Most recent 40 articles: Washington Post - Climate and Environment
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'Nothing left’: At least 300 dead as flash floods devastate Afghanistan - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 12) |
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May 12 · As workers struggle to reach remote mountain villages, hundreds of people may still be trapped beneath debris and mud, according to the U.N.
KABUL - Afghan authorities and aid workers were struggling to respond this weekend to some of the worst flash floods in recent memory, which left about 300 people dead, the United Nations said, warning that hundreds of people may still be trapped beneath debris and mud.
The U.N.’s health agency said destruction was most severe in Baghlan province, in Afghanistan’s north, where “unprecedented rainfall” has damaged or destroyed thousands of homes since Friday. Read more ...
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Bishop vanished. His species can still be saved. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 11) |
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May 11 · Bishop’s story, from birth to presumed death, shows the extreme danger facing right whales, which could be extinct in three decades if they continue to disappear at the present rate. Bishop’s species is not doomed to extinction, advocates say, but time is running out.
In most ways, Bishop was a normal right whale. For the first year of his life, his mother nursed and protected him, and he learned to feed by swimming, mouth agape, through patches of plankton floating near the surface.
But on Jan. 20, 2015, Bishop became something more: a precious source of data that would help scientists better understand the dangers afflicting his species.
That day, off the coast ... Read more ...
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Horse’s rooftop rescue gives flood-hit Brazil 'something we could root for’ - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 11) |
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May 11 · After Caramelo the horse was stranded on a roof, the dramatic race to save him gripped some in Brazil as the nation grapples with severe flooding.
When a news crew’s helicopter swept over the catastrophic floods in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul on Wednesday, it captured a striking image: a horse trapped on a strip of a tin roof, surrounded by the same murky waters that had left entire neighborhoods looking as though they had been swallowed by a river. Read more ...
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Why you should stop using so much hot water - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 11) |
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May 11 · Heating water gobbles energy, leading to higher utility bills and more planet-warming emissions.
You may not be giving a second thought to setting your washing machine on the hot cycle, cranking your showers to a steamy temperature or scrubbing your dirty dishes under a stream of scalding water.
If you did, you’d find that you probably don’t need to use so much hot water - and that you could be saving energy and cutting your utility bills. Water heating is responsible for more than 10 percent of both annual residential energy use and consumer utility costs, the biggest share after air conditioning and heating, according to the Energy Department. An American household ... Read more ...
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Most extreme solar storm in 20 years brings beautiful northern lights - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 10) |
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May 10 · An extreme geomagnetic storm hit Earth for the first time in over 20 years, causing stunning aurora displays across northern Europe and very low latitudes in the U.S.
This is the moment aurora chasers have been waiting for.
For the first time since 2003, an extreme geomagnetic storm - the most severe of its kind - hit Earth on Friday evening. Beautiful green, purple and red dancing aurora displays, also known as the northern lights, have been spotted across Europe and very low latitudes in the United States, as far south as Alabama and Florida.
“I started shooting at the end of blue hour and could see some hints of aurora on the camera screen (some purple). Then it ... Read more ...
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The world’s largest carbon-capture plant just switched on - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 9) |
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May 9 · Experts say we’ll need carbon capture to offset stubborn emissions that can’t easily be cut with existing green technology.
After decades of hype and doubt, giant factories that can pull thousands of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere are starting to spin up.
Climeworks, a Swiss start-up, opened the biggest carbon absorbing plant in the world on May 8 in Hellisheidi, Iceland. Dubbed “Mammoth,” the plant is designed to remove 36,000 metric tons of carbon each year, the equivalent of taking 8,600 cars off the road. Read more ...
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What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 9) |
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May 9 · Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, as well as other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.
As Donald Trump sat with some of the country’s top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago Club last month, one executive complained about how they continued to face burdensome environmental regulations despite spending $400 million to lobby the Biden administration in the last year.
Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse ... Read more ...
