Corals are bleaching in every corner of the ocean, threatening its web of life – the Washington Post
First around Fiji, then the Florida Keys, then Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and now in the Indian Ocean. In the past year, anomalous ocean temperatures have left a trail of devastation for the world’s corals, bleaching entire reefs and threatening widespread coral mortality — and now, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and International Coral Reef Initiative say the world is experiencing its fourth global bleaching event, the second in the last decade…
The Widest-Ever Global Coral Crisis Will Hit Within Weeks, Scientists Say – the New York Times
The world’s coral reefs are in the throes of a global bleaching event caused by extraordinary ocean temperatures…It is the fourth such global event on record and is expected to affect more reefs than any other. Bleaching occurs when corals become so stressed that they lose the symbiotic algae they need to survive. Bleached corals can recover, but if the water surrounding them is too hot for too long, they die…
Climate change is rewiring fish brains — and probably ours, too – Grist Magazine
Acidifying oceans are leading to sensory loss in fish. Scientists fear people might be next…
A climate Q&A with coastal geologist Gary Griggs – Pacifica Tribune
A startling rise in sea-surface temperatures suggests that we may not understand how fast the climate is changing…
Why Is the Sea So Hot? – the New Yorker
A startling rise in sea-surface temperatures suggests that we may not understand how fast the climate is changing…
Six Months After the Heat Spiked, Caribbean Corals Are Still Reeling – Hakai Magazine
For many Caribbean corals, last year’s heat proved too much to bear. The more time corals spend in hot water, the more likely they are to bleach, turning white as they expel the single-celled algae that live within their tissues. Without these symbiotic algae—and the energy they provide through photosynthesis—bleached corals starve. Survival becomes a struggle, and what had been a healthy thicket of colorful coral can turn into a tangle of skeletons…
A Massachusetts town spent $600K on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days later – the Washington Post
A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure…
This trio hopes ‘Won’t Give Up’ will become an anthem for the climate movement – NPR
Performers Pattie Gonia and Quinn Christopherson teamed up with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to spread a message of hope and joy.
Extreme Summer Heat Threatens Coral Replanting Effort – Scientific American
A marine heat wave last year undercut efforts to regrow coral reefs off Florida’s coast. Conservationists are worried this year could be problematic, too…