Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering compound used in sunscreens, has been found in high concentrations in the waters around popular coral reefs in Hawaii and the Caribbean. According to new research, the chemical not only kills coral, it causes DNA damage in adults and deforms the DNA in coral in the larval stage, making it unlikely they can develop properly...

While the management of local and regional stressors threatening coral reefs is critical, these efforts on their own will not be enough in the face of global climate change, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Coral reefs around the world face growing danger from a changing climate, on top of the historic threats from local pollution and habitat destruction.

TORONTO, ON — A team of scientists from Canada and Australia have discovered that the decline in shark populations is detrimental to coral reefs. “Where shark numbers are reduced due to commercial fishing, there is also a decrease in the herbivorous fishes which play a key role in promoting reef health,” said Jonathan Ruppert, a […]

The parrotfish, a species of marine life abundant in Bermuda’s waters, is singlehandedly working to keep both the coral reefs and beaches surrounding the island healthy, all thanks to their voracious appetite and ability to defecate up to 200 pounds of sand per year, with a recent report highlighting the fact that areas that don’t […]

A new three-year NASA field expedition gets underway this year to survey more of the world’s coral reefs, with Dr Eric Hochberg from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences set to be involved in the study. NASA said, “Coral reefs, sometimes called the rainforests of the sea, are home to a quarter of all ocean […]

[Opinion column written by Joleah Lamb] There are more than 11 billion pieces of plastic debris on coral reefs across the Asia-Pacific, according to our new research, which also found that contact with plastic can make corals more than 20 times more susceptible to disease. In our study, published in Science, we examined more than […]

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] announced that the topic for this month’s ‘Kids Hour Saturdays’ on June 18th is coral reefs. A spokesperson said, “Kids Hours Saturdays’ takes place every third Saturday of the month at 11am and 2pm respectively. Each hour features the screening of short films followed by a book reading for […]

In celebration of World Oceans Day, BioQuest announced it has “officially completed the draft reference genome of the Grooved Brain Coral, marking the first-time whole genome sequencing of a coral reef has been accomplished in the Caribbean by the Caribbean.” A spokesperson said, “This groundbreaking work was conducted locally in Bermuda in collaboration with the […]

In the remote Pacific, the Phoenix Islands provide an unspoiled center for marine science

Watch breathtaking underwater footage off the Panama coast, where coral reefs reproduce in a flurry of carefully-timed action. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/A-Coral-Reefs-Mass-Spawning.html

In one reef, three million sea cucumbers released 64,000 metric tons of nutrient-packed poo back into the ecosystem

The reefs in Eilat displayed widespread bleaching, a phenomenon in which the symbiosis between coral and algae fails, typically due to high water temperatures.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute MarineGEO Postdoctoral Fellow Maggie Johnnson outlines her research studying the effects of ocean acidification on marine coral near Bocas del Toro, […]

The post Coral reefs and ocean acidification appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Katie Cramer is a MarineGEO Post-Doctoral Fellow and travels to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama throughout the year to conduct research. Her recent paper […]

The post Q&A: Katie Cramer on the long term human impact on coral reefs in Caribbean Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Caribbean coral reefs have become biologically and economically degraded habitats. The relative weight of the big factors in this ecological catastrophe–pollution, overfishing, warming and ocean […]

The post Coral reefs grow faster, healthier when parrotfish are abundant appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Dead zones affect dozens of coral reefs around the world and threaten hundreds more according to a new study by Smithsonian scientists published in the […]

The post Dead Zones May Threaten Coral Reefs Worldwide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

While the management of local and regional stressors threatening coral reefs is critical, these efforts on their own will not be enough in the face of global climate change, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Coral reefs around the world face growing danger from a changing climate, on top of the historic threats from local pollution and habitat destruction.

Using 'gardening' techniques to actively restore endangered coral reefs is ecologically sound and economically feasible, according to recent research.

The importance of coral reefs in supporting diverse fish communities has been highlighted in a recent study. However, the effects of damaging fishing techniques were also observed in video footage of the reefs studied, located off the coast of Ireland.

