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”.
In a year of coral bleaching, power blackouts, electricity arguments and Donald Trump, 2016 made the previous year’s climate of environmental optimism rather difficult to maintain.
Traditional hunting poses no threat to dugongs.
Flickr
Australia will almost certainly miss its water quality targets for the Great Barrier Reef.
Scientists assess coral deaths in the worst-affected part of the Reef in November 2016.
Andreas Dietzel, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Two-thirds of the corals in the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef have died on in the reef’s worst-ever bleaching event, according to the latest underwater surveys.
Coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish are helped by nutrient runoff.
Crown of thorns image from www.shutterstock.com
Queensland’s planned new coal mine could impact the climate, the Great Barrier Reef, water, and local species. Yet still it has been declared as ‘critical infrastructure’ by the state government.
Bleached corals are still alive, but they are starving, and often die in the following weeks.
Greg Torda
Australia has the third largest marine jurisdiction in the world, a vast ocean territory that contains important natural and biological resources. And it needs protecting.
Months after the bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, signs of the hoped-for recovery are scant.
Kirsten Tidswell/Climate Council
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
As scientists make a renewed push for greater action on climate change, a new installation at the Australian Museum brings home the fragility of our world.
Half a degree could make all the difference for the Great Barrier Reef.
Shutterstock.com
James Whitmore, The Conversation and Michael Hopkin, The Conversation
A new report published by the Climate Institute says Australia could avoid lengthy heatwaves and help save the Great Barrier Reef by meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C global warming goal.
The Great Barrier Reef is already feeling the effects of climate change.
AAP/Supplied
The ailing health of the Great Barrier Reef may be attracting more tourists, at least in the short term, with a survey showing many visitors were motivated to see it while they still have the chance.
Protecting the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality finally has a hard dollar price on it.
AAP Image
A groundbreaking new economic study has found that investing A$8.2 billion would get us very close to hitting targets to cut water pollution into the Great Barrier Reef by 2025.