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 …
North Atlantic coral populations - which support a variety of sea life - are under threat from climate change, according to scientists who have warned that changing winter weather conditions may upset fragile marine ecosystems. Corals allow diverse forms of marine life to thrive by building reef structures that provide …
The government is failing to protect the reef from the effects of shipping disasters, according to environmental lawyers, who say inaction to secure remediation funds will become a bigger problem as shipping traffic increases. The issue could cause a problem for Australia when it reports to the Unesco world heritage …
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere put shallow, warm-water coral reef ecosystems, and the people who depend upon them at risk from two key global environmental stresses: 1) elevated sea surface temperature (that can cause coral bleaching and related mortality), and 2) ocean acidification. These global stressors: cannot …
Roughly 240 million years ago (Ma), scleractinian corals rapidly expanded and diversified across shallow marine environments. The main driver behind this evolution is uncertain, but the ecological success of modern reef-building corals is attributed to their nutritional symbiosis with photosynthesizing dinoflagellate algae. We show that a suite of exceptionally preserved …
Global wildlife could plunge to a 67 per cent level of decline in just the fifty-year period ending this decade as a result of human activities, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2016. The report shows how people are overpowering the planet for the first time in Earth’s history and …
Ocean acidification threatens the survival of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. The negative effects of ocean acidification observed in many laboratory experiments have been seen in studies of naturally low-pH reefs, with little evidence to date for adaptation. Recently, we reported initial data suggesting that low-pH coral communities of the Palau …
The worst global bleaching event on record could simply be the new normal, according to one of the foremost experts on coral reefs and their response to warming oceans. Mark Eakin, head of the Coral Reef Watch program at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has told the Guardian …
The Australian Conservation Foundation has renewed its legal challenge to Adani’s Carmichael mine, appealing against a federal court ruling that endorsed its approval by the commonwealth. The ACF on Monday lodged an appeal against last month’s decision, which found the then federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, was entitled to find …
The US space agency is taking images of the Great Barrier Reef from 8.5 kilometres up in a specially equipped jet to gain a better understanding of what humans are doing to the largest living thing on Earth. Using a state-of-the-art sensor that allows scientists to effectively build a naked …
Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) and the Federal University of South of Bahia (UFSB) in Brazil warn of the negative environmental impacts of unplanned coastal occupation on tropical reefs and consequently on the …
Scientists working on a Nasa-led project are scanning large swathes of the Great Barrier Reef as part of the biggest assessment of the world’s coral reefs ever undertaken. The US$15m three-year coral reef airborne laboratory mission promises to solve outstanding mysteries of what drives coral reef health and provide reef …
The Coral living along the coastal reef of Hawaii could face extinction due to rising temperatures in the ocean. By controlling fishing activities, establishing new Marine protected patches on the sea and controlling the runoff population that arises from the land, Hawaiian officials have started their campaign to rid their …
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has almost fully recovered from the worst coral bleaching ever known in recent history, authorities said on Monday. A three-minute video clip recorded on September 2 by Quicksilver Group, a private tour operator specialising in Great Barrier Reef tours in Queensland showed several international and local …
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has almost fully recovered from the worst coral bleaching ever known in recent history, authorities said on Monday. A three-minute video clip recorded on September 2 by Quicksilver Group, a private tour operator specialising in Great Barrier Reef tours in Queensland showed several international and local …
The Australian government is seeking at least $120m from the owners of a Chinese coal carrier that destroyed part of the Great Barrier Reef. Shenzhen Energy Transport is arguing against paying for the clean-up of the Douglas Shoal, which was severely damaged when the Shen Neng 1 went off-course and …
Australia's marine environment - already beset by coral bleaching and kelp forest dieback - could face further pressures if the federal government acts on recommendations to wind back protection, green groups say. The results of two lengthy panels set up by the Abbott government to review huge new marine reserves …
Thick layers of oil sticking to plastic and other debris were washed ashore Chowpatty beach on Sunday morning. "Spills like these will harm non-moving organisms and filter feeders like barnacles, shell fish, corals, sponges and marine algae on the rocky patch off Marine Drive," says marine conservationist Pradip Patade who …
SYDNEY, Australia - The Federal Court of Australia has dismissed environmental concerns surrounding Adani Enterprises' $16-billion Carmichael coal mine project and termed it legal. "Consistent with earlier decisions of Queensland's Land Court and the Federal Court affirming the company's approvals, the Federal Court has determined that due process has been …
Australian researchers have investigated signs of geological structures hidden behind the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, and have found a much deeper reef spanning more than 6,000 square kilometres (2,316 square miles). New seafloor maps of the area have revealed a vast, underwater field of doughnut-shaped mounds, each one measuring …
Adani's Carmichael coal mine has cleared another legal hurdle after the Federal Court threw out a challenge against the project by the Australian Conservation Foundation. The ACF had sought to establish a landmark climate change case in Australia, arguing approval of the proposed mega coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin …
