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 …
A heat surge from global warming would overwhelm the natural ability of coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef to survive seasonal temperature changes, in much the way sun bathers would burn if they did not build their tan slowly. A study released on Thursday examined 27 years of temperature data …
Singapore/Bangkok — Guidance material on how recreational diving can protect fragile marine biodiversity threatened by growing coastal tourism and support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be launched tomorrow at Asia's largest and oldest dive expo by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners. The Green Fins Toolbox, …
MELBOURNE, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Australia will hold the first "Ocean in a High CO2 World" symposium hosted in the southern hemisphere, with world-leading experts assembling to discuss solutions to the ongoing acidification of the seven seas. The international conference, convened every four years, will be held in the Tasmanian …
China’s reclamation work in the South China Sea may have destroyed coral reefs, damaged fisheries in a region heavily dependent on seafood and breached international law on protecting the environment, according to a report to U.S. Congress. The scale and speed of China’s activities in the South China Sea, the …
The mass coral bleaching event smashing the Great Barrier Reef has severely affected more than half its length and caused patches of bleaching in most areas, according to scientists conducting an extensive aerial survey of the damage. “The good news with my last flight is that I found 50 reefs …
Beautiful, healthy environments are more than just eye candy -- in fact according to a report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund, healthy environments boost local economies. Unfortunately, it seems that many United Nations World Heritage Sites are under severe threat, with the locals being threatened along with them. The …
Study finds protecting a single type of herbivorous fish could be crucial to the recovery of reefs from damage related to climate change Limiting the take of just one type of fish could protect coral reefs around the world from the most serious immediate impacts of climate change, researchers have …
Scientists’ findings that Reef 2050 Plan water quality targets will probably not be met come as Queensland government gives green light to Australia’s largest coalmine Australia is unlikely to meet water quality targets designed to protect the Great Barrier Reef, researchers from the federal government’s marine science agency have warned. …
Scientists have used satellite imaging of coral reefs in the South China Sea to highlight the dire ecological consequences of reef dredging to increase land area. While much has been made of the political significance of reef dredging and land creation activities in this area, the scientists conclude that the …
Coral reefs on remote islands and atolls are less exposed to direct human stressors but are becoming increasingly vulnerable because of their development for geopolitical and military purposes. Here we document dredging and filling activities by countries in the South China Sea, where building new islands and channels on atolls …
Scientists have declared that key portions of the Great Barrier Reef — over a thousand miles long and the “largest living structure on the planet,” according to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority — are now seeing the worst coral bleaching in recorded history. “We’re seeing very severe bleaching …
US researchers have found that blowing tiny bubbles through sea water could help protect coral reefs and oyster farms from oceans, which have increasingly turned acidic through human activities. The idea is that tiny bubbles will help cleanse the world's oceans of carbon dioxide (CO2) by drawing the gas out …
NASA is sending scientists around the world this year - from the edge of the Greenland ice sheet to the coral reefs of the South Pacific - to delve into challenging questions about how our planet is changing and what impact humans are having on it. While Earth science field …
Australian scientists managing the Great Barrier Reef have lifted their emergency response to the highest level following the publication of video footage of damage caused by coral bleaching. Authorities this month said that areas of the World Heritage site were experiencing the worst bleaching in 15 years, at least partially …
A manipulative experiment in which a reef is alkalinized in situ shows that calcification rates are likely to be lower already than they were in pre-industrial times because of acidification.
Damage to parts of the Great Barrier Reef has worsened, leading authorities to raise the alert to the second-highest level, indicating severe local coral bleaching. The bleaching is worst in the most pristine and remote parts of the reef north of Cairns, according to Terry Hughes, convenor of the National …
Indore: In a rare discovery, palaeontologists have stumbled upon a nine crore-year-old rare coral fossil similar to that of brain coral in Bagh beds of Narmada valley region. This suggests the presence of marine life and sea in Central India during evolution. Discovery of coral fossil is also likely to …
A global scientific group on Sunday launched a three-year assessment of mankind's impact on nature to help protect plants and animals from threats ranging from pollution to climate change. The study, due in 2019, would examine biodiverstiy, from bacteria to blue whales, and "ecosystem services", which range from the value …
The third global coral bleaching event to be recorded is snaking its way around a warming globe, devastating reefs and now threatening the world-heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. This week it was announced the bleaching event, which began in 2014, is already the longest in history and could extend well …
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ωa). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regional drivers controlling Ωa to be resolved. …