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Another Sriracha shortage could be coming. A severe drought is to blame. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 8) |
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May 8 · Huy Fong Foods paused production of its spicy red Sriracha, blaming a chile supply that is “too green.”
Jennifer Wunderlich can’t recall the last time Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha sauce was in stock at her workplace, a New York-based specialty confections and gourmet food distributor.
It’s been “months and months” since Wunderlich said she’s seen the rooster-adorned, green-capped bottles at Nassau Candy, where she works as a customer support and sales specialist. Other distributors said their inventory of the red, garlicky sauce, which has cultivated an ardent popularity, is also depleted - and they worry it won’t be returning any time soon. Read more ...
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Why Highway 1 is the climate challenge that California can’t fix - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 7) |
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May 7 · It is beloved by Big Sur road trippers and is vital for local businesses. But intense storms, slides and fires imperil this highway. What does the future hold?
BIG SUR, Calif. - Workers dangle from a crane, drilling into the vertical face of rock that holds up one of the most famous and picturesque stretches of road in the world. They’re performing a delicate surgery on fragile geology in hopes that a single lane of traffic can safely flow to Big Sur before summer arrives. Read more ...
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'Biden-mobile’ or the future of transportation? How EVs got polarized. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 6) |
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May 6 · Democrats say they are way more likely than Republicans to buy electric cars. Could that change?
Electric cars have taken off across the United States. Even amid news of slowing sales, the country sold almost 1.2 million fully electric vehicles in 2023, more than quadruple the number in 2019. Grocery stores and rest stops are installing charging stations across the country; electric cars have moved beyond niche status and are being produced by Ford, GM, Hyundai and many others. Read more ...
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Historic floods kill 83, leaving Brazil and its president shaken, angry - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 6) |
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May 6 · The flooding that has slammed into Rio Grande do Sul, one of Brazil’s most prosperous states, has deeply alarmed this nation of 215 million.
The airport is shut down. Dozens of highways have been blocked. Most in the state capital are without running water. The death toll is already at 83 - and sure to climb higher.
Even in a country increasingly inured to natural disasters driven by climate change, the flooding that has swallowed Rio Grande do Sul, one of Brazil’s most developed and prosperous states, has badly shaken this nation of 215 million. With more than half the cities in the state dealing with floodwaters and 20,000 people left homeless, Rio Grande do Sul hasn’t ... Read more ...
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Why some corals are better off dead - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 5) |
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May 5 · As scientists rush to save ailing corals elsewhere, in Venezuela locals are trying to kill off this stinky variety.
VALLE SECO, Venezuela - Estrella Villamizar grabbed the soft red and white coral by its stem and hacked it off with a blow of her wooden knife before tossing it in a bucket with other pieces she’d already ripped out of the Caribbean waters lapping against this deserted beach.
On the sea bed, stretching for a distance as far as the eye could see, a blanket of the dark coral swayed in the warm current. Read more ...
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Fish are shrinking around the world. Here’s why scientists are worried. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 4) |
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May 4 · Figuring out the reason why has big implications, with billions of people depending on seafood for protein.
There’s something fishy going on in the water. Across Earth’s oceans, fish are shrinking - and no one can agree why.
It’s happening with salmon near the Arctic Circle and skate in the Atlantic. Nearly three-fourths of marine fish populations sampled worldwide have seen their average body size dwindle between 1960 and 2020, according to a recent analysis. Read more ...
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In photos: At least 39 dead as historic flooding hits southern Brazil - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 4) |
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May 4 · Floods in southern Brazil killed at least 39 people as heavy rainfall brought historic amounts of water to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to local authorities. At least 68 others are missing.
In the state capital, Porto Alegre, water levels rose to 4.88 meters (16 feet) - the highest observed since 1941, according to the prefectural government. The state’s civil defense agency also reported that a dam at a hydropower plant in the Cotiporã municipality had partially collapsed. Water from the dam completely overwhelmed nearby cities, the Associated Press reported.
