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Environment

The U.S. Virgin Islands Becomes the First American Jurisdiction to Ban Common Chemical Sunscreens

The new law, passed unanimously in the U.S. Virgin Islands’ legislature on June 25th, targets three UV-blocking chemicals found in most mainstream commercial sunscreen products.

Heather Gies

A reef scene off of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Bans Potentially Dangerous Sunscreen Chemicals

The science community is still debating these ingredients' effects on the environment.

Kelley Czajka

A school of fish pass over a coral reef at Hanauma Bay on January 15th, 2005, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Environment

How Bleached Coral Reefs Permanently Change Local Fish Communities

A new study found that bleached reefs had fewer predators such as snappers and groupers and more plant-eating fish such as parrotfish and rabbitfish.

John C. Cannon

Environment

Is Your Sunscreen Harming Coral Reefs?

A single study was the main catalyst for recent sunscreen ingredient bans, yet the science community is still debating those ingredients' effects on coral reefs—and even on sunscreen users.

Kelley Czajka

Environment

Why Some Coral Habitats Are Expanding Due to Rising Ocean Temperatures

While it may seem like a good thing, coral habitat replacing seaweed could be seriously detrimental to marine habitats off the coast of Japan and in the Mediterranean.

Gina Mantica

A damaged section of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's northeastern coast.

Environment

Coral Reefs Are Increasingly Threatened by the One-Two Punch of Cyclones and Bleaching

But scientists are having a hard time illustrating these problems as shifting baselines continue to redefine what is considered normal for reef health.

Todd Woody

An aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef.

Environment

Measuring the Continued Destruction of Coral in the Great Barrier Reef

Australian scientists now report that coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef has fallen sharply in all three sections of the reef for the first time in 35 years of continuous monitoring.

Todd Woody

Environment

This Satellite-Based Monitoring System Could Be a Game-Changer for Coral Reef Conservation

An innovative monitoring system would allow researchers, policymakers, and environmentalists to track reef damaging events across the globe in near-real time.

Rhett A. Butler

An aerial view taken on February 27th, 2016, shows coral reefs in New Caledonia in the South Pacific.

Environment

Climate Change Is Starving Our Coral Reefs

A new study shows that coral bleaching events are recurring faster than reef ecosystems can recover.

Kate Wheeling

Environment

Is Climate Change Cooking Our Coral Reefs?

El Niño storms seem to be strengthening due to climate change, and in turn intensifying coral bleaching. This is particularly vivid at Christmas Island, where the water has warmed the most.

Robynne Boyd