coral bleaching

First-Ever High Resolution Map of World’s Coral Reefs Is Complete

First-Ever High Resolution Map of World’s Coral Reefs Is Complete

A unique partnership has produced the first-ever high-resolution satellite map of the world’s shallow coral reefs. The Allen Coral Atlas announced its completion Wednesday as a tool that policy makers, conservationists and the general public can use to understand and preserve the world’s reefs at a time when they are under increasing threat from the […]

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    Hawaii Moves to Ban More Reef-Harming Sunscreens

    Hawaii Moves to Ban More Reef-Harming Sunscreens

    Hawaii is on its way to banning more reef-damaging sunscreens. On Tuesday of last week, its state Senate approved Senate Bill 132, which would ban all sunscreens containing the chemicals avobenzone or octocrylene. The bill then moved to the House, where it passed its first reading on Thursday, March 11. If approved, it would build […]

    Coral Reefs Are Still Growing Atolls Despite Sea Level Rise

    Coral Reefs Are Still Growing Atolls Despite Sea Level Rise

    Sea level rise caused by the climate crisis is considered a major threat to low-lying Pacific atolls. Despite this, however, some of these islands are actually growing. Now, a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters Nov. 20 has figured out why. The coral reefs that give these islands their structure are continuing to produce […]

    Study: Plastic Pollution Increases Ocean Acidification

    Study: Plastic Pollution Increases Ocean Acidification

    A new study finds that plastic water bottles submerged three weeks at sea contained more detrimental bacteria than seawater, creating conditions that lead to ocean acidification. In the study, published last week in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, international scientists concluded that plastic pollution, particularly single-use plastic water bottles, collected harmful bacteria and microorganisms, which […]