New research has uncovered a whole new way to combat the devastating crown-of-thorns starfish, by decoding the pheromones that they use to communicate.
The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching again, in its first back-to-back mass bleaching event.
AAP/WWF Australia
The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching again. Without greater action on climate change and water quality, its World Heritage status could be listed as “in danger”.
A typical reef scene within the Chagos Archipelago.
Member of the Climate Council this week returned to one of the areas of the Great Barrier Reef that was worst affected by this year’s coral bleaching. What they found was far from encouraging.
We think of coral reefs as a diverse ecosystem, but each coral is an entire and complex microworld of organisms imperceptible to our eyes.
Floriaan Devloo-Delva
A new study provides insight into coral-dwelling microbial communities and how they react to pollution, overfishing, and climate change. What does it mean for the Great Barrier Reef?
Malcolm Turnbull and his colleagues have pointed $1 billion of the government’s existing green energy funding towards the Great Barrier Reef.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Coalition has ramped up the race to fund the Great Barrier Reef’s protection. All three major parties have promised hundreds of millions of dollars, but where from, and what will they be spent on?
Recent aerial surveys found huge amounts of coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef.
Terry Hughes/ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Bleaching has hit a huge swathe of the Great Barrier Reef, with many corals in the reef’s remote northern reaches now expected to die as a result of warm waters linked to this summer’s El Niño.
Bleaching events can leave corals weaker in the face of pollution and other stresses.
AAP Image/University of Queensland/Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Authorities have moved the Great Barrier Reef onto its highest alert level in response to widespread coral bleaching. Months of monitoring will now be needed to assess the ongoing damage.
The Great Barrier Reef is made up of thousands of individual reefs.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr
Shellfish will have more brittle shells as oceans get more acidic – making them more vulnerable to predators. New research gives a fascinating glimpse into how they will adapt.
Scuba diving must be done in a sustainable manner to preserve the industry.
Shutterstock
Many corals can’t make it through the bleaching events caused by warming ocean waters. But some can – and scientists are trying to learn more about the sources of their resilience.
Soon the oceans will be too warm to support thriving coral reefs.
USFWS - Pacific Region/Flickr