Latest news with #oceanbiodiversity
BBC News
6 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Experts call for rapid action to save Great Barrier Reef
Action is needed to reverse damage to parts of the Great Barrier Reef scientists have said. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the world's largest reef and important to ocean biodiversity. A new report found sections of the Great Barrier Reef have suffered the largest yearly decline in coral cover since records began nearly 40 years Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said the Northern and Southern branches of the reef have suffered from coral reef bleaching."The Great Barrier Reef is such a beautiful, iconic place, it's really, really worth fighting for. And if we can give it a chance, it's shown an inherent ability to recover," report author, Dr Mike Emslie, told ABC News. Although they looks like plants or rocks, corals are actually animals. Coral colonies are made up of tiny animals called polyops. Coral is vital to the planet and the structures provide structures a home to around 25% of all marine Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300km (1,429-mile) expanse of tropical corals that provides a home to a huge range of marine life. Bleaching happens when coral gets stressed and turns white because the water it lives in is too coral can recover from bleaching events, if stressed coral continues to experiences high temperatures it can die. AIMS looked at the health of 124 coral reefs between August 2024 and May 2025. It has been performing surveys since Great Barrier Reef experienced the worst coral bleaching events ever in 2024 and in the first few months of 2025. It was the sixth event in nine years. As well as climate change, natural weather patterns have played a role in mass bleaching events, as have outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish that feast on the latest AIMS survey results, the most affected coral species were the Acropora, which are susceptible to heat stress and a favoured food of the crown-of-thorns starfish.
Bloomberg
07-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Swen Capital Raises €160 Million in Ocean Fund's First Close
Swen Capital Partners has raised €160 million ($182 million) at the first close of its impact venture fund focused on the regeneration of ocean biodiversity. The commitments at the first close for Swen Blue Ocean 2 Fund account for 53% of its target of raising €300 million, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. If the fund meets the target, it will be almost twice of its predecessor fund that raised €170 million in 2023.
Reuters
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
New Attenborough film showcases both destruction and hope in planet's oceans
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - British naturalist David Attenborough says there is hope for the future of the planet's oceans in a new film premiering later on Tuesday that sets out both the scale of damage caused by human activities and the oceans' capacity for recovery. In his latest work "Ocean", Attenborough, one of the world's best-known nature broadcasters and filmmakers whose work spans seven decades, charts the challenges faced by the seas over his lifetime, from destructive industrial fishing practices to mass coral reef bleaching. "After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea,' he says in a trailer of the movie. Its full release in cinemas on Thursday coincides with Attenborough's 99th birthday. Tuesday's premiere in London will see both a glitzy event with celebrities and dignitaries walking a blue - not red - carpet in the evening, and a daytime screening for students and teachers. Despite depicting the bleak current state of the health of the ocean, discoveries made during filming offer hope, Attenborough said. "The ocean can recover faster than we had ever imagined, it can bounce back to life," he said. "If we save the sea we save our world. After a lifetime of filming our planet I'm sure nothing is more important." The film's release comes ahead of the United Nations Ocean conference in Nice, France, in June where it is hoped more countries will ratify a 2023 agreement to protect ocean biodiversity. So far only 21 countries have officially signed, falling well short of the 60 countries needed for the agreement to come into force. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
