Coral reefs that suffer widespread bleaching can still recover if conditions improve, but it’s estimated to take up to 12 years. And that’s if no more bleaching events occur.
One of Australia’s largest groups of flower species is named after a wealthy British slave-trader. And Nazi memorabilia collectors have almost sent “Hitler’s beetle” extinct. It’s time for a change.
New research shows just 2% of the Great Barrier Reef remains untouched by bleaching since 1998. Its future survival depends on how much higher we allow global temperatures to rise.
Goby fish and coral rely on each other to survive. But new research found gobies are declining under climate change, dealing a double blow to Australia’s reefs.
Just because coral is dying, doesn’t mean marine life in reefs will end. New research found dead coral hosted 100 times more microscopic invertebrates than healthy coral.
Researchers found 16% of coral species have not been seen for many years. This finding is alarming, because local extinctions suggest global extinctions may be looming.
Recent flooding may have reduced the remaining coral population by 90%. Combined with damage from fishing, boating and coastal development, the species may be gone in a decade.
A big coral bommie in the lagoon at Norfolk Island.
John Turbull
New research involving CRISPR technology has furthered our understanding of corals’ gene functions. Specifically, it has revealed a mechanism underpinning how corals withstand heat stress.
There are fundamental knowledge gaps around coral in the Great Barrier Reef, including how many species live there and where they’re found. Our new study finally starts to fill those gaps.
They’re more used to taking visitors to the reefs, but COVID-19 gave tour operators time to help check the condition of the corals. What they found doesn’t bode well.
Corals glow in neon shades during a 2010 bleaching episode at Palawan, Philippines.
Ryan Goehrung/University of Washington.
Future extremes from the Indian Ocean will be acting on top of global warming, giving a double whammy effect, like the record-breaking heat and drought we saw in 2019.
Two adult seahorses living on the seahorse hotels four months after the hotels were deployed.
White’s seahorse in Sydney uses seahorse hotels as temporary residence while their natural habitats recover.
A researcher completing bleaching surveys in the southern Great Barrier Reef after a major bleaching event.
ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES
Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of a UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.
Resilient corals are offering hope for bleached reefs.
Emma Camp