The Great Barrier Reef is under constant threat from climate change and aggressive pests, so it’s a good thing that scientists at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have built it it’s own Terminator to defend it. The RangerBot is the first underwater drone designed specifically for coral reefs, and it’s ready to be deployed on […]
By Allison Guy In May 2016, technical divers descended 200 feet to Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of a huge underwater plateau off the Philippines’ northeast tip. As they neared the bottom, an otherworldly landscape emerged from the dim cobalt blue. Plates of coral grew one atop the other like china at a yard sale, […]
The Great Barrier Reef—Australia’s remarkable but imperiled natural wonder—is under risk of repeat coral bleaching events unless greenhouse gas emissions are slashed, Australia’s Climate Council warned Thursday. The new report, Lethal Consequences: Climate Change Impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, determined that by 2034, the extreme ocean temperatures that led to the mass bleaching events […]
Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting the sale of sunscreen that contains chemicals considered harmful to ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs. The Aloha State is the first in the nation to enact such a law. “Studies have documented the negative impact of these chemicals on corals and other marine life. Our natural […]
Thanks to a series of conservation measures enacted by Belize’s government, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System—one the world’s most incredible, diverse ecosystems—has been removed from the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger sites. The historic decision came this week during a World Heritage Committee meeting in Bahrain, just five months after the Belizean […]
The launch of an online crowdsourcing database for seagrass hopes to breathe new life into efforts to conserve the underwater flowering plants, which act as both important habitats for marine species and a major store of carbon dioxide. Patchy mapping of seagrass meadows has hampered efforts to protect the plants (which are distinct from seaweed) […]
By Dan Zukowski When searing black lava from fissure 8 slid into the Pacific Ocean at Kapoho Bay on June 3, it had been five weeks since the collapse of the Pu’u ‘Ō’ō crater, along the eastern rift zone of the Kīlauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Toxic, acid-laden steam billowed high above boiling waves. […]
By Nathan Johnson The deep sea might be cold and dark, but it’s not barren. Down here, an incredible diversity of corals shelters young fish like grouper, snapper and rockfish. Sharks, rays and other species live and feed here their whole lives. Brightly colored coral gardens, far beyond the reach of the sun’s rays, don’t […]
In a sobering reminder of the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity, a survey by the Japanese government found that barely more than one percent of the coral in the country’s largest coral reef is healthy, AFP reported Friday. The reef, located in the Sekisei Lagoon near Okinawa, has suffered mass coral bleaching events […]
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