coral reefs News

First U.S. Coral Insurance Marks the Rise of the Reef Brigades

Conservation group The Nature Conservancy’s vision for the future of coral protection involves speed boats, and a global army of snorkellers and divers deployed when tropical storms and hurricanes damage reefs. On Monday, the global ‘Reef Brigades’ plan came closer …

Willis Towers Watson Collaborates on Hurricane Insurance for Endangered Coral Reef

Insurance broker Willis Tower Watson announced the launch of a multinational partnership to develop and implement insurance solutions that help protect and restore the endangered 1,000 kilometer (621 mile) barrier reef system along the Caribbean coast. The Mesoamerican Reef Insurance …

WTW’s New Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility Provides Finance, Risk Mgmt Solutions

Willis Towers Watson, the London-based advisory, broking and solutions company, has developed the Global Ecosystem Resilience Facility (GERF), which it describes as the first global insurance facility to provide finance and risk management solutions to build the resilience of ecosystems …

Damage to Coral Reefs Accelerating on Rising Sea Temperatures: Report

The risks to coral reefs are accelerating largely due to human activity, with rising water temperatures meaning they now have about 80 percent less recovery time between bleaching episodes than just three decades ago, according to a report in the …

Saving Coral Reefs Requires ‘War’ on Global Warming: Study

Reducing pollution and curbing overfishing won’t prevent the severe bleaching that is killing coral at catastrophic rates, according to a study of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. In the end, researchers say, the only way to save the world’s coral from …

Indonesia to Take Action Against Cruise Ship that Damaged Coral Reef

Indonesia’s government said this week it will take strong action after a cruise ship destroyed coral reefs in a popular tourist area known for its extensive marine biodiversity. The 4,200-ton cruise ship M.V. Caledonian Sky entered the waters of Radja …

Rising Sea Temperatures Could Kill 90% of Coral Reefs by 2050: Scientists

There were startling colors here just a year ago, a dazzling array of life beneath the waves. Now this Maldivian reef is dead, killed by the stress of rising ocean temperatures. What’s left is a haunting expanse of gray, a …

Climate Records Keep Shattering with Hottest April in 12th Record-Setting Month

The number of climate records broken in the last few years is stunning. But here’s a new measure of misery: Not only did we just experience the hottest April in 137 years of record keeping, but it was the 12th …

Climate Change Threatens Tourism as Ski Slopes Thaw, Seas Rise

Climate change is a growing threat to tourism, from thawing ski resorts to coral reefs hit by warmer seas, and the industry itself should do more to curb its soaring greenhouse gas emissions, a study showed on Tuesday. Tourism’s greenhouse …

Catlin’s Comments on IPCC Report Stress Need to Minimize Risks

The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited has issued a statement following the release of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations. The organization’s Fifth Report on …