The Insect Apocalypse

 Insects are disappearing, and we will miss them. Here are some ways you can help. 

Replanting seagrass meadows

Latest in my series for The Revelator on coastal ecosystem restoration: big results from tiny seeds in replanted seagrass beds. Read it here. 

Planting Coral Reefs

 The Coral Restoration Foundation in Florida heads up a massive outplanting project to help save coral reefs. This piece for The Revelator explains how volunteers are integral to the effort. 

Coral Reefs in Crisis

 First in a series about efforts to restore coral reefs in Florida and the Caribbean. This one looks at seascape genomics as a restoration tool and a controversial idea: controlled invasion. Read more here. 

Gulf of Mexico coral reefs threatened

Warming waters threaten coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which have escaped most damage so far. Read more here. 

Trouble in paradise

Gray whales are struggling off the Pacific Coast. Scientists are trying to figure out why and what to do about it. Read more here. 

Green roofs are cool. Really cool.

As heat waves increase due to climate change, research shows that green roofs could help cool off our cities. Read more about how they work here. 

Helping Coral Deal with Climate Change

As sea temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, coral reefs around the planet have experienced repeated bouts of mass bleaching. Marine biologists from around the world are studying various ways reef-building corals might be able to acclimatize or adapt to climate change. Read more here. 

Coral restoration in Florida

Marine photographer Brandon Cole and I produced this photo essay exploring efforts to protect at-risk coral reefs off Florida’s Atlantic coast for Yale Climate Connections. 

More plastic, more plastic waste, more problems

 As the problems from plastic waste continue to grow, we keep cranking out more plastic. Read the latest in this piece for Texas Climate News. 

Kelp Loss on the West Coast

Divers and scientists watched a disaster play out along the U.S. West Coast: an almost overnight disappearance of sea stars, especially sunflower sea stars, followed by a population explosion of the purple urchins that sea stars eat, and then loss of entire forests of bull kelp. Read what is behind the disaster and what scientists are doing in response here. 

Bees are vital to wildflowers

 Enjoy the spring wildflowers this year? Thank a bee! Read more about the role of these insects as pollinators, and how you can help them. 

Protecting ocean sediments from trawling

 Marine sediments represent a large and globally important carbon sink, but stored carbon can be released into the water by trawling. Research outlines the problem and offers solutions. Read more here. 

Cut Your Travel-related Food Waste

A third of all food produced in the world gets wasted, creating a yearly global carbon footprint larger than most countries. Some simple ways to reduce food waste on dive trips, cruises, and other travel. 

Paying Texas landowners to protect carbon stored in soil

Natural climate solutions – a variety of conservation, restoration and improved land management actions to increase carbon storage or avoid its emission – could provide more than a third of the cost-effective climate mitigation needed between now and 2030 to stabilize warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. One organization, the Texas Coastal Exchange, pays landowners to increase or protect carbon stored in their lands. Read more here. 

Mangroves in Peril

 Earth has lost as much as 35 percent of its mangrove forests in the past few decades, and scientists predict that these vital ecosystems could all but disappear in the next 100 years. Read more about the problem here. 

Saving mangrove forests

 Mangrove ecosystems provide habitat for a wealth of marine life, protect coastlines from storms, and store significant amounts of carbon. But rising sea levels and continued removal by humans could do them in. Read more in this piece for The Revelator. 

Coral reef ecosystems in trouble

Coral reefs cover less than 1 percent of the Earth’s surface yet feed and shelter a significant amount of marine life and provide food, coastal protection, and livelihoods for millions of people. Read about the state of the world's coral reefs in this PBS Nature Blog post. Spoiler alert: it isn't pretty. 

When Light Becomes Pollution

Artificial light at night affects wildlife in many ways, including, according to some recent studies, by increasing predation on insects, decreasing amphibian reproduction, and interfering with nocturnal pollinators. Read more about the problem and easy solutions in this PBS Nature Blog post.

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

Migratory birds and climate change

Several recent studies show that migrating is about to get a lot tougher for birds. Read why in this piece for Texas Climate News.