Coral reefs

Few funds generated by the Deepwater Horizon disaster have been allocated as yet to return the Gulf of Mexico’s marshes and ecosystems to a healthier state, leading to “random acts of restoration”

Biologists are directing the evolution of corals to prepare them to fight climate change

Although they cover a fifth of Earth’s landmass, tropical grassy ecosystems are routinely misidentified and mismanaged

The world's largest ocean is absorbing carbon dioxide, and turning more acidic as a result, faster than expected

The policy is opposed by scientists, conservationists and a majority of Australian voters

Either the end of the Little Ice Age or the Industrial Revolution has changed the type of nitrogen incorporated into deep-water corals

Fear of tiger sharks, for instance, helps protect seagrass from being over-grazed, which in turns pulls CO₂ out of the atmosphere and provides a habitat for fish and shellfish

Colorful sponges and other marine life are starting to colonize the museum’s statuary and draw tourists away from a threatened natural reef off the Cancun coast

A glimpse of future ocean chemistry shows how it transforms entire ecosystems

Along with invasive cyanobacterial fungus and algae, poisonous runoff, rising ocean levels, acidic waters and overfishing are taking their toll on the reefs and the marine life they support

Deep water reefs are largely unexplored and unprotected

Plans to develop ports to export coal will hurt the coral reef with sediment and other pollution, as well as ocean acidification and climate change once the coal is burnt