades, a team of scientists reported Thursday. British Scientists Say Carbon Dioxide Is Turning the Oceans Acidic (July 1, 2005) The main threat to many marine organisms …
Coral Flourishing At Bikini Atoll Atomic Test Site AUSTRALIA: April 16, 2008 CANBERRA - Coral is again flourishing in the crater left by the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States, 54 years after the blast on Bikini Atoll, marine scientists said on Tuesday. A team of research …
The relationship between natural variations in coral species diversity, reef development and ecosystem function on coral reefs is poorly understood. Recent coral diversity varies 10-fold among geographic regions, but rates of poor growth are broadly similar, suggesting that diversity is unimportant for reef development.
A parliamentary panel has asked the Environment and Forests Ministry to sensitise villagers to man-animal co-existence and also involve them in wildlife conservation. In many cases villagers are protecting poachers, says the committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, in its report submitted in both Houses on Tuesday. Relocation …
A beautiful black, white and yellow butterflyfish, much admired by eco-tourists, divers and aquarium keepers alike, may be at risk of extinction, scientists have warned. The case of the Chevroned Butterflyfish is a stark example of how human pressure on the world's coral reefs is confronting certain species with '
Human activities are affecting every square mile of the world's oceans, according to a study by a team of American, British and Canadian researchers who mapped the severity of the effects from pole to pole. The analysis of 17 global data sets, led by Benjamin S. Halpern of the National …
