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☆ Scientists discover the world’s largest coral — so big it can be seen from space
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-14 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The world’s largest coral has just been discovered in the southwest Pacific Ocean, scientists announced Wednesday. It’s three times larger than the previous record-breaker in American Samoa, according to Pristine Seas, and longer than a blue whale, the planet’s biggest animal. Steve Spence/National Geographic Pristine SeasA diver swims alongside the mega coral, which is made up of nearly 1 billion polyps. “Making a discovery of this significance is the ultimate dream,” said Paul Rose, a National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition leader. Yet while the mega coral remains vulnerable, he believes its health and longevity do provide a glimmer of hope.

Persons: CNN CNN —, “, ”, Enric Sala, Manu San Félix, It’s “, Steve Spence, Féliz, it’s, Paul Rose, Dennis Marita, Sala, Derek Manzello, Manzello, Emily Darling, Darling, ” Sala Organizations: CNN CNN, National Geographic, Geographic, Ministry of Culture, Tourism, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, International Union for Conservation, Reef, CNN, Wildlife Conservation Society, COP29, UN Locations: Ocean, Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Solomon, Indonesia, Philippines, Baku, Azerbaijan

☆ Over a year of astonishing ocean heat has given way to the largest coral bleaching on record
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The previous record from the 2014 to 2017 mass bleaching affected just below 66% of the world’s reef area. Triggered by heat stress in warm oceans, coral bleaching occurs when corals expel the colourful algae living in their tissues. A bleached coral is not dead, but ocean temperatures need to cool off for any hope of recovery. “We’ve never had a coral bleaching event this big before.”In just the last six weeks, bleaching has been confirmed in the waters of Palau, Guam and Israel. What are we going to do about it?” said Emily Darling, who leads the Wildlife Conservation Society’s global coral reef conservation programme.

Persons: Derek Manzello, Sirachai Arunrugstichai, Lillian Suwanrumpha, Manzello, “ We’ve, ”, Emily Darling, El Niño Organizations: CNN, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reuters, NOAA, Reef, Getty, ”, United Nations, Wildlife Conservation Locations: Trat, Thailand, Raja Ampat, Indonesia's West Papua, AFP, Palau, Guam, Israel, Caribbean, South China, Colombia

ISER Caribe executive director Stacey Williams dives underwater to clip lines of astroturf-like material where baby sea urchins are growing. The group is working to restore 5 acres of coral reef in Puerto Rico by planting fragments across six reefs and returning long-spined sea urchins to the ecosystem. Then, once the urchins reach young adult size, the researchers place them in a coral reef in need of extra support. Manzello said scientists used to think coral had a longer runway — perhaps until 2040 or 2050 — before conditions became so grim. A look at the underwater lab where ISER Caribe nurtures baby sea urchins.

Persons: Derek Manzello, ” Manzello, ”, That’s, they’d, Stacey Williams, Jackie Montalvo, Maura Barrett, —, “, ” Williams, Juan Torres, Andrew Baker, ” Baker, Manzello, “ You’re, We’ve, haven’t, Evan Bush Organizations: Oceanic, Reef Watch, NOAA, Atlantic, ISER Caribe, NBC, Preserve ., Institute for, Ecological Research, ISER, NASA, Caribe, University of Miami, Rosenstiel, of Marine, Science Locations: Florida, Atlantic, Brazil, Puerto Rico, ISER Caribe, Puerto Rican, La Parguera, Honduras, Caribbean, Seattle, La

☆ Heat Stress Is Hitting Caribbean Reefs Earlier Than Ever This Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the world’s coral reefs suffer a fourth global bleaching event, heat stress in the Caribbean is accumulating even earlier than it did in 2023, the previous record year for the region, according to data made public on Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “I hate that I have to keep using that word ‘unprecedented,’” said Derek Manzello, coordinator of the agency’s Coral Reef Watch Program. Officials said conditions were quickly changing to a neutral state, with a cooler La Niña forecast for this summer or fall. But right now, temperatures in the Caribbean off Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Colombia are hitting levels that previously haven’t been seen until weeks later, an ominous signal after the heat that ravaged reefs across the region last year. A study of the reefs off Huatulco in Oaxaca, Mexico, found coral mortality ranging from 50 percent to 93 percent, depending on the reef area.

Persons: “, ’ ”, Derek Manzello, El Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reef Watch Locations: Caribbean, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Oaxaca, Mexico

Great Barrier Reef, Australia CNN —As the early-morning sun rises over the Great Barrier Reef, its light pierces the turquoise waters of a shallow lagoon, bringing more than a dozen turtles to life. CNN witnessed bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in mid-February, on five different reefs spanning the northern and southern parts of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) ecosystem. “It’s a die-off,” said Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a climate scientist at the University of Queensland in Australia and chief scientist at The Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Our destination is Lady Elliot Island, a remote coral cay perched on top of the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. — Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort Guano miners once stripped Lady Elliot Island of its topsoil.

