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

Coral Bleaching

Coral reefs around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, are undergoing a crisis known as coral bleaching—which threatens both their existence and the ecosystems they support. This comprehensive report from the Australian Museum explores...

From 2023 to 2025, coral reefs experienced their fourth global bleaching event

Heat stress from the 33-month-long event impacted about 84.4% of the world's coral reef area across waters in at least 83 countries and territories, making it the largest such event to date. Due to climate change, about 90% of coral reefs are expected to undergo bleaching annually by 2050, leaving insufficient time for recovery during the winter months between bleaching events.

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...

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 coral reefs in Google's "street view"

Expanding its mission to map the world, Google Maps partnered with The Catlin Seaview Survey to introduce the first-ever underwater panoramas, making oceanic marvels like the Great Barrier Reef accessible to everyone. With Google Maps, the public...

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

Spanning the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, the region contains more than 600 coral species and over 2,200 of the world's coral reef fish species. It sustains 120 million people with food and other resources, as well as a $12B yearly tourism industry.

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

A simple infographic explaining how coral bleaching works

When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.

View a media gallery of coral reefs from around the world

Developed by The Ocean Agency, the Ocean Image Bank launched in 2021 with the help of more than 200 ocean photographers, videographers, and science organizations to help engage the public and inspire support for oceans as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

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

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.

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.

The origin of the symbiotic relationship between corals and the algae that feed them

An analysis of fossilized reefs from northern Africa and Germany suggests that shallow water corals and photosynthetic algae formed a mutualistic partnership between 419 and 359 million years ago. The discovery was made by analyzing nitrogen-isotope ratios in the fossils, which differ depending on whether algae are present, due to various chemical processes.

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.

Explore interactive global maps of cancer prevalence

Cancer is a ubiquitous disease, with populations across the globe having incidence rates that reflect various risk factors. The Cancer Atlas lets users explore a comprehensive global overview of cancer statistics, including incidence, mortality, prevalence, and survival rates across various regions and Human Development Index categories.

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 map of the distribution of mineral resources on the seafloor

Polymetallic nodules are found in regions near the middle of the Pacific Ocean, along the eastern coast of South America, and along the western coast of Africa, while cobalt-rich crusts span significant portions of the Pacific tropics east of the Philippines. Polymetallic sulfide deposits occur at tectonic plate boundaries, including areas within national jurisdictions.

The ocean's ability to store carbon long-term is being hindered by marine heatwaves

More than 4,000 robotic floats with biogeochemical data sensors, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, suspended particles, chlorophyll, temperature, and conductivity, have been deployed as part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array. They have identified changes to ecosystem structure affecting the ocean's ability to transport carbon from surface waters into the deep.

A map of the world's changing tree cover

As many of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction, keep track of the growth and decline of trees on Earth with this interactive map. Witness the state of forests worldwide by analyzing tree cover change on GFW’s interactive global forest map using satellite data. Learn about deforestation rates and other land use practices, forest fires, forest communities, biodiversity, and much more.

View a map of the world’s major earthquakes from 1956-2022

Such maps can help identify tectonic plate boundaries. The most significant earthquakes are characteristic of converging plates, such as those in the Circum-Pacific Belt and the Alpine-Himalayan Belt, where the Himalayas continue to grow.

Explore a world map of Mars

The yellows spots scattered across the map indicate meteor impacts while the red regions represent volcanoes and their associated lava flows. The varying shades of brown indicate cratered highlands and midlands, which make up most of the southern hemisphere.

Aerial photos of red tide off the Gulf Coast

The toxic algae grows naturally in warmer oceans in small amounts and is typically harmless. With extended warm periods and unusually-high additions of nutrients from run-off, the algae blooms extensively, posing health risks to wildlife and humans...

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

Using AI to track plastic pollution in real time

Explore Global Plastic Watch, the first-ever, near-real-time, high-resolution map of plastic pollution. Global Plastic Watch uses advanced satellite data technology and machine learning to measure piles of plastic waste from space.

The Council on Foreign Relations maps conflicts to watch in 2026

This interactive map highlights conflicts to watch in 2026, rating each by likelihood and potential impact and allowing users to explore detailed background on every potential hotspot.

A simple pictorial explanation of ocean geography

Visualizing ocean geographical features, such as a coastal zone, continental shelf and abyssal plain. This article from the US Geological Survey also provides several links to diverse ocean facts.

A map of extreme weather events and their links to climate change

To track how the evidence on this fast-moving topic is stacking up, Carbon Brief has mapped every extreme-weather attribution study published to date. Read more about the findings from the comprehensive analysis.

Mapping the known ports involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade

Based on historical logs, this interactive maps shows info from various ports of departure and arrival during the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Null Island is located at a latitude and longitude of 0°

A buoy denotes the fictional island where the Prime Meridian intersects with the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. Nations had disagreed on where the "origin" of world maps should be located until the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time were established in 1884.

Water is naturally tinted with a slight blue, but sediments and organics can alter its color

The innate coloration comes from water absorbing red light in the visible spectrum more than green or blue, giving shallow waters in some parts of the Caribbean their turquoise hue. If sand is light, it can be churned up by turbulent water, clouding its appearance. Plankton and other organisms can color water by affecting how the rest of the spectrum is absorbed or reflected.

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

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

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.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

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.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

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

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

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

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

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

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.