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Last month, an aerial survey of the northern section of Australia's Great Barrier Reef returned some pretty grim results, revealing that the World Heritage Site had been hit with the worst coral bleaching event in its history. The researchers have now continued their work along this magnificent stretch of coastline and the news isn't getting any better. The results of their end-to-end study now reveal that 93 percent of the reef has been affected by bleaching as a result of warmer sea temperatures in the area.

These small-scale fishermen in southern Japan are up against an industrial fishing juggernaut that is rapidly depleting stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna. A prime culprit behind the crisis, the Iki fishermen said, is a high-tech Japanese fishing armada that mines the waters northeast of Iki where Pacific bluefin tuna congregate to spawn. For the past 11 years, convoys of boats have waited in the Sea of Japan for these fish to gather, then used sonar tracking devices and huge purse seine nets to scoop them up by the thousands and sell them to global seafood giants such as Nippon Suisan Kaisha and Maruha Nichiro Corporation.

From the industrial cities of Britain to the forests of Sweden, from the plains of Spain to the shores of the Black Sea, Europe is restoring its rivers to their natural glory. The most densely populated continent on earth is finding space for nature to return along its river banks. 

A 19-year-old Dutch student had a bright idea for ridding the sea of floating trash -- and now he's built a team of 100 people and is raising $2 million to fund his invention. The system uses long, floating barriers to passively guide floating trash to collection areas and is said to be capable of eliminating all waste larger than 1 millimeter

In two years, the global fashion industry uses as much water as is in the entire Mediterranean Sea, and that makes conservation a key priority for sustainably run fashion brands. Nike is working with Dutch eco-dying company DyeCoo to reduce its water consumption and to encourage better conservation practices across the fashion industry

arnival Corporation has signed a multi-billion dollar contract to build four next-generation cruise ships that will be the first in the cruise industry to be powered at sea by liquefied natural gas.

The best climate scientists in the world are telling us that extreme weather events like hurricanes are likely to become more powerful.  When you combine stronger storms with rising seas, that's a recipe for more devastating floods.

With the world's coral reefs increasingly threatened by warmer and more acidic seas, scientists are selectively breeding corals to create species with the best chance to survive in the coming century and beyond. Are genetically modified corals next?

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. new project providing nearly 600 electric charging stations throughout the airport for ground support equipment (GSE) such as baggage tugs, bag ramps and pushback vehicles. Converting the GSE from fossil fuel to electric, each year the project is projected to save $2.8 million in airline fuel costs and 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions - the equivalent of taking 1,900 cars off the road.

Climate change is driving tropical fish northward, with species used to relatively sparse coral reefs suddenly finding an appetite for the more abundant vegetation of northern kelp and sea grass beds. That could lead to radical changes in northern aquatic ecosystems, researchers say. "The faunas are mixing, and nobody can see what the outcome will be," says marine scientist Ken Heck.

Truly committed companies have shortened their supply chains and focused on domestic sourcing. Bon Appétit is a great example. Their Fish to Fork program goes beyond a purchase commitment on paper to getting in the trenches to source fish that meets their corporate values. That means buying fish that is low on the trophic scale, meets their definition of "local" (both in the number of miles out to sea and across land that fish travels) and favors small boat operators.

A new Google-powered tool called Google Earth Engine is helping environmental groups and researchers to keep tabs on problems including Amazonian deforestation, overfishing, sea-ice melt and the spread of diseases. The tool's real-time data trove and mapping features make it easier to stay on top of the wealth of data now available, researchers say. "When you visualize it, you can get it at the gut level. ... You can see it happening," says Randy Sargent of Carnegie Mellon University.

Danish city officials announced the completion of what they claim to be the world's first neighborhood adapted for climate change in Copenhagen: the St. Kjeld neighborhood has been retrofitted with mini-parks, rooftop water collection, and raised sidewalks to direct excess water from extreme weather events and rising sea levels towards the harbor.

Armed with new high-tech equipment, mining companies are targeting vast areas of the deep ocean for mineral extraction. But with few regulations in place, critics fear such development could threaten seabed ecosystems that scientists say are only now being fully understood.

The European parliament has overwhelmingly backed a wide-ranging ban on single-use plastics in an effort to tackle pollution in seas, fields and waterways. Under the proposed directive, items such as plastic straws, cotton swabs, disposable plastic plates and cutlery would be banned by 2021, and 90% of plastic bottle recycled by 2025.

The hollowing out of the natural world is being driven primarily by human activity, according to the scientists, with a growing global population leading to rising demand for food, goods and natural resources - leaving less land and sea as the preserve of the natural world. The paper also warns that this collapse in global biodiversity will in turn have "grave impacts" on human populations.

Freshwater supplies have already seriously declined in 19 global hotspots - from China to the Caspian Sea - due to overuse, groundbreaking study shows

Despite criticism from the administration, several US military leaders plan to continue to push sustainability efforts. The Navy uses gas-electric hybrid warships at sea to reduce fuel usage, and the military produces enough renewable energy to power 286,000 US homes, according to the Department of Defense.

National Geographic released its first Sustainable Tourism Impact Report, which details the social and environmental impact initiatives at properties across its "Unique Lodges of the World" collection. In less than two years, member lodges in National Geographic's collection have achieved the following: rehabilitated and protected over 3.7 million acres of land and sea; provided over $76 million in direct contributions to historic and cultural site preservation; diverted over 3 million pounds of waste from landfills around the world; and more.

These celebrities suck but you probably do too. We use 500 million plastic straws every day in the U.S. Many of those plastic straws end up in our oceans, polluting the water and harming sea life. If we don't act now, by 2050 plastics in the ocean will outweigh the fish. One small change can have a big impact: #stopsucking on plastic straws.