News tagged with coral reefs

Atlantic currents have seen 'drastic' changes: study

Scientists have found evidence of a "drastic" shift since the 1970s in north Atlantic Ocean currents that usually influence weather in the northern hemisphere, Swiss researchers said on Tuesday.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jan 04, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (43) | comments 38

Oceans in distress foreshadow mass extinction

Pollution and global warming are pushing the world's oceans to the brink of a mass extinction of marine life unseen for tens of millions of years, a consortium of scientists warned Monday.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 20, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (20) | comments 22

Dolomite discovery ends 100-year treasure hunt

(PhysOrg.com) -- The century-old mystery of a missing mineral in coral reefs has been solved by a team from The Australian National University. 

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 09, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Unprecedented, man-made trends in ocean's acidity

Recent carbon dioxide emissions have pushed the level of seawater acidity far above the range of the natural variability that existed for thousands of years, affecting the calcification rates of shell-forming ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 22, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (20) | comments 29 | with audio podcast

Trouble in paradise: Ocean acidification this way comes

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.---Shakespeare, Macbeth

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 05, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (16) | comments 23 | with audio podcast

Gulf of Mexico oil spill in the Loop Current

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists monitoring the US oil spill with ESA's Envisat radar satellite say that it has entered the Loop Current, a powerful conveyor belt that flows clockwise around the Gulf of Mexico ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 19, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (13) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Carbon dioxide affecting fish brains: study

Rising human carbon dioxide emissions may be affecting the brains and central nervous systems of sea fish, with serious consequences for their survival, according to new research.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (15) | comments 15

First ever photo of fish using tools

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper soon to be published in Coral Reefs reveals the first ever photographs of a fish, in this case the blackspot tuskfish, using tools to acquire their food.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 17 | with audio podcast report

'Evil twin' threatens world oceans, scientists warn

(PhysOrg.com) -- The rise in human emissions of carbon dioxide is driving fundamental and dangerous changes in the chemistry and ecosystems of the world’s oceans, international marine scientists warned today.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 29, 2010 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (17) | comments 8

Ocean climate change damage to cost $2 trillion

Greenhouse gases are likely to result in annual costs of nearly $2 trillion in damage to the oceans by 2100, according to a new Swedish study

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (12) | comments 12

World's oceans get an acid bath

Among the repercussions of global climate change, the effect of ocean acidification on marine life is one of the least-understood variables.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Feb 22, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (11) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Lionfish invasion continuing to expand

Their numbers continue to expand. They are spreading throughout the Caribbean Sea. Eradication appears almost impossible. Even limited amounts of control will be extremely difficult, and right now the best ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 19, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Declines in Caribbean coral reefs pre-date damage resulting from climate change

The decline of Caribbean coral reefs has been linked to the recent effects of human-induced climate change. However, new research led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego suggests ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 30, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Oceans where fishes choke

(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian marine scientists have expressed disquiet over the continued worldwide spread of large, dead zones in the ocean.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 30, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Ocean acidification will likely reduce diversity, resiliency in coral reef ecosystems: new study

A new study from University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science scientists Chris Langdon, Remy Okazaki and Nancy Muehllehner and colleagues from the Australian Institute of Marine ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 29, 2011 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (11) | comments 19 | with audio podcast

Coral reef

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters containing few nutrients. In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders, produces a calcareous formation that supports the living corals and a great variety of other animal and plant life.

Coral reefs most commonly live in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water corals exist on a much smaller scale.

Globally, coral reefs are under threat from climate change, ocean acidification, overuse of reef resources, and harmful land-use practices. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm reefs by encouraging excess algae growth.

For more information about Coral reef, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.