This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. On the island of Moorea, in French Polynesia, deep green volcanic mountains slope from high peaks down towards the sea. But they don’t stop at the ...

Coral reefs appear to run a daily timetable for microscopic life in nearby waters. Scientists found that microbial populations above reefs rise and fall over the course of a single day, shaped by ...

Elkhorn and staghorn corals used to carpet Florida’s reef system, rising like antlers from the seabed — but not anymore. These crucial coral species are now “functionally extinct” in the region after ...

Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometers northeast of Sydney. It's covered in lush forest and fringed by the world's most southerly coral reef ecosystem. This reef system ...

Coral reefs provide habitats rich in biodiversity and offer protection against flooding. Climate change threatens their existence if sea-level rise (SLR) outpaces the ability of coral reefs to grow ...

The planet has passed a critical climate threshold: warm-water coral reefs can no longer survive under current global temperatures. According to the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report, mass coral ...

Coral reefs are often described in scientific terms: ecosystems rich in biodiversity, natural storm barriers, and sources of food and income. Yet for many scientists, the path into reef research did ...

Coral reefs are teeming with life: they are home to over a third of all marine animal and plant species on Earth, despite covering less than one percent of the ocean floor. However, this immense ...