May 3 | Eldorado do Sul, Brazil
Floodwaters overtake the streets.
May 3 | Porto Alegre, ... Read more ...
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Tesla retreat from EV charging leaves growth of U.S. network in doubt - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 3) |
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May 3 · Sudden layoffs this week left Tesla construction vendors uncertain whether to carry on with the charging projects they were building.
Tesla’s abrupt decision to lay off its electric-vehicle charging team and reduce its investments in public charging is a blow to the U.S. network, which has long relied on Elon Musk to build the bulk of the country’s fast chargers.
The sudden layoffs this week left Tesla construction vendors uncertain whether to carry on with the charging projects they were building, though one vendor said the company has since confirmed that existing projects should continue. Read more ...
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Why only 22 EV models now qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 3) |
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May 3 · Electric vehicles made with Chinese materials will be ineligible for the tax credit under a final rule the Treasury Department released Friday.
Americans buying electric vehicles will no longer be able to claim federal tax credits of up to $7,500 if their cars contain Chinese materials, the Biden administration announced Friday, the result of a landmark 2022 climate law that sought to reduce U.S. reliance on clean-energy components from China.
The final rule from the Treasury Department codifies a draft rule from December that sharply limited the number of EVs that qualify for the credit. Only 22 of the more than 110 EV models on sale in the United States are eligible ... Read more ...
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Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 1) |
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May 1 · Carrie Clark’s cat mysteriously went missing, causing her and her husband to panic. They posted on social media and distributed fliers in and around their neighborhood in Lehi, Utah.
“We were frantically searching for her for a week,” said Clark, whose 6-year-old indoor shorthair cat, Galena, disappeared on April 10. “We tore our home up trying to find her.” Read more ...
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How climate policies can drive voters to the far right - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (May 1) |
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May 1 · More than a decade ago, the Netherlands embarked on a straightforward plan to cut carbon emissions. Its legislature raised taxes on natural gas, using the money earned to help Dutch households install solar panels. By most measures, the program worked: By 2022, 20 percent of homes in the Netherlands had solar panels, up from about 2 percent in 2013. Natural gas prices, meanwhile, rose by almost 50 percent. Read more ...
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In photos: Flash floods kill over 100 people in Kenya - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 30) |
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Apr 30 · Floods have killed 169 people in Kenya with 91 still missing, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior said on Tuesday, the day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya
Transit trucks drive along the Mai Mahiu-Naivasha highway after heavy flash floods wiped out several homes when a dam burst, following heavy rains in Kamuchiri village of Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, Kenya
Local residents look at the damages after Old Kijabe Dam burst its banks and caused flash floods through several villages in Mai Mahiu, in the Rift Valley region of Naivasha.
April 29 | Mai Mahiu, ... Read more ...
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Kenya orders evacuation of all riverside dwellings amid deadly floods - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 30) |
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Apr 30 · NAIROBI - Kenya’s president ordered Tuesday the evacuation of all homes along the nation’s rivers after floods killed at least 169 people in the past month, with dozens still missing.
The announcement came a day after a torrent of water swept away scores of people near the town of Mai Mahiu, about 30 miles northwest of the capital, Nairobi. President William Ruto visited a school housing some of the many people displaced by the flooding. Read more ...
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What a years-long probe of Big Oil reveals about its climate strategy - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 30) |
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Apr 30 · Some of the world’s largest oil companies have privately expressed skepticism of the Paris agreement, federal climate regulations and their own goals of reaching “net zero” emissions by mid-century, even as they publicly voiced support for these efforts, according to documents that congressional Democrats released Tuesday.
The documents also detail industry efforts to fund university research into the environmental benefits of natural gas. They were obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Senate Budget Committee as part of a years-long investigation. Read more ...
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Alabama and the U.S. Gulf Coast region have seen a sudden burst of sea level rise, spurring flooding in low areas exacerbated by rainfall and high tides. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 29) |
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Apr 29 · On June 19, southern Mobile County, Ala., experienced torrential rain and severe flooding. Roads and some homes near the Fowl River were submerged.
