Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The world's coral reefs are under attack by climate change and more will disappear if oceans keep warming, according to a report released Tuesday.
The study by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), a UN-supported global data network, showed that 14 per cent of the world's coral on reefs was already lost between 2009 and 2018, equal to about 11,700 square kilometres, an area 2.5 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park.
Corals face an "existential crisis," scientists said, as sea surface temperatures rise. The report spanned data for 40 years, 73 countries and 12,000 sites.
Sharp spikes in warming are particularly damaging, a phenomenon scientists say is linked to human-caused climate change.
The study looked at 10 coral reef-bearing regions around the world and found that loss was mainly attributed to coral bleaching, which happens when corals, under stress from warmer water, expel the colorful algae living in their tissues, making them turn white.
One severe bleaching event in 1998 alone killed 8 per cent of the world's corals, the study said.
The hardest hit areas are South Asia, Australia, the Pacific, East Asia, the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
Overfishing, unsustainable coastal development and declining water quality are other factors battering the reefs.
"There are clearly unsettling trends toward coral loss, and we can expect these to continue as warming persists," said Paul Hardisty, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, in a statement shared by the United Nations.
The global ocean has warmed faster over the past century than since the end of the last deglacial transition, around 11,000 years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a landmark report in August.
While coral reefs cover less than 1 per cent of the ocean floor, they support more than 25 per cent of marine biodiversity, including turtles, fish and lobsters, which fuel global fishing industries.
The reefs are responsible for an estimated US$2.7 trillion annually in goods and services, including tourism, the report said.
Scientists did find, however, there was about a 2 per cent regain among coral reefs 2019, showing they can be resilient when given respite from the siege of factors working against them.
If pressure is relieved on the coral reefs, they could flourish again within a decade to pre-1998 levels, the report said.
Recent efforts to support coral reefs include a mitigation project off the coast of Caribbean nation Antigua and Barbuda called Ocean-Shot, which uses technology that mimics the design and shape of natural reefs to provide opportunities for colonization by corals and other marine life.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
A senior Qatari official has urged Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a ceasefire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war woke up in tents at college campuses across the United States Sunday morning planning more protests demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies accused of enabling the conflict.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”