Are coral reefs doomed thanks to global warming? Many reefs have been in decline in recent years due to higher water temperatures. However, the evidence is clouded because heavy pollution in these areas is also a factor.

Now, in Eitrea near the Red Sea, corals have been seen evolving to thrive in these temperatures. They can survive in waters from 90 to 98degF, similar temperatures to what we anticipate from global warming.

Scientists are planning to reseed reefs killed or injured by warming with the newly evolved corals.

Filed under: coral reefs, environment, and evolution

In 1954, a 15 megaton hydrogen bom was exploded over three islands of Bikini Atoll. The islands were vaporized and a giant crater was created, bereft of life.

Fast forward over 50 years later and what do you see? A thriving coral reef showing the resilience of life everywhere. Scientists believe it was reseeded by a nearby reef.

Virtually untouched by radiation fearing humans, the new reef is now truly spectacular, and the radiation has long since dissapated.

Don't eat the coconuts, though. They have absorbed radiation through the soil and are highly radioactive, and the island is said to still be unsafe for human habitation.

Filed under: coral reef, environment, and nuclear testing

Cyanide fishing, bombings and other exploitative processes destroy coral reefs. In Indonesia, these practices and others destroyed huge parts of the delicate reef ecosystem.

Reefs seem so complex that it would be impossible to bring them back, but this just isn't so. Drop a derelict ship into the warm waters where reefs thrive and life starts appearing on it almost immediately.

But what if you want something more elegant, more reef-like? Enter Michael Moore (no relation to the filmmaker), head of EcoReefs. His organization creates objects that resemble staghorn coral and places them into the ocean. Within months, fish appear, and within a year corals start to grow, and tiny reefs start to grow.

See the article for lots more pictures and information.

Filed under: coral reefs and restoration