by Ursula Hyzy Agence France-Presse TARA, Japan (AFP) — The key to the survival of the world’s threatened coral reefs may lie in the waters surrounding a small volcanic island off the coast of Japan, scientists say. The seabed of Shikine island is a “living laboratory” for researchers aboard the schooner Tara, a French-led scientific expedition, who are looking for clues to help protect coral from the damaging effects of climate change. While coral reefs […]
Tag: Coral bleaching
‘Alarming’ bleaching of Maldives corals: conservationists
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Coral reefs in the Maldives are under severe stress after suffering mass bleaching this year as sea temperatures soared, a top conservationist body warned Monday. Around 60 percent of Maldives’ coral colonies have been bleached, with the figure reaching 90 percent in some areas, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a statement. It cited data from a survey it carried out with the Maldives Marine Research Center […]
Coral bleaching goes into unprecedented third year: NOAA
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The planet’s coral reefs are likely facing warmer than normal water for an unprecedented third year in a row, extending what is already the longest coral bleaching event on record, US observers said Monday. The global bleaching event began in mid-2014 with global warming and a particularly intense El Nino phenomenon resulting in higher than normal ocean temperatures, according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA presented its grim […]
Coral bleaching hits 93% of Great Barrier Reef: scientists
by Madeleine COOREY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering its worst coral bleaching in recorded history with 93 percent of the World Heritage site affected, scientists said Wednesday as they revealed the phenomenon is also hitting the other side of the country. After extensive aerial and underwater surveys, researchers at James Cook University said only seven percent of the site had escaped the whitening triggered by warmer water temperatures. “We’ve never […]





