Untrawled L. pertusa interspersed with Mycale sponges standing erect to form a prominent reef at 200 m, Nordleksa, West Norway, May 1999. Lower edge of photograph ca. 2.5 m. Trawled L. pertusa grounds at a depth of 200 m in the Iverryggen area, West Norway, May 1999. Smashed coral fragments litter the sediment around a […]
This graph shows an overall decrease in the rate of calcification in Porites corals on the Great Barrier Reef since 1900. Since 1980, there has been a dramatic decrease in the calcification rate, which has been attributed to increasing acidification and increasing sea temperature stress. The light blue bands indicate 95 per cent confidence intervals […]
Destroyed by rising carbon levels, acidity, pollution, algae, bleaching and El Niño, coral reefs require a dramatic change in our carbon policy to have any chance of survival, report warns By David Adam Animal, vegetable and mineral, a pristine tropical coral reef is one of the natural wonders of the world. Bathed in clear, warm […]
By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are “poor,” a major new report found on Wednesday. While the World Heritage-protected site, which sprawls for more than 345,000 square km (133,000 sq miles) […]
A new report has put a dollar value on the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. The study, by the international consultancy Oxford Economics, predicts that coral bleaching will cost the Australian economy more than 30 billion US dollars. The study took into account not just lost tourism, commercial fishing and other […]
by Richard Harris Scientists say the world’s coral reefs could go extinct during our children’s lifetimes. Human activities are putting this beautiful ecosystem at risk. Some risks are obvious — such as global warming, which results in overheated seas. Others are more subtle. Consider the case of the damselfish: Looking off the coast from the […]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2009) — As global warming whips up more powerful and frequent hurricanes and storms, the world’s coral reefs face increased disruption to their ability to breed and recover from damage. That’s one of the findings from a new scientific study of the fate of corals in the wake of large climate-driven bleaching […]
By Art Chimes, Washington, D.C. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major contributor to climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry, potentially threatening marine life. Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been taking samples of water in the Pacific […]
ScienceDaily (July 25, 2009) — Scientists say conditions are favorable for significant coral bleaching and infectious coral disease outbreaks in the Caribbean, especially in the Lesser Antilles. Similar conditions may develop in Gulf of Mexico and Central Pacific. The forecast is based on the July NOAA Coral Reef Watch outlook, which expects continued high […]
By Andy Coghlan In just 40 years, the Caribbean’s spectacular branched corals have been flattened. Research reveals that the corals have been replaced by shorter rival species – and points to climate change as at least partly to blame. Most of the reefs have lost all the intricate, tree-like corals that until the 1970s provided […]
