Coral reefs

Photo: Courtesy of Leonardo Ortiz Lozano

Scientists Just Discovered a 310-Mile Coral Reef Corridor in the Gulf of Mexico

In the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have found five new coral reefs forming a so-called coral reef corridor. The team of scientists from the University of Veracruz and Mexico’s National Institute of Technology announced their findings earlier this month, reminding us there’s still so much we don’t know about the underwater world. The five coral…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

Another Thing Killing Coral Reefs: Our Poop

It’s no secret that corals are dying at an alarming rate. While climate change heating up the oceans is understood to be screwing over corals, a new study points fingers at a different culprit: pollution. Published in the journal Marine Biology Monday, the study used 30 years’ worth of data to conclude that nutrient pollution…

Earth Science Yessenia Funes

More Than Half a Million Corals Died to Bring Bigger Ships Into Miami Port

Off the coast of Miami, corals are dying. Why? Because of a 16-month-long project to expand the harbor channel. A new study shows how the project killed over half a million corals between 2013 and 2015. Published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin Thursday, the study involved on-the-ground observations of the corals coupled with satellite…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

Researchers May Have Solved Darwin’s Paradox of How Reefs Are So Productive

Cryptobenthic fish may sound weird, but they’re not so different from you and me. They’re vertebrates just like us, though their hearts, bones, and brains are quite tiny. But unlike us, they do two things extremely well. “They’re the masters of premature death,” Simon Brandl, a postdoctoral researcher at Simon Fraser University, told Earther. “And…

Conservation Brian Kahn

Scientists Create Giant Atlas of World’s Most Remote Reefs

Coral reefs line shores around the world, but they’re sometimes tough to spot because well, they’re underwater. Now, a group of researchers has found that satellite imagery is capable of mapping reefs on a global scale. They’ve used the technology, along with field studies, to create the world’s most thorough coral reef atlas to date—including…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

There Aren’t Enough Baby Corals Repopulating the Great Barrier Reef

The plight of the Great Barrier Reef is becoming more and more like a plot-line from a science fiction dystopia. Following the heat exposure-induced death of half of the reef’s corals in 2016 and 2017, the survivors aren’t having enough babies to repopulate the ecosystem. In fact, rates of “larval recruitment”—the number of new baby…

Climate Change Maddie Stone

A Future of Heavier Rainstorms Could Be a Death Sentence For Corals

Corals have it rough. From warming oceans to sunscreen, threats are everywhere. Now, add freshwater to the list. A study out last week in in the journal BMC Genomics documents how low levels of salinity can stress out corals. The research highlights yet another environmental problem that may become more frequent in a warming world,…

Climate Change Yessenia Funes

Key West Votes to Ban Sunscreens That Harm Coral Reefs

Skincare aficionados and beachgoers alike may have to think twice before slathering on their favorite sunscreen if they’re headed to Key West, Florida. The city’s officially regulating what sunscreens are allowed in its waters—all in the name of saving its beloved coral reefs. The Key West City Commission voted 6-1 Tuesday to ban the sale…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

The Great Barrier Reef Is Becoming More Heat-Resistant—at a Price

In 2016 and 2017, disaster struck the world’s largest living structure: back-to-back heat waves caused half of all corals on the 1,400-mile-long Great Barrier Reef to die. But there’s a glass-half-full perspective on this grim news, which is that half of the reef’s corals—approximately 10 billion of them—are still alive. And they just went through…

Climate Change Maddie Stone

Stop Hating on Pantone’s New Color of the Year

On Thursday, the Pantone Color Institute announced its new color of the year. 2018, the year of ultra violet, will give way to 2019’s year of living coral. And because the internet, people got angry. Ambivalence about living coral popped up on Twitter as activists and scientists questioned if Pantone was being tone deaf choosing…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

We’re Now Seriously Considering Geoengineering Coral Reefs to Save Them

Coral reefs are facing a crisis thanks to an ever-growing list of threats, from climate change to ocean acidification to pollution. In an effort to stem the rising tide of damage, the National Academy of Sciences released a major report on Wednesday chronicling the high-tech interventions we might have to use to save coral. None…

Conservation Brian Kahn

Palau Becomes First Nation to Ban Sunscreens That Harm Corals

Sunscreen is essential for any tropical trip. After all, no one’s trying to return home with red, burnt skin. Your favorite brand may soon be illegal, however, if you’re headed to Palau, a 500-island archipelago in the Pacific. Why? Because some sunscreens contain chemicals that are harmful to coral. On Thursday, the island nation passed…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