But this was no ordinary flood.
THEODORE, Ala.
John Corideo drove the solitary two-lane highways of southern Alabama, eyeing the roadside ditches. It had been raining off and on for days and Corideo, chief of the Fowl River Fire District, knew that if it continued, his department could be outmatched by floodwaters.
It kept raining. Water filled the ditches and climbed over roads, swallowing parts of a main highway. About 10 residents who needed to be rescued were brought back to the station in firetrucks. More ... Read more ...
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Where seas are rising at alarming speed - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 29) |
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Apr 29 · One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found.
Recent sea level rise
2010 to 2023
0
3
6
9 inches
At more than a dozen tide gauges spanning from Texas to North Carolina, sea levels are at least 6 inches higher than they were in 2010 - a change similar to what occurred over the previous five decades.
Recent sea level rise
2010 to 2023
0
3
6
9 inches
Scientists are documenting a barrage of impacts - ones, they say, that will confront an even larger swath of U.S. ... Read more ...
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Finding space for wind farms might be easier than we thought - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 28) |
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Apr 28 · Towering wind turbines dot landscapes across the country, stretching hundreds of feet into the sky. But the huge structures topped with massive rotating blades only take up five percent of the land where they’ve been built, new research shows.
The rest of the space can be used for other purposes, such as agriculture, according to a study published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology.
This means developers could fit turbines in places that are often perceived as unsuitable for a wind farm.
To meet the Biden administration’s goal of weaning the electric grid off fossil fuels by 2035, the United States needs to add more wind ... Read more ...
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How groups execute the new plan could mean the difference between saving what’s left on Florida’s 360-mile-long coral reef and another summer of catastrophic loss. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 26) |
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Apr 26 · In Florida, swaths of coral paint a colorful landscape across the ocean floor and serve a key role in its ecosystem.
But last summer, amid the longest marine heat wave in decades, many were scorched - drained of color and their survival left in question. It’s a scenario becoming much more common.
KEY LARGO, Fla.
With milk crates of corals in hand and scuba tanks strapped to their backs, Sam Burrell and his team disappeared under the water’s choppy surface. Heavy, breaking waves crashed against the charter boat anchored miles off the coast.
With each breath they let out, they descended beneath the surface and felt a sense of relief: On this November morning, ... Read more ...
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Heavy rains and flooding kill dozens as extreme weather racks Kenya - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 25) |
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Apr 25 · NAIROBI - Devastating floods during Kenya’s rainy season, aggravated by climate change, have killed at least 38 people and displaced thousands as rivers burst their banks and inundated low-income neighborhoods.
Social media sites were awash Thursday with images and videos of people on rooftops of submerged houses. Residents across Nairobi neighborhoods used boats to rescue those stranded by the rising floodwaters.
Venant Ndighila, the emergency response manager of the Kenya Red Cross, said 38 deaths and 11,275 displaced people have been reported across the country. He warned about accompanying risks, including disease outbreaks and the disruption of goods and ... | By Thursday evening, Kwamboka said, the volunteers had managed to get some clothes and blankets for most of the displaced in her area. “Now we have to see how the women and children will have dinner as we wait for tomorrow,” she said. Read more ...
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New rules will slash air, water and climate pollution from U.S. power plants - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 25) |
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Apr 25 · The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized an ambitious set of rules aimed at slashing air pollution, water pollution and planet-warming emissions spewing from the nation’s power plants.
If fully implemented, the rules will have enormous consequences for U.S. climate goals, the air Americans breathe and the ways they get their electricity. The power sector ranks as the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change, and it is a major source of toxic air pollutants tied to health problems.
Before the restrictions take effect, however, they will have to survive near-certain legal challenges from Republican attorneys general, who have been emboldened ... Read more ...