Persons: Elliot Island, ”, Kate Quigley, “ We’re, Ove Hoegh, I’m, Guldberg, ‘, Elliot, Peter Gash, “, ” Gash, Lady Elliot, ” Peter Gash, CNN Gash, Derek Manzello, Peter Harrison, “ We’ve, ” Harrison, ” David Ritter, ” Ritter, David Wachenfeld Organizations: Australia CNN —, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, CNN, Minderoo, University of Queensland, Eco, Reef Watch, Southern Cross University, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Greenpeace, Australia CNN Scientists, AIMS Locations: Australia, El, Brisbane, Queensland, Red Sea, Indonesia, Seychelles, Caribbean, Florida, “, New South Wales, Greenpeace Australia, Briggs, Elliot Island

☆ Coral bleaching: Ocean heat is driving a mass bleaching event, and it could be the worst on record
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Rebecca Wright | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Coral reefs around the world are experiencing a mass bleaching event as the climate crisis drives record-breaking ocean heat, two scientific bodies announced Monday — with some experts warning this could become the worst bleaching period in recorded history. If ocean temperatures don’t return to normal, bleaching can lead to mass coral death, threatening the species and food chains that rely on them with collapse. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a climate scientist specializing in coral reefs based at the University of Queensland in Australia, predicted this mass bleaching event months ago. In February, scientists at the Coral Reef Watch program at NOAA added three new alert levels to the coral bleaching alert maps, to enable scientists to assess the new scale of underwater warming. Bex Wright/CNNIn mid-February, CNN witnessed extensive coral bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest coral reef system – on five different reefs spanning the northern and southern areas.

Persons: ” Derek Manzello, Ove Hoegh, “, Guldberg, ”, Lillian Suwanrumpha, Niña, El, Manzello, ” Manzello, Lady Elliot, Bex Wright, Selina Stead, ” Stead, David Ritter Organizations: CNN, Atlantic, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reef, Reef Watch, Pacific, University of Queensland, NOAA, Getty, Niña, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Park Authority, AIMS, UN, Greenpeace Locations: Pacific, Florida, Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Persian Gulf, Indonesia, Africa, Seychelles, Raja Ampat, Indonesia's West Papua, AFP, El, Lady, Greenpeace Australia

☆ Australia: Mass coral bleaching event underway at Great Barrier Reef
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This is the seventh mass bleaching event to hit the vast, ecologically important but fragile site and the fifth in only eight years. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Elliot island on October 10, 2019. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images/FileBy continuing on the current pathway, “we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef and the $6 billion sustainable tourism industry,” said Schindler.

Persons: CNN —, El Niño, ”, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Dr, Lissa Schindler, Lady Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, Schindler, “, David Ritter, Derek Manzello Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian, Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Labor, Oceanic, NOAA, Reuters, Reef Watch Locations: Australia, Lady, Southern, Pacific

☆ Conditions are ripe for a global coral bleaching event: ‘Florida is just the tip of the iceberg’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

NOAA, coral reefs, Florida Keys, coral reefs, coral bleaching, climate change, warm oceansCoral reefs off the coast of Florida are being hit by a mass bleaching event due to record high ocean temperatures, and early indications suggest a global mass bleaching event could be underway. The Sentinel climate research and monitoring site in the Florida Keys has recorded 100% coral bleaching since late July. There have been eight mass coral bleaching events that have impacted the entire Florida Keys since 1987, Manzello said. "We're talking about thousands upon thousands of miles of coral reefs undergoing severe bleaching heat stress," Manzello said. "Now, it's still way too early to predict whether or not there will be a global bleaching event, but if we compare what is happening right now to what happened in the beginning of the past global bleaching event, things are worse now than they were in 2014 to 2017."

Persons: Derek Manzello, Ian Enochs, They're, Enochs, Manzello, zooxanthellae, El Nino, Andy Bruckner, Bruckner, what's, Jennifer Koss, Koss Organizations: NOAA, National Oceanic, Reef Watch, Oceanographic, Meteorological Laboratory, Southeast, Florida Keys, Florida Keys National, Islands, Reef Conservation Locations: Florida, Southeast Florida, Columbia, Cuba, El, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Belize, Panama , Puerto Rico, elkhorn

Florida’s coral reefs are facing what could be an unprecedented threat from a marine heat wave that is warming the Gulf of Mexico, pushing water temperatures into the 90s Fahrenheit. The biggest concern for coral isn’t just the current sea surface temperatures in the Florida Keys, even though they are the hottest on record. The daily average surface temperature off the Keys on Monday was just over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or 32.4 Celsius, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Corals typically experience the most heat stress in August and September. “We’re entering uncharted territories,” Derek Manzello, an ecologist and the coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program, said.

Persons: “, Derek Manzello Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reef Watch Locations: of Mexico, Florida

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