A new study has conducted a preliminary investigation into the design of reserves that would help protect coral reefs from climate change. The results indicate that, 15 per cent of coral reefs in the Bahamas, the study area, would be able to withstand rising temperature, and would therefore be appropriately placed in reserves.

New research has predicted that, if current warming continues, an important type of coral in the central Red Sea could stop growing by 2070. Although the same coral has recovered after previous short-term warming events, it appears that the current continuing trend in warming is likely to be more damaging.

Coral reef formation is already decreasing worldwide. A new study predicts that formation will drop to 60% of its natural rate if anthropogenic CO2 emissions continue to rise over the next century and keep acidifying the oceans.

Periods of slow growth observed in coral reefs in the Caribbean are caused by aerosols in the air from pollution and volcanic activity, recent research suggests. Aerosols cause cooler sea surface temperatures and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the coral, both of which slow coral growth.

Citizen scientists are increasingly playing an important role in monitoring environmental conditions around the world. There have been concerns, however, that the quality of volunteer data might not match the reliability of data collected by professional scientists. A new study has found that both citizen scientists and professional scientists were able to identify widespread decreases in the cover of live corals and increases in rubble and sand, during two long-term monitoring programmes of coral reefs. These results show that volunteers can indeed play a meaningful role in the conservation of these reefs, say the authors of this study.

Not only can coral reefs buffer humans from disasters, but protecting them is 15 times cheaper than building sea walls.

But protecting your skin and the reefs is possible.

159 coral reefs were examined in the Asian-Pacific region, and 89 percent of those reefs were contaminated with plastics and disease.

These unusual creatures are stunningly beautiful and surprisingly important to life on Earth. Show us what you know!

Oxybenzone, a common UV-filtering agent in sunscreens, linked to deformities and DNA damage in coral around the world.

These invasive species are wreaking havoc on reefs and the fish that live amongst the coral.

Since the threats to coral reefs vary depending on location, scientists are customizing solutions to help them survive.

A recent study found that coral reefs will face severe challenges even if average global warming temperature rise is restricted to 2 degrees Celsius. This is a rise that most countries are struggling to negotiate and meet. But reefs are very sensitive to temperature changes, experts fear the window of opportunity to prevent massive reef loss is very small.

Read full article: Nature and Animal Conservation

(Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute) Oil pollution is known to cause lethal and sublethal responses on coral communities in the short-term, but its long-term effects have not been widely studied. The Bahia Las Minas oil spill, which contaminated about 40 square kilometers (about 15 square miles) near the Smithsonian's Galeta Point Marine Laboratory in Colon and became the largest recorded near coastal habitats in Panama, served as an opportunity to understand how coral reefs in tropical ecosystems recover from acute contamination over time.

When sunscreen chemicals wash off beach-goers, they bleach coral, stunt its growth, and sometimes kill it outright.

Many sunscreens contain chemicals that are devastating to sensitive coral and other marine life.

As reported in the Otago Daily Times, the noticeable impacts of climate change on area coral reefs and a recent starfish outbreak are not as bad as previously thought due to noticeable changes in the Fijian lifestyle. From

Carbon sequestration, the technology taking carbon dioxide out of fossil fuel emissions, just got a boost

These reefs live in murky water with low levels of light and are likely to survive rising sea levels, researchers say.

Concerned about the threats facing coral reefs, this artist is creating bright, tactile reminders of what healthy corals look like.

Climate change and warming seas are severely bleaching tropical coral reefs and undoing decades of knowledge about how to protect these delicate and vital ecosystems.

Researchers from Bangor University in Wales used computer models to discover that ecosystems were collapsing at a 'significantly faster rate' than first thought.

Climate change and warming seas are severely bleaching tropical coral reefs and undoing decades of knowledge about how to protect these delicate and vital ecosystems.

Most people think of carbon dioxide as a poison, but in nature it’s a building block. Find out how we can imitate coral reef by using CO2 as a raw material for the creation of concrete.

Sheppard, Charles (Charles R. C.), author