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Nearly 2 in 5 Americans breathe unhealthy air. Why it’s getting worse. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · A rising number of Americans - nearly 2 in 5 - has been living with unhealthy levels of air pollution, while the United States experienced a record number of days between 2020 and 2022 with very unhealthy or hazardous air, according to a new report.
More than 90 million people are living in places where the air quality is worse than a new U.S. standard, the American Lung Association reported Wednesday in its annual State of the Air assessment, which detailed a significant increase based on the stricter national particle pollution standard.
The total includes 72 million people who would not have been counted under the looser federal standard - reflecting the dramatic ... Read more ...
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U.S. solar companies, imperiled by price collapse, demand protection - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 24) |
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Apr 24 · Several of the biggest American solar manufacturing companies are demanding aggressive action against cheap imports, arguing in a petition filed Wednesday with the Commerce Department that firms in four Asian countries are illegally flooding the U.S. market with Chinese-subsidized panels.
Though the panels are not produced in China, the petitioners allege many are made in factories linked to Chinese-based companies that benefit from massive price supports.
The complaint comes amid a glut of solar panels on the global market that has driven prices down by 50 percent over the past year, with the International Energy Agency projecting prices will fall even further. ... Read more ...
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California has so much solar power it’s throwing it away - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · In sunny California, solar panels are everywhere. They sit in dry, desert landscapes in the Central Valley and are scattered over rooftops in Los Angeles’s urban center. By last count, the state had nearly 47 gigawatts of solar power installed - enough to power 13.9 million homes and provide over a quarter of the Golden State’s electricity.
But now, the state and its grid operator are grappling with a strange reality: There is so much solar on the grid that, on sunny spring days when there’s not as much demand, electricity prices go negative. Gigawatts of solar are “curtailed” - essentially, thrown away.
In response, California has cut back incentives for rooftop solar ... Read more ...
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Chinese province of Guangdong hit by historic floods - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · Heavy rains continued to batter southern China on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes as rescuers raced to evacuate those trapped by flooding and locate at least 11 missing residents.
The historic levels of rain across Guangdong province have come earlier than the region’s usual flood season, between May and June, prompting concerns about the effects of climate change on the country.
Extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe in China, testing the top-down and increasingly centralized leadership under Xi Jinping that may be weakening local governments’ responses to such disasters.
The floods also threaten the country’s ... Read more ...
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In photos: Heavy rains cause massive flooding in China’s Guangdong province - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · Heavy rains continued to batter southern China on Monday, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes as rescuers raced to evacuate those trapped by flooding and locate at least 11 missing residents.
The historical levels of rain across Guangdong province have come earlier than the region’s usual flood season, between May and June, prompting concerns about the effects of climate change on the country.
April 22 | Qingyuan, Guangdong province
The region has been pummeled by heavy rain since Thursday, triggering landslides that buried buildings and floods covering villages and cities.
April 22 | Qingyuan, Guangdong province
Residents row a boat on ... Read more ...
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Nine practices from Native American culture that could help the environment - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the world has experienced profound ecological changes. Wildlife populations have decreased by 69 percent, the result of habitat loss caused by rapid industrialization and changing temperatures. 2023 was the hottest year on record.
Certain ancient practices could mitigate the deleterious effects of global warming. From building seaside gardens to water management in desert terrain, these time-honored practices work with the natural world’s rhythms. Some might even hold the key to a more resilient future and a means of building security for both Indigenous communities and other groups disproportionately impacted by climate change.
Jim ... Read more ...
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These 150-foot-high sails could help solve shipping’s climate problem - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · To cut costs and carbon emissions, cargo ships are putting a new spin on an ancient technology: the sail.
These aren’t the sailboats of yore. Modern sails look more like airplane wings, smokestacks or balloons, and they use artificial intelligence to catch the wind with little help from mariners who long ago forgot the art of hoisting a mainsail.
