Some corals have turned a ghostly white due to extreme heat stress. It's the fourth bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef in the last seven years, which makes it harder to recover.
"Despite concerted efforts and investments, the condition of the Great Barrier Reef has declined since 2014, and this is largely due to the impacts from climate change," the main scientist said.
NPR's Lulu Garcia Navarro speaks with journalist Dahr Jamail about his new book, "The End of Ice," on climate change and its consequences to nature and humans.
Storms, warmer waters and coral-eating starfish have harmed the iconic coral reef system off Australia's coast. Now the Australian government has announced a plan to boost funding for the reef.
The ecosystem has collapsed for 29 percent of the 3,863 reefs in the giant coral reef system, according to new research. Scientists are learning which corals are the "winners" and "losers."
Like many reptiles, the sex of a turtle is determined by how warm the egg is as it's being incubated. And small temperature differences can cause dramatic changes in the male-to-female ratio.
It's the world's biggest coral reef system, home to some 400 types of coral. In the past 18 months, rising ocean temperatures helped cause the single greatest loss of coral ever recorded there.
Scientists say severe bleaching events have happened three other times in the past 20 years — but never in consecutive years. They fear that prolonged stress could kill the corals.
New research shows the 2-inch fangblenny bites bigger fish and releases an opioid-based venom. The larger fish becomes disoriented, and the little guy gets away.
After another major coral bleaching event, a new study has concluded that securing a future for coral reefs "ultimately requires urgent and rapid action to reduce global warming."
The reef structure covers more than 2,000 square miles north of the Great Barrier Reef. What might live there and even what it looks like up close, is still largely a mystery.
Around the world, warm oceans and human interference are still causing massive reef "bleaching." A newly released study looks at what's different about these healthier-than-expected reefs.
Over six months, healthy coral is bleached and then covered with algae. Scientists say bleaching has hit 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia's "biggest ever environmental disaster."
Read about how robots could save the Great Barrier Reef, why Americans work so much, and what art projects veterans are making to help them recover from post-traumatic stress disorder.
It's all in the timing. Biologists haven't been able to breed embryos of the rare, pillar coral in the lab because it's been tough to catch the creatures in the act.
