Great Barrier Reef suffers worst-ever coral bleaching
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record, scientists said, in a dire warning about the threat posed by climate change to the world’s largest living organism.
Coastal pollution reduces genetic diversity of corals, reef resilience
A new study found that human-induced environmental stressors have a large effect on the genetic composition of coral reef populations in Hawai’i.
Indigenous knowledge could reveal ways to weather climate change on islands
Some islands have such low elevation, that mere inches of sea-level rise will flood them, but higher, larger islands will also be affected by changes in climate and an understanding of ancient practices in times of climate change might help populations survive, according to researchers.
Stay inside, the world is healing
With humans under lockdown, nature has taken over the earth as skies have begun to clear, wild animals are reclaiming their turf. Empty roads and beaches are being taken over by wild animals.
Seychelles designates huge new marine reserve
The 210,000-square-kilometre (81,000-square-mile) zone — an area equivalent to nearly half of the Black Sea – is intended to protect both the sea and the archipelago’s economy.
Marine life could recover by 2050 with the right policies, study finds
Despite centuries of rampant overfishing and pollution, marine life in the world’s oceans could be fully restored in as little as 30 years with aggressive conservation policies.
Op-Ed: California’s beaches closures offer a glimpse of the likely future. That should frighten us
For the first time in history, most people in Southern California, under stay-at-home orders, are completely banned from surfing, sunbathing, fishing or building sandcastles at the ocean’s edge. The current beach closures are giving us a glimpse of Southern California’s likely future: one with fewer and smaller beaches nearly as inaccessible as they are right now.
Go-ahead for mining on ten West Coast beaches, South Africa
South Africa’s Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has dismissed most of the appeals against the approval in 2019 of vastly expanded beach mining operations on the West Coast north of the Olifants River.
Keep learning with science activities that kids and families can do at home
With lots of kids home from school, here’s a quick roundup of NOAA’s most popular educational resources to help you safely hunker down while learning about the ocean and atmosphere. As well as some ideas from the UNEP, on how to teach them about the plastic pollution problem.