New research confirms land-sea relationship is a major driver of coral reef health outcomes: Press coverage

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A Nature article published by the team was reported on by online Science media outlets Science Mag and phys.org. 

The articles focus on the paper in which researchers from Bangor University, Arizona State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration, tracked coral reef health in Hawaiʻi for 20 years — measuring increasing water acidification, land-based pollution, repercussions from a major climate event and rising water temperatures — and illustrated the undeniable contributions of human impact on coral reef health outcomes.

"Gareth Williams, associate professor at Bangor University and co-lead of the study, said the long-term research done through this study supports the theory that the land-sea relationship is an especially important element in coral reef protection. 

“Integrated land-sea management has been the guiding paradigm of coral reef conservation for decades, but the proof of its efficacy above managing land or sea in isolation has been wanting and difficult to test,” Williams said. “Through the 20-year data set of local human impacts and environmental factors, we are able to see that only by adopting coupled land-sea policy measures, alongside global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, will coral reef ecosystems and the human communities they support have the best opportunity for persistence in our changing climate.”"