NightBlogger

Marine biologists never get tired of warning about the dangers human actions pose to one of the most amazing ecosystems on the planet, the coral reefs. The complex associations of marine organisms (plants, fish) need certain conditions to develop (temperature, water composition, light), and as soon as these conditions change, they become vulnerable to diseases, degradation and eventually death.

A study published on Thursday in the online journal Science Express revealed a troubling fact: one third of the world’s reef-building corals face extinction. Together with them, a large number of marine species could also disappear, as coral reefs are home to over 4,000 species of fish, as well as other organisms (sponges, jellyfish, sea cucumbers etc.) The extinction of coral reefs would trigger devastating effects for marine biology, and if that’s not enough to draw attention on the matter, maybe the fact that it will also trigger serious economic consequences will. More

Ancient humans
Ancient humans started down the path of evolving into two separate species before merging back into a single population, a genetic study suggests. The genetic split in Africa resulted in distinct populations that lived in isolation for as much as 100,000 years, the scientists say. This could have been caused by arid conditions driving a wedge between humans in eastern and southern Africa. Details have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. More