‘Shocking' coral spawning drop raises doubts over Great Barrier Reef's resilience

Spawning by dominant coral species on the Great Barrier Reef collapsed after the back-to-back mass bleaching events, stoking fresh fears about the reefs' biodiversity and resilience.

With fewer adult corals after bleaching,
spawning levels collapse new research shows.

Not only did the amount of new baby corals crash - falling as much as 95 per cent in some parts of the north - the composition also shifted, according to research published Thursday in Nature.

Read the story from The Age by Peter Hannam - “‘Shocking' coral spawning drop raises doubts over Great Barrier Reef's resilience.”

Tornadoes destroy homes in Tennessee, Kentucky as wild storms hit central US

At least five people have been killed as severe thunderstorms swept through the central US, spawning tornadoes that flattened homes, gale force winds and widespread flooding.

Gio Rodriguez, 8, sits outside his Tennessee home after a
 storm which caused chaos across much of the central United States.

The system, stretching from Texas to the Canadian Maritime provinces, had prompted several emergency declarations even before the dangerous storms arrived.

Storm crews confirmed two tornadoes touched down in middle Tennessee and Kentucky, with maximum-sustained winds of 193 kilometres per hour.

One of the tornados struck in south-central Kentucky, causing homes to collapse and cars to flip over, and a 79-year-old woman died after her Adairville home was destroyed, the Logan County Sheriff's Office said.

Read the ABC News story - “Tornadoes destroy homes in Tennessee, Kentucky as wild storms hit central US.”