How will the nations that have ratified UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention respond to the threat climate change represents to iconic natural and historic sites across the globe? This is one of the biggest questions facing the countries represented at the 45th World Heritage Committee meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Will … [continued]
Scientists have developed an airborne imaging technology that will allow them to spot ailing coral reefs up to 70 feet underwater.
The vast majority of the world’s coral reefs are now reaching the point of no return — the point at which it wouldn’t even theoretically be possible to save them from disappearing completely.
Coral reefs within US waters are unlikely to last more than a few decades more, at the most, going by many recent comments from researchers in the field. On that subject, new research has made it clear that the strict conservation measures currently being employed in some parts of Hawaii have not protected coral reefs there from rising sea temperatures.
The Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching event that’s been occurring since the start of summer in the Southern Hemisphere has now spread to cover more than 900 miles of reef, according to researchers.
The Great Barrier Reef experienced it’s worst coral bleaching event (since modern record-keeping began) in 2016, as we reported a few months ago with an “obituary.” It seems that 2017 may be a repeat (or may not be) of 2016, as coral bleaching has already begun again on the Great Barrier Reef.
We reported recently on the extreme bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef seen this year, highlighting a piece written as an “obituary.” Thankfully, though, the obituary is still in actuality a tentative one, as the reef continues to hold on for now.
2016 is very likely to be the hottest year on record when it’s over, according to a new assessment from the World Meteorological Organization. As it stands, preliminary data are showing that global temperatures in 2016 are roughly 1.2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels — not far below the supposed “safe” limit of 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
