Researchers have developed a comprehensive system to identify the diversity of these hard corals using only a sample of surface seawater. This environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding system can successfully detect 83 of the 85 genera of reef-building corals known in Japan, enabling their effective and high-precision monitoring.

Researchers look to extremes in the past to study how the system reacts to imbalances. In their paper published in Nature, researchers from the University of Connecticut, University of Victoria, Yale University, University of British Columbia, and Georgia Institute of Technology detail an overlooked mechanism for how the ocean can help stabilize massive releases of carbon into the atmosphere following volcanic eruptions.

Hurricane winds are a major contributor to storm-related losses for people living in the southeastern coastal states. As the global temperature continues to rise, scientists predict that hurricanes will get more destructive -- packing higher winds and torrential rainfall. A new study, published in the journal Risk Analysis, projects that wind losses for homeowners in the Southeastern coastal states could be 76 percent higher by the year 2060 and 102 percent higher by 2100.