Important Innovations

  Shocking Sign of Climate Change's Destructive Force                                          Source:  Coral Reef Images World's Largest Coral Health Study A shocking milestone has been set in the unrelenting damage caused by Climate Change.  A UN supported global network has found that 14% of the world's coral reefs have been totally destroyed by the warming of the oceans. The study adds that a continuation of the warming will extend and accelerate the destruction.  The group that carried out what is being called "the world's biggest report on the health of coral" is GCRMN or the Global Coral Reefs Monitoring Network. They say the bleaching of the reefs by the warm ocean waters is unprecedented and largely irreversible.  In less than a decade, 11,700 kilometers of coral have been wiped out.  That is 2.5 times the size of the Grand Canyon National Park.  It is an environmental disaster. Marine Ecosystem Coral reefs are not only one of the most beautiful parts

New Innovation - Floating Forests Protecting Vulnerable Coastlines Source: University of Queensland Dissipating Wind and Wave Damage This is new innovation from Australia designed to protect coastline areas from wind and wave damage during natural disasters like hurricanes.  Civil engineers at the University of Queensland have designed and patented what they call "Floating Forests".  The structure is a floating concrete breakwater topped with a windbreaker.  The breakwater dissipates the energy of the oncoming waves and the windbreaker of "trees" is composed of 65 foot tall tubes of concrete and plastic that reduce the force of the wind.  The structure is a half mile long and is specifically designed for coastal areas that get hard hit by hurricanes/cyclones.  For more details, go to my fellow journalist Ed Kane's blog at  Important Innovations Collection: Floating 'Forests' Protecting Shores : New Innovation from Australia Source:  Universi