Sails can reduce an existing ship’s fuel consumption - and greenhouse emissions - by something like 10 or 20 percent, according to maritime experts, making them an attractive option for ship owners looking to cut costs or comply with environmental regulations.
Ships burn some of the world’s dirtiest fuels and generate ... Read more ...
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Why this summer may be especially hot in the United States - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 22) |
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Apr 22 · A new outlook for summer from the National Weather Service is a toasty one: Hotter-than-normal conditions are favored almost everywhere, except for a small portion of the northern Plains. The highest odds for a hot summer stretch from Texas into the Pacific Northwest, as well as much of the Northeast.
This forecast sets the stage for bouts of record-challenging high temperatures throughout the nation and the possibility of the hottest summer ever observed. In the central states and Rocky Mountains, the combination of heat and an expectation for drier-than-normal weather will increase drought potential. It will also raise the fire threat in some areas.
Weather Service ... Read more ...
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Scientists unlocked solar patterns that could help understand space weather - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 21) |
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Apr 21 · The sun is more than a heat lamp for Earth. It is constantly spitting streams of solar particles our way and, sometimes, powerful pockets of solar material that can jolt our planet. Now, scientists are unlocking another puzzle piece on what may drive extreme solar activity, which could bombard Earth and disrupt our technology.
The missing piece could be linked to unusual patterns of high energy bursting from the sun’s surface, according to recent research.
We’re used to hearing about the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, which we protect ourselves against with sunscreen. The sun also emits much more powerful gamma rays, which are the most energetic waves on an electromagnetic ... Read more ...
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Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
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Apr 19 · Future oil and gas drilling will be limited across more than 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nation’s largest expanse of public land, under a sweeping Biden administration plan aimed at protecting sensitive ecosystems and wildlife.
The Interior Department’s final rule represents one of President Biden’s most significant steps to curb fossil fuel development on federal lands. It could help the president’s reelection campaign court young voters, a key Democratic constituency, after many youth climate activists criticized the administration’s approval of a massive drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope last year.
In a separate move, Interior ... Read more ...
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Earth’s record hot streak might be a sign of a new climate era - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
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Apr 19 · The heat fell upon Mali’s capital like a thick, smothering blanket - chasing people from the streets, stifling them inside their homes. For nearly a week at the beginning of April, the temperature in Bamako hovered above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of ice spiked to ten times its normal price, an overtaxed electrical grid sputtered and shut down.
With much of the majority-Muslim country fasting for the holy month of Ramadan, dehydration and heat stroke became epidemic. As their body temperatures climbed, people’s blood pressure lowered. Their vision went fuzzy, their kidneys and livers malfunctioned, their brains began to swell. At the city’s main hospital, doctors ... Read more ...
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Has the U.S. really conserved a third of its waters? Here’s the math. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 19) |
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Apr 19 · Almost everyone loves the ocean. But not everyone agrees on what it means to protect it.
The United States is conserving approximately one-third of the country’s ocean areas, according to an early analysis released Friday by the Biden administration - suggesting the president is meeting a key environmental goal laid out at the beginning of his term.
But others say that’s not the case.
Some of those areas still allow for commercial fishing, advocates say, and fall short of protections needed to save marine ecosystems facing dire threats.
“It’s padding the numbers,” said Brad Sewell, oceans director at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The ... Read more ...
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Great Barrier Reef experiencing one of its worst coral bleaching events - Washington Post - Climate and Environment (Apr 18) |
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Apr 18 · Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing one of its worst bleaching events since monitoring began nearly four decades ago, authorities say, with much of the famed reef showing signs of damage as warming ocean temperatures blight reefs worldwide.
Bleaching occurs when heat-stressed coral turn white after expelling symbiotic algae that provide food and color. It’s a result of abnormal ocean temperatures in the past year that scientists worry could represent a major change to Earth systems.
In the Great Barrier Reef marine park, 73 percent of the reefs surveyed have prevalent bleaching - which means that more than 10 percent of the coral cover is bleached, the Great ... Read more ...
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