Anthropogenic climate change poses a serious threat to coral reefs around the world. The impacts of global warming can be isolated by studying long-lived corals growing on remote, uninhabited islands of the central tropical Pacific, where human impact is nonexistent. By analyzing the chemistry of large coral skeletons collected from reefs in this area, they can reconstruct the monthly history of temperature and rainfall patterns for the last 50 to 100 years.
19 October 2011
Multi-colored anemones, lavender bryozoans, and other organisms cover rocks in a kelp forest near Vancouver Island in western Canada. Strong currents around the island carry nutrients into the Queen Charlotte Strait, supporting an abundance of marine wildlife there.
19 October 2011
Beneath Irish Isles
With warm currents supporting healthy habitats and a startling host of creatures, these Irish Isles are smiling.
There’s a jungle inside Vietnam’s mammoth cavern. A skyscraper could fit too. And the end is out of sight.
19 October 2011
