By Elizabeth Claire Alberts Coral reefs are often called the “rainforests of the sea” because they harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity of any ecosystem in the world. But as sea temperatures rise, coral reef systems are suffering mass bleaching events, leading to widespread mortality. One way to try and restore coral reef […]
The Great Barrier Reef‘s third mass bleaching event in five years is also its most widespread, according to new data released Tuesday. Professor Terry Hughes, director of the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, spent nine days in a plane surveying 1,036 reefs from the air, The Guardian reported. He […]
Tropical coral reefs are at a critical tipping point, and we’ve pushed them there, scientists say. Climate change may now cause previously rare, devastating coral bleaching events to occur in tropical coral reefs around the globe on a ‘near-annual’ basis, reported The Guardian. In February 2020, record-high sea temperatures at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef caused […]
The Great Barrier Reef, a natural wonder that once teemed with life, just experienced a major coral bleaching event, according to scientists who conducted aerial surveys over hundreds of individual reefs, as The Guardian reported. According to NBC News, the entire Great Barrier Reef is suffering a period of unprecedented heat stress. This bleaching event […]
Australian wildlife cannot catch a break. Rains have only recently started dousing the historic wildfires that killed more than one billion animals on land. Now, scientists and environmentalists are warning that the Great Barrier Reef could see its third major coral bleaching event in five years if ocean temperatures remain high for the next two […]
Researchers released a sobering study this week showing that all of the world’s coral reefs may be lost to the climate crisis by 2100. The bleak outlook means that restoration efforts will face Herculean challenges, according to the research presented by researchers at this week’s Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020 in San Diego, California. Rising sea […]
Scientists are racing to save coral reefs off the coast of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands from a virulent, deadly disease, Reuters reported Thursday, taking the unusual step of removing infected coral from the reef. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first discovered in Florida in 2014. It begins as white patches […]
Could an undersea volcanic eruption help the Great Barrier Reef recover from coral bleaching? A Manhattan-size raft of pumice stones ― believed to be the result of an undersea eruption near Tonga ― is floating on the Pacific Ocean towards Australia, CNN reported Monday. The pumice carries with it marine organisms like crabs and corals […]
Hope may be on the horizon for the world’s depleted coral reefs thanks to scientists who successfully reproduced endangered corals in a laboratory setting for the first time, according to Reuters. The majestic beauty of the biodiversity in ocean’s coral reefs is under threat from the climate crisis. Viruses and bacteria that are hostile to […]
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