Science and Technology

[Fox News] Coral reefs around the world are experiencing mass bleaching in warming oceans, scientists say

Coral reefs around the world are experiencing global bleaching for the fourth time, top reef scientists declared Monday, a result of warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change.

Coral reef bleaching across at least 53 countries, territories or local economies has been confirmed from February 2023 to now, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and International Coral Reef Initiative said. It happens when stressed coral expel the algae that are their food source and give them their color. If the bleaching is severe and long-lasting, the coral can die.

Coral reefs are important ecosystems that sustain underwater life, protect biodiversity and slow erosion. They also support local economies through tourism.

LARGEST DEEP-SEA CORAL REEF MAPPED OFF EAST COAST: ‘BREATHTAKING IN SCALE’

Bleaching has been happening in various regions for some time. In the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, bleaching affected 90% of the coral assessed in 2022. The Florida Coral Reef, the third-largest, experienced significant bleaching last year.

But in order for bleaching to be declared on a global scale, significant bleaching had to be documented within each of the major ocean basins, including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Monday’s news marks the second worldwide bleaching event in the last 10 years. The last one ended in May 2017. Brought on by a powerful El Nino climate pattern that heated the world’s oceans, it lasted three years and was determined to be worse than the prior two bleaching events in 2010 and 1998.

This year’s bleaching follows the declaration that 2023 was the hottest year on record.

“As the world’s oceans continue to warm, coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe,” Derek Manzello, NOAA Coral Reef Watch coordinator, said in a statement.

Selina Stead, a marine biologist and chief executive of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, called climate change “the biggest threat to coral reefs worldwide.” She said scientists are working to learn more about how coral responds to heat and to identify naturally heat-tolerant corals, but said it is “critical the world works to reduce carbon emissions.”

One reef that fared better than others last year was the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which was afforded some protection by its location in deeper water in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Texas coast. Sanctuary officials didn’t immediately respond to messages Monday seeking the latest on the health of the sanctuary’s corals.

Read More 

Business

[Fox Business] Your Social Security COLA increase could be bigger than expected next year

Social Security recipients are on track to receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year that is bigger than previously expected after inflation accelerated for the third month in a row.

The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan group that focuses on issues relating to older Americans, estimated the adjustment could be about 3%, based on March inflation data, which showed the consumer price index climbed 0.4% from the previous month and is up 3.5% from the same time last year. 

Both figures are higher than expected, underscoring the challenge of taming high inflation.  

The annual Social Security change is calculated based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the CPI-W, from July, August and September. The CPI-W also posted a 3.5% increase in March.

JAMIE DIMON WARNS INFLATION, INTEREST RATES MAY REMAIN ELEVATED

Should Social Security beneficiaries see a 3% increase in their monthly checks next year, it would mark a steep decline from both 2023, when recipients saw an 8.7% bump and from 2024, when benefits rose by 3.2%. 

However, it remains higher than the 2.6% average increase recorded over the past two decades.

An increase of that magnitude would raise the average retiree benefit of $1,907 by about $57.21 per month. 

Even with last year’s cost-of-living increase, many retirees say they are struggling to keep up with high inflation, according to Mary Johnson, a research analyst at the Senior Citizens League who conducted the analysis.

This year’s 3.2% benefit increase exceeded the actual rate of inflation in March and matched it in February. 

WHY ARE GROCERIES STILL SO EXPENSIVE?

“That means older consumers are losing buying power,” Johnson said.

The Social Security Administration will release the final adjustment percentage in mid-October.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Inflation has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent. The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily impacted by price fluctuations. 

The typical U.S. household needed to pay $227 more a month in March to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation, according to calculations from Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi shared with FOX Business.

Americans are paying on average $784 more each month compared with the same time two years ago and $1,069 more compared with three years ago, before the inflation crisis began. 

The analysis suggests that while inflation has fallen from the highs of mid-2022, many families have yet to see material relief.

Read More