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 …
Plastic waste can promote microbial colonization by pathogens implicated in outbreaks of disease in the ocean. We assessed the influence of plastic waste on disease risk in 124,000 reef-building corals from 159 reefs in the Asia-Pacific region. The likelihood of disease increases from 4% to 89% when corals are in …
Malcolm Turnbull has announced a $60m rescue package for the Great Barrier Reef which includes research on developing “resilient” coral, and paying farmers to pollute less. The package, to be spent over 18 months, will also include an increased number of reef officers and vessels targeting crown of thorns starfish …
Coral reefs are crucial for an ocean ecosystem but over the last few years, they have been devastated by hurricanes and disasters. Concerns have been raised to prevent them, most recently by Unesco which said World Heritage coral reefs could become extinct by 2100 if CO2 emissions are not controlled. …
A group of “source” reefs have been identified that could form the basis of a life support system for the Great Barrier Reef, helping repair damage by bleaching, starfish and other disturbances. Researchers from the University of Queensland, CSIRO, Australian Institute of Marine Science and the University of Sheffield searched …
Coral reefs are among Earth’s best-studied ecosystems, yet the degree to which large predators influence the ecology of coral reefs remains an open and contentious question. Recent studies indicate the consumptive effects of large reef predators are too diffuse to elicit trophic cascades. Here, we provide evidence that such predators …
Extensive loss of branching corals and changes in coral community structure in Australia's Palm Islands region over the past century has been revealed in a new study. Dr Tara Clark of The University of Queensland Radiogenic Isotope Facility in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences said these corals were …
Encouraging global action to support clean water and sanitation, United Nations General Assembly President Peter Thomson today underscored that when it comes to the environment, everything is connected. “None should imagine that the state of sanitation and coral reefs are anything but directly connected,” Mr. Thomson said, delivering the keynote …
Just below the surface of the turquoise sea, coral flutters majestically amid schools of puffed up porcupinefish and fluorescent blue and yellow angelfish. The gangly staghorn and fanning elkhorn corals are thriving in swimming distance of Laughing Bird Caye, a tiny Caribbean sandy islet in southern Belize, thanks to a …
A plan to enlarge a two-lane highway into six prompts skepticism among locals. Experts say highway plans would endanger Palawan’s fragile forests, coral reefs and unique species. Observers believe corruption, not necessity, is behind the plan. Plans are underway for the construction of a massive superhighway on the highly biodiverse …
The “archaic” practice of mining rivers in north Queensland is making a mockery of Australia’s key policy to protect the Great Barrier Reef, wasting multimillion-dollar efforts to cut runoff pollution, its opponents say. “Instream” mining in Queensland, the only state still allowing the excavation of rivers for gold, tin and …
Coral reefs of the Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll, as well as the 28 others named UNESCO World Heritage sites, are under threat of disappearance by 2100 should water temperatures keep rising, according to a scientific assessment. According to the first global scientific assessment on the impact of climate change on World …
Community initiatives in Seychelles to combat climate change were highlighted this month in a documentary on CNN’s Inside Africa. The documentary looked at how the island nation’s community, including a tourist establishment, is engaged in the fight against climate change on land and sea, especially against the devastating effects of …
Panaji: The state government has asked the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for coastal development that is required to be submitted to the Union ministry of environment, forest, and climate change (MoEFCC). TOI had reported that Goa could lose Rs …
The United Nations cultural body UNESCO has voted to leave the Great Barrier Reef off its "in danger" list despite recent widespread destruction of the World Heritage Site. The decision, which was taken at a UNESCO committee meeting in the Polish city of Krakow, allows Australia's conservative government to dodge …
Oil companies planning to drill near a vast coral reef at the mouth of the Amazon river have calculated that the unique ecosystem has a 30% chance of being affected in the event of an oil spill. 'We are rewriting the textbooks': first dives to Amazon coral reef stun scientists …
A new report has valued the Great Barrier Reef at A$56bn and warns of vast economic consequences for Australia unless more is done to protect it. The Deloitte Access Economics report says the world heritage-listed reef underpins 64,000 direct and indirect jobs, and contributes $6.4bn to the national economy each …
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre released the first global scientific assessment of climate change impacts on World Heritage coral reefs. Soaring ocean temperatures in the past three years have subjected 21 of 29 World Heritage reefs to severe and/or repeated heat stress, and caused some of the worst bleaching ever observed …
Researchers are still trying to learn why the population of African penguins has dropped precipitously over the last 15 years—some estimates say by 90%—but most agree that climate change is a major factor in the decline of this iconic African species. There may be additional forces at work, including pollution, …
Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef last year was even worse than expected, while the full impact of the most recent event is yet to be determined. Queensland government officials say aerial and in-water surveys taken throughout 2016 had confirmed an escalating impact from north to south. The Great …
French oil and gas company Total and other energy majors should abandon plans to drill close to the mouth of Brazil's Amazon because of potential risks to the ecosystem of the area, environmental campaigner Greenpeace said on Wednesday. Greenpeace said an analysis of Total's environmental assessment of its planned drilling, …
