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NEWS ABOUT: coral reef

Coral Reefs Gone by Century's End

Not just pretty: end of reefs often signals mass extinction events

(Newser) - Climate change and the acidification of the oceans—along with overfishing, coastal development, and pollution—will destroy the Earth's coral reefs in as little as 30 years, reports the Independent . The mass-bleaching in the Indian Ocean in 1998 alone destroyed 16% of the world's reefs in just a... More »

Sunscreen Pill In the Works

Coral yields compound that prevents UV damage

(Newser) - Coral from Australia's Great Barrier Reef has yielded a compound that could put a lot of sunscreen makers out of business. Researchers discovered that algae living in the coral created a compound that acts as a sunscreen to protect both the algae and the coral from the sun's... More »

We're Headed for Vast Ocean Extinction: Panel

Human activity is rapidly wiping out marine life, panel warns

(Newser) - Human activity has degraded the world's oceans with dizzying speed and a mass extinction of marine life only seen five times before in the planet's history is likely if urgent action is not taken, a panel of marine experts warns. The International Program on the State of the... More »

Dead Gulf Coral Points to BP Spill

'We'll never be able to see everything that happened down there'

(Newser) - Damaged coral reefs several miles from BP's blown-out Macondo well suggests the spill inflicted far more damage on the Gulf of Mexico's ecosystem than previously thought, reports the AP. "What we have at this point is the smoking gun," says a government biologist who led a recent expedition.... More »

Sultry Year Threatens World's Coral

Widespread bleaching expected in weeks to come

(Newser) - This year is set to be the hottest on record and scientists warn that could spell disaster for coral reefs. Reefs around the world are bleaching—expelling the algae that give them their color—on a scale only ever seen once before, in 1998. An estimated 16% of the world's... More »

What Tourists Can Do to Protect Coral Reefs

(Newser) - Snorkelers and scuba divers aren’t the worst threat to the embattled coral reefs of the world—climate change, commercial fishing, and pollution take top honors—but the casual tourist can lessen, and even mitigate, the damage he or she causes, Slate reports. Of course, snorkelers shouldn’t purposefully snap... More »

Great Barrier Reef Rebounds From Crisis

Scientists credit luck for natural wonder's 'spectacular' healing

(Newser) - Parts of the Great Barrier Reef bleached by warming waters 3 years ago have made a speedy recovery because of a few lucky breaks, the Guardian reports. Reefs typically take at least a decade to overcome human-created crises, but a combination of biological factors helped the reef's speedy healing, Australian... More »

Coral Reef's Slow Growth Worries Scientists

They blame climate change for trouble

(Newser) - The Great Barrier Reef isn't growing as fast as it should, and the consequences could be devastating for the vast species of marine life that it supports, say Australian scientists. A 13% decline in coral growth rate since 1990 is the first such drop in 400 years, says their report... More »

Fifth of Coral Reefs Dead: Study

Pollution leads to warmer, more acidic seas, scientists say

(Newser) - A fifth of the world’s coral reefs have died or been destroyed, says a study released to the UN yesterday. In it, marine scientists warned that the future of marine life and the $30 billion economic value of reefs are increasingly threatened by climate change. The report also zeroed... More »

Sea of New Ocean Life Discovered

Scientists find new crustaceans, rays, sharks and coral

(Newser) - Over 100 new ocean species have been discovered in coral reefs off Western Australia during a global census of marine life. They include exotic soft corals, new kinds of jellyfish, rays and shellfish, and parasites that feed on the tongues of fish, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The discoveries are... More »

Corals Face Extinction

Hundreds of species under threat, critical reefs could be destroyed

(Newser) - Hundreds of species that make up the world's coral reefs are faced with extinction, which could result in the destruction of reefs that provide habitats for 25% of all marine life. Up to a third of all coral is immediately threatened, reports the Los Angeles Times. Global warming is one... More »

Man Charged in Wife's Honeymoon Dive Death

Australian authorities decide bride's demise was no accident

(Newser) - An Alabama man has been charged with murdering his wife on a diving trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the AP reports. The bride, a novice diver, drowned minutes after diving to a shipwreck with her husband. He was a qualified dive rescuer but rose to the surface rather than... More »

Sunscreen Hurts Coral Reefs

Common ingredients can activate viruses that fatally bleach reef builders

(Newser) - Sunscreen might prevent a bad burn, but it might also be burning coral reefs, National Geographic reports. Four chemicals found in common lotions awaken viruses in algae living in coral, a new study finds; the algae then explode and can leave the reef without its food supply—causing it to... More »

Dying Coral Zapped Back to Life

'Bio'Rock' revives bleached Bali coral

(Newser) - Electrified metal structures submerged off the coast of Bali are reviving dying coral reefs, the AP reports. Low-voltage electricity pulses through cables feeding the structures, spurring pieces of damaged coral attached to them back to health. Scientist Thomas Goreau, co-creator of the 'Bio-Rock' project, is presenting his research at the... More »

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