'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Climate change, overfishing and pollution are threatening coral reefs worldwide, according to researchers, and their capacity to provide essential benefits and services to humans has drastically decreased.
A study published Friday in the journal One Earth offered a comprehensive look at the impact diminishing coral reef coverage has had on ecosystem services, that is, the ability of reefs to provide food and livelihoods to humans.
Global coverage of living coral has been halved since the 1950s, according to the study, and has come with a proportional decline in fish catches and abundance, as well as biodiversity.
"Coral reefs are known to be important habitats for biodiversity and are particularly sensitive to climate change, as marine heat waves can cause bleaching events," Tyler Eddy, research scientist at the Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of Newfoundland, said in a news release. "Coral reefs provide important ecosystem services to humans, through fisheries, economic opportunities and protection from storms."
Coral bleaching occurs when sources of stress, including changes in temperature, cause coral to expel the algae living in its tissue, which turns it white. Bleached coral is still alive, but much more vulnerable to disease and starvation.
In addition to providing a habitat for fish, coral reefs also act as a natural barrier protecting shorelines from waves and storms.
Eddy and his colleagues analyzed living coral cover across the globe against coral-associated fish catches, fish abundance, biodiversity and consumption of fishes by coastal Indigenous groups.
They found that the volume of fish caught peaked in 2002 and has been in decline since despite increased fishing efforts. The catch-per-unit effort, a metric that indicates abundance, has decreased by 60 per cent since 1950.
The team of researchers also calculated a 63 per cent decline in biodiversity with the loss of coral.
"Our analysis indicates that the capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services has declined by about half globally," William Cheung of the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries said. "This study speaks to the importance of how we manage coral reefs not only at regional scales, but also at the global scale, and the livelihoods of communities that rely on them."
The authors of the study note that achieving climate change emissions targets and reducing local impacts can help reduce stress on reefs and allow them to continue providing ecosystem services.
Maintaining these services is essential for coastal Indigenous peoples, the authors wrote, as their consumption of seafood is 15 times that of non-Indigenous populations, and therefore they rely on these habitats heavily for nutrition.
"Coral reef biodiversity and fisheries take on added importance for Indigenous communities, small island developing states and coastal populations where they may be essential to traditions and cultural practices," the authors wrote. "The reduced capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services undermines the well-being of millions of people with historical and continuing relationships with coral reef ecosystems."
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.