Source: PhysOrg.com
July 30, 2010

Groundbreaking preliminary findings from the Great Barrier Reef show climate change has not been smooth and continuous but may have been characterised by several rapid changes.

A team of international scientists, including Dr Jody Webster from the University of Sydney, have taken part in a groundbreaking voyage to the Great Barrier Reef between February to April this year to acquire fossil coral reef cores from the edge of the continental shelf.

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Gautam Naik
Source: The Wall Street Journal
July 29, 2010

A new assessment concludes that the Earth has been getting warmer over the past 50 years and the past decade was the warmest on record.

The State of the Climate 2009 report, published Wednesday as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, was compiled by 300 scientists from 48 countries and drew on measures of 10 crucial climate indicators.

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Newmond Tibin
Source: BERNAMA
July 29, 2010

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) scientists have discovered widespread coral bleaching in Sepanggar Bay, off Sabah waters.

In disclosing this, UMS Director of Borneo Marine Research Institute Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa said such activities deserved serious attention due to its implications on marine biodiversity and coral reef fisheries in the state's waters.

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Pascal Fletcher
Source: MSNBC
July 28, 2010

Miami, FL - As thousands of Floridians take to the sea to hunt for spiny lobster in the state's two-day mini-season, they are being warned by authorities not to catch under-size specimens or exceed strict catch quotas.

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Jess McNally
Source: Wired
July 28, 2010

The warmth of the ocean is the critical factor that determines how much productivity and biodiversity there is in the ocean, and where.

In two separate studies, researchers found that warming oceans have led to a massive decline in the amount of plant life in the sea over the last century, and that temperature is tightly linked to global patterns of marine biodiversity.

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Source: AFP
July 28, 2010

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Malaysia may close three more popular dive sites in the South China Sea which have been hit by coral bleaching blamed on global warming, an official said Wednesday.

Last week authorities announced the closure of nine dive sites on the tropical islands of Tioman and Redang until the end of October in an attempt to relieve stress on the fragile marine ecosystems.

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Source: The Herald Sun
July 28, 2010

AN Australian scientist has discovered what could be the world's rarest coral in the remote North Pacific Ocean.

The Pacific elkhorn coral was found during underwater surveys at Arno atoll, in the Marshall Islands, by coral researcher Dr Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS).

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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
July 28, 2010

Low water quality is affecting almost a quarter of the Great Barrier Reef, a new study shows.

The 10-year study carried out by the Australian Institute of Marine Science found 22 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef - almost 650 reefs - did not meet water quality guidelines.

The study found reefs with poorer water quality suffered a loss in coral biodiversity and an increase in seaweed cover.

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