Ominous New Art Exhibit Shows Coral Reefs Transformed by Trash

Corals are some of the most stunning organisms to have graced the planet, but they’re almost incredibly threatened. Now, an artist has re-created their bright colors and squiggly formations in a manner that’s ominously appropriate for the 21st century: with plastic garbage. Opening to the public Friday at the Whitney Museum in New York City, Unexpected…

Climate Change Yessenia Funes

This Deep Sea Eel Is the Raddest Thing You’ll See All Week

It’s been a long-ass week. And next week isn’t looking better. But I would urge you to take a break from our never ending freak show on the surface and feast your eyes on one of the most amazing things you will ever see courtesy of scientists aboard the E/V Nautilus—this incredible eel. The E/V…

Conservation Brian Kahn

An Underwater Sculpture in the Maldives Is the Perfect Monument to Climate Change

The Maldives are the lowest lying nation in the world. The highest point is just eight feet above sea level, meaning the country’s culture and fate are intimately tied to the vast ocean surrounding it. To commemorate that relationship and remind visitors of what could be lost to the rising seas, artist Jason deCaires Taylor…

Climate Change Brian Kahn

Deep Reefs Might Not Be the Climate Refuge We Hoped

By diving 500 feet down into the ocean’s twilight zone, a team from the California Academy of Sciences has learned that deeper-dwelling corals form entirely distinct ecosystems from those in shallow reefs—and they aren’t faring all that much better than their counterparts near the surface. Many scientists had considered deep reefs as a sort of…

Climate Change Yessenia Funes

Some Coral Reefs Need Poop, Study Finds

Bird turds can tell you a lot about an island. For instance, is it smelly or not? But also, how are the coral reefs doing? Research published on Wednesday in Nature shows that at least for one archipelago, the shittier the island the healthier the reefs and fish around them. That insight is crucial for conservationists…

Conservation Brian Kahn

North America’s Largest Coral Reef Is No Longer in Danger

A couple weeks ago, I met some corals for the first time off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. It was pretty rad. Now, I have a newfound appreciation for the animal and any good news about it. So here’s some: The Belize Barrier Reef is no longer on the World Heritage Committee’s List of World…

Conservation Yessenia Funes

Snapchat’s New Coral Lenses Transport You Under the Sea

Snapchat lenses might be considered “fun”—the collection of augmented reality animations you can add to your real-world snap includes a llama falling over and a head-banging cockatoo—but rarely do we think of them as educational. A team of animators is now trying to change that with a new set of lenses that raise awareness about…

Earth Science Paola Rosa-Aquino

Coral Reefs Aren’t Keeping Up With Sea Level Rise, and That’s Bad

For many communities in the coastal tropics, colorful corals stand as a natural buffer against the daily ebb and flow of the surf and the occasional big storm. But in the age of sea level rise, this steadfast protection may be waning. A study published today in Nature finds that more than half of all…

Environmental Justice Maddie Stone

Scientists Just Discovered a 310-Mile Coral Reef Corridor in the Gulf of Mexico

Another Thing Killing Coral Reefs: Our Poop

More Than Half a Million Corals Died to Bring Bigger Ships Into Miami Port

Researchers May Have Solved Darwin’s Paradox of How Reefs Are So Productive

Scientists Create Giant Atlas of World’s Most Remote Reefs

There Aren’t Enough Baby Corals Repopulating the Great Barrier Reef

A Future of Heavier Rainstorms Could Be a Death Sentence For Corals

Key West Votes to Ban Sunscreens That Harm Coral Reefs

The Great Barrier Reef Is Becoming More Heat-Resistant—at a Price

Stop Hating on Pantone’s New Color of the Year

We’re Now Seriously Considering Geoengineering Coral Reefs to Save Them

Palau Becomes First Nation to Ban Sunscreens That Harm Corals

Ominous New Art Exhibit Shows Coral Reefs Transformed by Trash

This Deep Sea Eel Is the Raddest Thing You’ll See All Week

An Underwater Sculpture in the Maldives Is the Perfect Monument to Climate Change

Deep Reefs Might Not Be the Climate Refuge We Hoped

Some Coral Reefs Need Poop, Study Finds

North America’s Largest Coral Reef Is No Longer in Danger

Snapchat’s New Coral Lenses Transport You Under the Sea

Coral Reefs Aren’t Keeping Up With Sea Level Rise, and That’s Bad

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