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Islands

A dark volcano with smoke rising out of it surrounded by a body of water.

COVID-19 and the limits of state power: Part II

Critical State

Critical State, our foreign policy newsletter, takes a deep dive into how local communities are handling COVID-19 in places like the Pacific island archipelago nation of Vanuatu.

High tide at Nukatoa Island, in the Takuu Atoll, Papua New Guinea.

Understanding the human side of climate change relocation

Climate Change
Havana Harbor has remained extremely polluted for decades as Cuba has lacked the money and technology to clean it up, but normalized relations relations with Washington could help change that.

Change in US-Cuba relations presents big risks — and rewards — for Cuba’s environment

Environment
Emilio Basilius of the Coral Reef Research Foundation holds up one of the hundreds of samples of marine organisms for the National Cancer Institute in the US.

Which Indo-Pacific island’s waters are host to potentially cancer-fighting molecules?

Geo Quiz
The World

In Palau, scientists hope they’ve found a coral reef to save all coral reefs

Environment

After Sandy, looking at oysters as a way to protect vulnerable coastlines

Environment

Scientists are experimenting with rebuilding oyster reefs off the coast of New York City. One writer suspects that if these structures had been in place, Hurricane Sandy’s massive storm surge would have been greatly reduced.

New research points to big changes, not necessarily disappearance, for coral reefs

Environment

Scientists who study climate change and ocean environments have made several recent discoveries. Their findings have challenged the conventional wisdom that climate change could eliminate coral reefs. What they’ve found is that they probably won’t disappear, but they will see major changes.

VIDEO: Cryogenics may be the key to saving Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Environment

Scientists from the United States and Australia are teaming up to try and help save disappearing coral reefs, by freezing coral eggs and sperm, so that endangered species aren’t lost. The coral can be grown in the lab, and then implanted on the reefs.

US Navy Jettison Bombs Near the Great Barrier Reef

Conflict & Justice

A US-Australian military exercise called Talisman Saber figures in our Geo Quiz.

The World

Winners and Losers: How Climate Change Affects Coral Reefs

Nearly one-fifth of the world’s reefs are already gone due to the combined effect of global warming, pollution and overfishing. But a handful of new and ongoing studies are starting to suggest a less gloomy picture for the future of the world’s reefs […]