Category News

Scientists have mapped coral reefs in the Caribbean to identify those most likely to survive climate change. Corals with the highest potential to escape destruction from marine heat waves are predominantly located along the northern shoreline of Cuba. And other promising sites are clustered around the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, eastern Jamaica, and the US state of Florida.

Coral reefs are wonders of the ocean.

Made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny creatures, they are one of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet.

According to a recent IPCC report (top-level UN reports written by scientists), at up to 1.5C of warming, only 10 to 30% of coral reefs are expected to survive. If warming is above that, survival prospects plummet drastically.

• Five things...

A recent study suggests that warming oceans are increasing the speed at which sound travels, ultimately making underwater noises louder. The world’s oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat that humans have produced in recent decades, causing them to rapidly warm. And in these warmer waters, sound waves are able to travel faster and farther before fading out, making the ocean a noisier, louder place. This could be especially troubling for large mammals that rely on sound and use techniques like echolocation for communication and sensing their environment.

Using publicly available global data, the researchers calculated how salt levels, temperature, and depth in seawater affect sound...

When a 27-ton mining robot called Patania II began vacuuming up metal ores from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in April 2021, it was not alone. Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR), the Belgian company that developed the robot, had a group of scientists watching its every move—or rather, an array of remotely-controlled vehicles equipped with cameras and other sensors.

GSR is one of several companies that hopes to begin mining the seabed on an industrial scale in the coming years, perhaps as early as 2024. Some are touting the seabed as a sustainable source of the metals needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles or smartphones. Meanwhile, scientists are trying to figure out just how much ecological damage deep-sea mining would do.

The short answer is a lot, according to the ...

The charismatic clownfish – made famous by the popular film Finding Nemo – is a treasure trove for biological research, helping scientists answer a myriad of biological questions, such as how larvae disperse in the open oceans, or how coral reef fish will react to changes induced by global warming. While a comprehensive genome of the orange clownfish – the original Nemo – was published a few years ago, only recently did scientists manage to sequence the genome of the false clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) too, a related species found around Okinawa, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and northwestern Australia.

“This genome, which is like the blueprint of the false clownfish, will be a very useful resource for scientists across biological fields,” said study co-lead author Dr...

A British man and a French woman have been found safe two-and-a-half days after they went missing while diving off Malaysia. Rescuers are continuing to search for the man’s 14-year-old son, Malaysian police said. Adrian Chesters, 46, and his Dutch son, Nathen Chesters, were on a group dive in water off the coast of Mersing, in the southern state of Johor. Another diver, 18-year-old French woman Alexia Molina, has been found.

Police said that both individuals were reported to be in a stable condition after being taken to hospital by the marine authorities.

The pair were spotted at night by local fishermen around 50 miles south of where they went missing on Wednesday.

The Malaysian search operation has now shifted to this area at the southern tip of the Malay peninsular, in the hop...

A rare Greenland shark found washed up on a Cornish beach died of meningitis, a post mortem has found. Scientists who examined the body said the discovery was “likely a world’s first”. The female found just outside Newlyn Harbour in Cornwall in March is thought to be 100 years old by marine biologists. But it is still considered a “juvenile” because Greenland sharks can live to more than 400 years old.

Scientists said there was not enough evidence to link the disease to man-made stressors, such as pollution.

The autopsy by the Cornwall Marine Pathology Team, is thought to be the first of its kind undertaken in the UK.

Veterinary pathologist James Barnett, of the Cornwall Marine Pathology Team, said the brain was “discoloured and congested”, while the fluid around the brain was cl...

UN scientists have unveiled a plan that they believe can limit the root causes of dangerous climate change. A key UN body says in a report that there must be “rapid, deep and immediate” cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Global emissions of CO2 would need to peak within three years to stave off the worst impacts. Even then, the world would also need technology to suck CO2 from the skies by mid-century.

After a contentious approval session where scientists and government officials went through the report line by line, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has now published its guidance on what the world can do to avoid an extremely dangerous future.

First, the bad news – even if all the policies to cut carbon that governments had put in place by the end of ...

Coral reefs are being hit by climate change in just about every way possible. Wildfire, drought and other land-based climate disasters have captured global headlines, but coral reefs have been bleaching at record levels, and as such their future is uncertain. The science of climate change’s impact on coral reefs is simple. As humans pump greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the ocean acts as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and dissolving it into acid. 

As a result, ocean acidity has increased by about 25 percent since the early 19th century, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That acidity is incredibly harmful to coral reefs...

The images of sea life captured by photographer and cinematographer Shawn Heinrichs have a dual message: we should revere these majestic, yet fragile creatures, but we should also fear the prospect of their extinction.

Heinrichs, 50, grew up by the South African coast: “As a kid I spent every weekend around the oceans — it has more abundance than you could ever imagine,” he recalled. His protective instinct for life beneath the waves inspired a career investigating its mistreatment by humans and campaigning for change. By locating elusive whale sharks in Mexico’s Isla Mujeres, he heavily influenced local fishermen’s career transition to ecotourism.

Heinrichs then documented the widespread hunting of manta rays for their gills, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and h...

Abnormally warm waters are stressing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, causing large parts of the usually colorful reef to turn a ghostly white. Aerial surveys detected catastrophic coral bleaching on around 60 percent of the reef’s corals, reports Darryl Fears for the Washington Post.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, stretching for 1,429 miles over an area of approximately 133,000 square miles. The sprawling ecosystem is made up of individual reefs formed over thousands of years, which have been repeatedly stressed by recent marine heatwaves. Now, the Great Barrier Reef appears to be suffering its fourth mass bleaching in the last seven years. 

Despite their plant-like appearance, corals are animals made up of hundreds to thousands of tin...