Moving the Needle
(WorldNews Environment)

With a brilliance so stunning and species diversity so vast, coral reefs are perhaps the ocean`s most iconic ecosystem. Home to a quarter of all marine life on the planet, they`re also among its most critical. And they`re in trouble. As climate change pushes ocean temperatures upward, hotter waters have become the leading culprit in coral bleaching - a condition that strips corals of color and nutrients when algae, the main source of their hue and their food, get stressed and flee. Coral bleaching is at the center of a new research effort at UC Santa Barbara being funded by a gift from the Zegar Family Foundation. With a total donation of $1.04 million, the nonprofit organization founded by...