The battle to save 'the last paradise' in Indonesia
By Erwin Renaldi and Hellena Souisa

A pristine archipelago off Indonesia's east coast emerges as the latest battleground between conservationists and the government, who are at odds over the country's nickel industry.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-22/the-battle-to-save-raja-ampat-from-nickel-mining/105431838

#MiningEnvironmentalIssues #Nickel #MiningandMetalsIndustry #EnvironmentalImpact #TourismandLeisureIndustry #Reefs #OceansandReefs #MarineParks #ErwinRenaldi #HellenaSouisa

#News: Corals in Crisis 🪸🌊🫧 with 84% of the world’s #coral #reefs are experiencing the worst bleaching event on record, driven by #climatechange and record ocean temperatures. 🌊 Urgent #ClimateActionNow needed 📢 Save our #Oceans https://apnews.com/article/coral-reef-bleaching-climate-change-fdbeddf7ae3ccc9d7cf85d1c3267e581?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

‘Ticking timebomb’: #sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire #ecosystems
#OceanAcidification has crossed a crucial threshold for planetary health, scientists say.
Ocean acidification, called "evil twin" of #climatecrisis, is caused when #carbondioxide is absorbed by ocean, where it reacts with water molecules leading to a fall in #pH of #seawater. It damages #coral #reefs and other #ocean habitats and, in extreme cases, can dissolve the shells.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/09/sea-acidity-ecosystems-ocean-acidification-planetary-health-scientists

There was this notion, that as things get warmer, corals will expand to higher latitudes. But that seems not to be the case. Corals are too slow, and #warming is too fast. Not great news for the future of corals #reefs.
Something also to remember when we look at past extinction events.

Link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr2545

The Hawaiian Drowned #Reefs expedition was one of the coolest things #IODP did before the program ended. Now all the site reports and core descriptions are online.
(And I just need to get around to reading them)

... still sad I didn't get to join it.

Link: http://publications.iodp.org/proceedings/389/389title.html

FreeDiving Wednesday. Good looking aquarium...all in preparation for Saturdays' Shark Dive. Woo Woo. #saltlife #oceans #reefs #freediving #BaldysBreakdowns

On This Week in #Water:

• Why Trump's move to undo limits on dangerous “forever chemicals” in drinking water is illegal

• How putting concrete balls at the bottom of the #ocean could generate and store #electricity

• Why fingers wrinkle the same way every time

• How releasing some of #coral larvae’s favorite “scents” may help restore #reefs

Details> https://h2oradio.org/this-week-in-water/a-different-kind-of-powerball

Really cool to see the progress at our coral project! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwTZCzfuqEQ #Rewilding #Coral #Reefs #Nature #Environment #Indonesia #MossyEarth #Ecology #Ecosystems

A gel that releases some of #coral larvae’s favorite “scents” may help restore #reefs> https://h2oradio.org/this-week-in-water/a-different-kind-of-powerball

#WeekendReading: Acker and Wilber about what we learned from looking down at #reefs, #atolls, and other #marine carbonate depositional systems from #space over the last three decades. Notably, the importance of #cyclones.
(a bit too much Bahamas, but that is an ongoing issue in the field)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dep2.70014

A major #coral bleaching event is happening across the world’s oceans. Scientists say it has now affected about 84% of the world’s coral reefs. This includes many #reefs in the #Caribbean, which are showing clear signs of stress. https://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/caribbean-coral-crisis-84-of-reefs-under-threat/

More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record

Tracing the worst coral bleaching event in recorded history – video https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2025/apr/23/tracing-the-worst-coral-bleaching-event-in-recorded-history-video

Ongoing global coral bleaching event affects 84% of world’s reefs https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/ongoing-global-coral-bleaching-event-affects-84-of-worlds-reefs/

#environment #reef #reefs #coral #CoralReefs

Graham Readfearn: More than 80% of the world’s #reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record: An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should be fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says

#ClimateChange
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record

More than 80% of the world’s #reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
Reefs in at least 82 countries were exposed to enough heat to turn corals white. #CoralReefs are known for their high concentration of biodiversity that supports about a third of all #marine species and a billion people. Record high #ocean temperatures have spread like an #underwater wildfire over corals across the #Pacific, #Atlantic and Indian oceans.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record #climatechange #climatecrisis

Largest #coral bleaching event on record harms 84% of #global #reefs

Bleached coral dies when exposed to #heat stress for too long, threatening the bountiful #marine #ecosystem that depends on it for survival.

#CoralReefs around the world are losing their color at an unprecedented scale as a result of rising #sea #temperatures, marine scientists announced this week, w/ 84% of reefs exposed to bleaching levels of heat since 2023.

#ClimateCrisis #oceans #conservancy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/04/23/coral-reef-bleaching-record-heat-stress/

#reefs

More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record | Climate crisis | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/23/coral-reef-bleaching-worst-global-event-on-record

Reality check: #coral restoration won’t save the world’s #reefs https://theconversation.com/reality-check-coral-restoration-wont-save-the-worlds-reefs-251055 #environment #conservation #science #STEM

I have my own critique on the possible over-focus on #reefs sometimes, but the simple fact is, today and across the #Phanerozoic, reefs have been loci of #biodiversity hotspots.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.16.633324v1

when #ecosystems thrive, they protect us—absorbing #floods, softening #heatwaves, keeping #disease in check. #forests, #wetlands, #reefs, and #grasslands act as nature’s safety net, holding everything in #balance. but when we destroy them, we unravel the very systems keeping us alive. ⁠
⁠
by protecting #nature, we protect ourselves. every #tree, every #river, every #species is part of the web that holds our world together. if we want a future, we have to fight for it.

- #EarthlyEducation