Under the direction of Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation, more than 450 teams of scientists have succeeded in creating the first continually updating map of the world’s shallow coral reefs, an undertaking that required 2.25 million satellite images and about 100,000 square miles. As one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, coral reefs are an important home for marine life—but they remain endangered. The Allen Coral Atlas, already in use by 14 countries, will help track climate change’s effects on the habitat and inform future oceanic projects to save the reefs. Read more about this historic accomplishment at Hyperallergic.
Image by Greg Asner, courtesy of Allen Coral Atlas