Category Archives: Mangrove and Coral Destruction

Mangrove and Coral Destruction, News

Great Barrier Reef health outlook downgraded to “very poor” due to ocean warming


Photograph: © SAF – Coastal Care

Excerpts;

The government agency that manages Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has downgraded its outlook for the corals’ condition from “poor” to “very poor” due to warming oceans.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s condition report, which is updated every five years, is the latest bad news for the 133,360-square-mile colorful coral network off the northeast Australian coast as climate change and coral bleaching take their toll…

Read Full Article; CBS News (08-30-2019)

Why the Great Barrier Reef is in danger; MNN (09-07-2018) (09-12-2018)

Video Captures the Violent Act of Coral Bleaching, LiveScience (08-17-2016)

Global warming is transforming the Great Barrier Reef; Science Daily (04-18-2018)
A new study shows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016…

Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching has started early, biologist says; Guardian UK (01-19-2018)
Warm water has already begun bleaching coral on the Great Barrier Reef, weeks ahead of the period with highest forecast risk. Satellite data suggest widespread bleaching is possible by March…

A Close-Up Look at the Catastrophic Bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef; Yale E360 (04-10-2017)
Scientists are reporting the second mass bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef in the last year. In a Yale Environment 360 interview, researcher Terry Hughes says these events have damaged two-thirds of the world’s largest coral reef and are directly caused by global warming…

Coral bleaching hits 93% of Great Barrier Reef, Video, Science Daily (04-21-2016)
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists say as they reveal the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country…

Great Barrier Reef: the scale of bleaching has the most sober scientists worried, Guardian UK (04-16-2016)
I have dived hundreds of times, with different teams of scientists, along the reef. Yet the scale of this bleaching event has even the most sober and senior coral reef scientists worried. If the rhetoric from marine biologists is to be believed, then the Great Barrier Reef is now in the grip of a “bommie apocalypse”…

Great Barrier Reef’s Unprecedented Threat From Dredging, Dumping; Guardian UK (05-07-2014)
The impact of dredging and dumping sediment on the Great Barrier Reef has been far greater than the mining industry has claimed, with nearly 150m tonnes of new dredging set to take place in the reef’s waters, a study shows…

Inform, Mangrove and Coral Destruction

How to restore a coral reef


Photo source: Beyond Preservation: The Coral Restoration Foundation Bonaire; By Andrew Jalbert – ©

Excerpts;

New guidelines drafted by a consortium of concerned experts could enable corals to adapt to changing environments and help restore declining populations in the Caribbean. The guidelines provide a definitive plan for collecting, raising, and replanting corals that maximizes their potential for adaptation…

Read Full Article; Science Daily (07-23-2019)

Beyond Preservation: The Coral Restoration Foundation Bonaire; By Andrew Jalbert (08-01-2018)
When avid scuba diver and famed Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton first visited Bonaire decades ago, he eloquently described the underwater environment as, “a world of riotous, outrageous color.” Years later, Bonaire has seen some changes but his assessment still largely rings true…

Inform, Mangrove and Coral Destruction

Abu Dhabi is replanting mangroves in the fight against climate change

uae-coast-nasa
UAE Coast. The area around Abu Dhabi is rich in mangroves—trees and shrubs able to grow in salty soil and water—that help prevent coastal erosion. Although mangrove forests typically occur in tropical and subtropical environments, the summertime temperatures along the UAE coast (often exceeding 35°C, or 95°F) pose challenges to mangrove survival. Mangrove forests here have grown in recent decades, according to the UAE government, thanks to large-scale re-forestation programs.
Image and photo source: NASA Earth Observatory

Excerpts;

The coastal city of Abu Dhabi is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to the impacts of climate change. It’s threatened by rising sea levels and researchers say it could be too hot to live in by the end of this century if global warming trends continue.

But trees are helping the city fight the climate crisis. Mangroves…

Read Full Article; CNN (07-15-2019)

Japan Tsunami, Mangrove and Coral Destruction, Pollution

Thirty years of unique data reveal what’s really killing coral reefs


Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care

Excerpts;

Coral bleaching is not just due to a warming planet, but also a planet that is simultaneously being enriched with reactive nitrogen from sources like improperly treated sewage, and fertilizers.

Nitrogen loading from the Florida Keys and greater Everglades ecosystem caused by humans is the primary driver of coral reef degradation in Looe Key. These coral reefs were dying off long before they were impacted by rising water temperatures. Elevated nitrogen levels cause phosphorus starvation in corals, reducing their temperature threshold for bleaching…

Read Full Article; Science Daily (07-15-2019)

Mangrove and Coral Destruction, News, Sea Level Rise

On Java’s Coast, A Natural Approach to Holding Back the Waters

indonesia
Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care

Excerpts;

The Indonesian island of Java has lost 70 percent of the mangroves that once protected its coast from erosion and flooding. Now villagers are using natural wooden barriers to try to restore the mangrove forests and save their lands and homes from being washed away…

Read Full Article; Yale E360 (05-02-2019)

Inform, Mangrove and Coral Destruction

Global warming disrupts recovery of coral reefs

great-barrier-reef
Great barrier of reef, Australia. Photo source: ©© Secruza

Excerpts;

The damage caused to the Great Barrier Reef by global warming has compromised the capacity of its corals to recover, according to new research…

Read Full Article; Science Daily (04-03-2019)

Is the Great Barrier Reef recovering from coral bleaching? CBS News (09-12-2018)
Is the Great Barrier Reef recovering from coral bleaching? A CBS Video featuring Dr Mark Aerin, Coordinator NOAA Coral Reef Watch…

Why the Great Barrier Reef is in danger; MNN (09-07-2018) (09-12-2018)

Video Captures the Violent Act of Coral Bleaching, LiveScience (08-17-2016)

Global warming is transforming the Great Barrier Reef; Science Daily (04-18-2018)
A new study shows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016…

Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching has started early, biologist says; Guardian UK (01-19-2018)
Warm water has already begun bleaching coral on the Great Barrier Reef, weeks ahead of the period with highest forecast risk. Satellite data suggest widespread bleaching is possible by March…

A Close-Up Look at the Catastrophic Bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef; Yale E360 (04-10-2017)
Scientists are reporting the second mass bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef in the last year. In a Yale Environment 360 interview, researcher Terry Hughes says these events have damaged two-thirds of the world’s largest coral reef and are directly caused by global warming…

Coral bleaching hits 93% of Great Barrier Reef, Video, Science Daily (04-21-2016)
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists say as they reveal the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country…

Great Barrier Reef: the scale of bleaching has the most sober scientists worried, Guardian UK (04-16-2016)
I have dived hundreds of times, with different teams of scientists, along the reef. Yet the scale of this bleaching event has even the most sober and senior coral reef scientists worried. If the rhetoric from marine biologists is to be believed, then the Great Barrier Reef is now in the grip of a “bommie apocalypse”…

Mangrove and Coral Destruction, News

Fish diversity linked to Caribbean coral reef health


Photo source: Beyond Preservation: The Coral Restoration Foundation Bonaire; By Andrew Jalbert – ©

Excerpts;

The health of coral reefs can be impacted as much by the diversity of fish that graze on them as by the amount of fish that do so, according to a new study. In the paper, the researchers untangle and unveil the powerful effects that biodiversity has on Caribbean coral reefs…

Read Full Article; Science Daily (03-06-2019)