An overview of the Coral Triangle, which contains about 76% of global coral species

Overview: All about coral reefs

Coral reefs aren’t just vibrant underwater landscapes; they are also some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offers a comprehensive guide that explores coral reefs in...

Discover the economic value of coral reefs, which benefit one billion people worldwide

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that US commercial and recreational fisheries valued at $200M depend on coral reefs, which provide up to $1.8B in flood protection by absorbing 97% of wave energy. Combined with the benefits from tourism, US coral reefs provide $3.4B in value annually.

The world's largest coral, as seen from space

The world’s largest individual coral colony—measuring over 100 feet wide and 100 feet long—was discovered in the Solomon Islands. This coral is so large it can be seen from space, and is estimated to be between 300 and 500 years old. The coral's size and health provide hope amidst a global coral bleaching crisis, wherein three-quarters of coral reefs have experienced significant bleaching in recent decades. See the photos from space and learn more here.

Explore a world map of coral reefs and the extent of coral bleaching

The Allen Coral Atlas provides imagery of shallow water reefs, along with maps of potential bleaching events, bleaching alert areas, and bleaching hotspots derived from satellite imagery of whitening. Coral reefs are most prevalent in the Indo-Pacific, the Caribbean, the Red Sea, and the tropical coasts of South America and Africa.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

The marine animals that rely on coral reefs for habitats, camouflage, and food

Parrotfish and surgeonfish feed on algae that grow on coral reefs to prevent overgrowth while serving as prey for larger fish across the food chain. Reefs also serve as structures for organisms like sea anemones, which provide shelter for clownfish, and homes for invertebrates such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp, which help recycle nutrients.

The CCZ is believed to harbor trillions of dollars of valuable minerals and thousands of undiscovered species

Located between Hawaii and Mexico and spanning an area larger than the European Union, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone is the world's region with the most contracts awarded to groups seeking to extract valuable metals by collecting polymetallic nodules. Conservative estimates suggest that 21.1 billion tons of polymetallic nodules exist in this abyssal plain, but about 90% of the species in the area are unknown to scientists.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

View a collection of glass sculptures of corals threatened by fishing and deep-sea mining

In "Depicting Dark Waters," British sculptural model maker Alice Baker depicts European cold-water corals, which make up 65% of all known coral species, to raise awareness of deep-sea ecosystems threatened by commercial and industrial activities. The project involved a collaboration with marine biologists from the Netherlands and Sweden.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Read about coral reef restoration efforts, from coral IVF and cryopreservation

Researchers have collected coral eggs and sperm from healthy reefs, grown baby corals in lab pools, and released them to help repopulate damaged or lost reefs. Devices such as Coralclip® help attach these corals to existing structures, promoting growth without the use of chemical bonding agents. Corals near extinction can be frozen using liquid nitrogen for future restoration efforts.

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Fungi have been used to restore island habitats in the central Pacific

After removing 1.5 million invasive coconut palm trees and eradicating the black rats that fed on them, as well as seabirds and crabs, conservationists working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service identified areas where fungi could be transplanted to provide nutrients to native trees. These trees serve as nesting sites for seabirds whose guano nourishes coral reefs.

Niagara’s bedrock holds 440-million-year-old coral fossils

The Lockport Dolomite that caps Niagara Falls is composed of fossilized coral reefs from a tropical sea that once covered the region 440 million years ago.

California is one of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots

The state comprises the hotspot known as the California Floristic Province, where roughly 3,000 species of vascular plants grow—roughly three-fifths of which are found nowhere else in the world (also known as endemic).

A Tiger economy typically describes a booming Southeast Asian country

The term “tiger economy” has been used over the last several decades to describe a developing country experiencing rapid economic growth, often due to developing export-oriented industries and/or financial markets. The term was originally applied to Southeast Asian economies, including South Korea’s, and has since been used to describe Ireland, the Baltics, and Dubai.

Explaining why animals don't cross this invisible line in Indonesia

Although the distance separating the two regions is small, East and West Indonesia have starkly different species, puzzling scientists for decades. Biogeographers use the theory of plate tectonics to explain the phenomenon, arguing the two regions...

A map of global drug trafficking

The worldwide illegal drug trade continues to flourish. Accounting for almost 1% of the world’s financial revenue, the cocaine trade alone boasts an annual turnover of an estimated $85 billion. This infographic, from Around the World: An Atlas for...

As of 2025, the world's largest tropical cyclone spanned half the continental US

Typhoon Tip traveled across the western Pacific Ocean in 1979, achieving winds of 300 kilometers per hour. Though it weakened significantly before making landfall in Japan, its rainfall produced over 600 mudslides and killed 42 people.

One-third of the world’s food supply relies on pollinators

By supporting crop production and farmland ecosystems, these animals contribute over $200B to the global economy. A 3% to 5% decrease in this production may result in as many as 427,000 deaths due to nutritional deficiencies.

These animals are only found in the Amazon rainforest.

The mighty Amazon River and its surrounding rainforest is home to millions of different species of animals, with new ones being discovered regularly.

View a sample of the bioluminescent tree of life

This diagram shows 42 different light-producing organisms, from bacteria and fungi to worms, fish, and crustaceans. It illustrates how the ability to produce light has appeared multiple times across the tree of life, rather than stemming from a single ancestor.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Alaska's Bristol Bay hosts the world's largest self-sustaining wild salmon runs

Nearly 50 million of the fish return to the area each year to spawn, sometimes in the same spot they were born. A journalist tracked the supply chain journey of one sockeye salmon from the sea to the customer's plate.

View the countries with the most internet users, including 94% of those in high-income nations

As of 2025, the four most populous nations—China, India, the US, and Indonesia—are also the ones with the most internet users, collectively accounting for almost half of the 6.04 billion internet users worldwide. This suggests that population size, rather than adoption rate, is a better predictor of online activity.

A Florida nuclear power plant canal system hosts the highest density of crocodiles in North America

Biologists have become regular fixtures at Turkey Point Nuclear Plant, where crocodiles found refuge after Florida's population boom pushed them out of coves and mangrove swamps. Teams working on the plant have done their part to modify the land and help the species thrive.

The love lives of pygmy seahorses

Inch-long pygmy seahorses live fascinating lives in the Coral Triangle of Southeast Asia, where the tiny sea creatures thrive. They are one of the few species in the world where the male carries its progeny to term, in this case, after receiving an egg from the female, who keeps busy checking in on her two male mates, one of whom is always pregnant. Dive into the marine romance in this fascinating essay.

Underwater volcanoes significantly contributes to marine extinctions during the Triassic period

An analysis of ocean basins in the Tibetan Plateau helped identify three major periods of volcanism—250-248, 233-231, and 210-208 million years ago—which released significant amounts of greenhouse gases, altering ocean chemistry. The low-oxygen conditions may help explain half of Earth's Triassic extinctions.

Gulf nations produce about 40% of the world's desalinated water

According to a 2023 report, six Gulf states produced 1.9 trillion gallons of freshwater across more than 400 desalination plants along their coasts. These plants create water suitable for human consumption by boiling saltwater and collecting steam or using high-pressure pumps to push seawater through a filter that only allows water molecules through.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Three Ebola species are responsible for most large outbreaks of the disease, yet the only approved Ebola vaccine is known to work against just one of them.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'