In the past eight years, the Great Barrier Reef — the largest coral reef in the world, stretching 1,429 miles — has experienced five mass bleaching events, tied by scientists to climate change. Most recently, corals around six islands in Turtle Group National Park, located about 6.2 miles off Australia’s Queensland Coast, have seen extensive […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef extends 1,429 miles over an approximate area of 133,000 square miles and is the largest coral reef system in the world. The magnificent reef is home to thousands of marine species, but for years has been under threat from pollution and climate change. The warming ocean has caused coral bleaching, and […]
Nearly 100 pilot whales became stranded on Cheynes Beach in Western Australia on Tuesday. Most of the pod, 52 whales, died overnight, and the rest have been euthanized, according to officials, as rescue efforts over two days have failed. The pilot whales were first seen swimming in the area on Tuesday morning, but they covered […]
The Australian and Queensland governments have introduced a more than $160 million package to phase out the commercial gill net fishing that damages the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, as well as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Area. […]
There’s a new banana in town, and it’s been genetically modified (GM). Scientists at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed the first GM banana in the world, a variety of Cavendish banana known as QCAV-4, designed to help save the species. The GM version of the tropical fruit was engineered to withstand a […]
The amount of critically endangered fish species in Australia has recently doubled after nine species were newly categorized as critically endangered in March. All nine species are part of the galaxias genus, and an additional tenth galaxias species has been labeled as endangered. The findings present an urgent need to conserve these species. One major […]
In a new program trial in Australia, oyster mushrooms are taking on an important new task. The fungi will consume the toxic chemicals and plastics inside up to 1.2 million cigarette butts, which will be diverted from landfills for the trial. In Australia, people smoke about 18 billion cigarettes a year, and up to 9 […]
In Menindee, New South Wales, millions of dead fish have been found in the Darling River. Local authorities and scientists say the die-off event is likely due to high temperatures and low oxygen levels as water from recent floods recedes. The dead fish are primarily bony herring, or bony bream, and also include murray cod, […]
Australia made a massive investment in renewable energy towards the end of 2022 — channeling $4.3 billion towards large scale carbon-free electricity generation and storage developments. This is the highest quarterly investment since 2018, according to data reported Thursday by the nonprofit renewable industry group the Clean Energy Council. But more is still needed for […]