ABC News in Science: Lord Howe corals light up cancer fight

Monday, 16 August 2010

Below find an excerpt of the ABC News in Science article.

"Lord Howe Island, Australian scientists have discovered a cluster of brilliant shallow-water corals that could help in the search for anti-cancer drugs and to understand global warming."

"The vividly fluorescent cluster was found in waters off Lord Howe Island, 600 kilometres east of the Australian mainland, with some displaying rich reds that were difficult to find and in high demand for studies of cancer cells, says researcher Dr Anya Salih."

"We are using these pigments to light up the workings of living cells and to study what goes wrong in cancer cells," says Salih, from the University of Western Sydney."

"Earlier this year, the coral reefs of Lord Howe Island experienced a sudden mass bleaching event caused by warming of seawater. But the fluorescent corals had been much less damaged by the bleaching, lending "support to the hypothesis that fluorescence can provide some level of protection to corals from temperature stresses due to climate change."

click here for full article

To include a study of the effects of climate change on coral-bleaching into your classroom planning please visit the AUSMEPA free online unit of work. Click here

CORAL REEFS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - a new Australian Education and Action book

CORAL REEFS AND CLIMATE CHANGE published by CoralWatch and the University of Queensland is a guide for education and awareness. It is a collaboration between educators and researchers explaining the science, issues and remedies. It provides tools for understanding the complex dynamics that shape our living reefs.

A CD comes with the book that incorporates both field activities and guided research projects to assist everyone who is interested in taking a closer look. The Coral Health Chart is a flexible tool that allows contribution to a global reef database possible.

To find out more about this new resource please visit CoralWatch or click here.

To access more free Coral Bleaching and Climate Change online education materials visit the AUSMEPA website:  http://www.ausmepa.org.au/effects-of-climate-change-on-coral-bleaching/

Impacts of Climate Change Aninmations from GBRMPA

The impacts of climate change from GBRMPA on Vimeo.

What is climate change? from GBRMPA on Vimeo.

Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef from GBRMPA on Vimeo.

Acid test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification

Taken from the Natural Resources Defense Council website

"ACID TEST, a film produced by NRDC, was made to raise awareness about the largely unknown problem of ocean acidification, which poses a fundamental challenge to life in the seas and the health of the entire planet. Like global warming, ocean acidification stems from the increase of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution."

This like other excellent uTube clips tells a story that needs to be heard! Can it translate to action?

It is up to us to reduce our consumption, help others to understand, become an example that others can follow and make our voices heard.

The clip above will assist teachers choosing to use the AUSMEPA online Climate Change and Coral Bleaching unit of work