Coral Reef Loss Could Cost Countries Billions
According to a recent study, losing just the top three feet of coral reef could result in $4 billion a year in flood-related damages.
Coral Reefs
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.
Biologists, Divers, and Fishers Are Creating Inventive Tools to Combat a Lionfish Invasion
Lionfish are non-native invaders introduced to Florida waters 30 years ago that have since proliferated to pestilent levels and unleashed an ecological crisis that is only getting worse
Seven 'Pacific Standard' Stories for Earth Day
Highlighting the mess humans have made of the planet—and radical plans to fix it.
Corals Can Withstand Another Century of Climate Change
Heat-tolerant genes may spread through coral populations fast enough to give the marine creatures a tool to survive another 100 years of warming in our oceans.
How Coral Bleaching Events Affect Ecological Diversity
As a result of rising ocean temperatures coral bleaching is becoming more common, and it's causing a biotic homogenization of local fish populations.
Our Plastic Waste Is Destroying the World's Coral Reefs
New research shows the extent to which our dependence on plastic is infecting, damaging, and killing coral reefs from Thailand to Australia.
Ending the Ecologically Harmful Capture of Tropical Fish
Experts are hoping that new captive breeding programs, replacing harmful fishing practices, could help prevent future harm to coral reef ecosystems.
Climate Change Is Starving Our Coral Reefs
A new study shows that coral bleaching events are recurring faster than reef ecosystems can recover.
Could Dust Storms From Africa Be Damaging Ecosystems in the Florida Keys?
It appears that dust blown off the Sahara desert may be initiating harmful bacteria growth in coral reefs across the Atlantic.
Behind the Restorative Effects of Coral Gardening
The technique involves planting fragments of nursery-raised coral on reefs in the wild to replenish depleted colonies.
What It Would Take to Restore One of the World's Richest Marine Ecosystems
Raja Ampat, an island chain off the coast of New Guinea, is home to perhaps the world's richest marine biodiversity
Inside the Race to Save Cuba’s Coral Reefs
Given the dual threats of climate change and increased tourism, conservationists are attempting to gather all the data they can before it’s too late.
The Race to Save Cuba’s Coral Reefs
Given the dual threats of climate change and increased tourism, conservationists are attempting to gather all the data they can before it’s too late.
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.
When a Tiny Island Becomes a Tourist Destination
In 2011, 1,000 times more tourists visited Roatán than in 1969.
Can Cuba's Ecosystems Weather a Flood of New American Tourists?
As an old embargo lifts, a new vacation spot emerges.
A Long Road to Recovery for Coral Reefs
New research shows that it will take decades for protected reefs to bounce back, but even minor fishing restrictions can have significant benefits for marine ecosystems.
Protect Coral Reefs and They Will Protect Us
Protecting the fish that graze among coral reefs could be one way to save ourselves from rising seas.
Curiouser and Curiouser: Coral Reefs Just Might Survive
Marine biologist John Pandolfi discusses historical reconstructions that suggest there yet be hope for saving Earth's ailing coral reefs.
Riddles of an Acerbic Sea
Aside from global climate change, carbon dioxide emissions are contributing to another equally disturbing global problem: Ocean acidification — and its potential effects on marine ecosystems, especially coral reefs — has biologists very concerned.
Re-reefing the Florida Keys
Ken Nedimyer and the Nature Conservancy find coral tough enough to withstand global warming.
Good News — and Bad — for Coral Reefs
Reports show the ocean's unique ecosystems are adapting to fluctuation in water temperatures likely caused by global warming, but increasing acidic levels may prove fatal for the world's coral reefs.