The Canopy is a weekday morning email newsletter provided by the team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

Worst summer on record for Great Barrier Reef as coral die-off sweeps planet.

The Great Barrier Reef just experienced its worst summer on record, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last month that the world is undergoing a global mass coral bleaching event — the fourth since the late 1990s — impacting at least 53 countries.

The final testimonies and statements in a court case against the federal government over climate change in the Torres Strait were heard in Cairns this week. The two plaintiffs, from the Torres Strait, allege the government has failed to protect the islands from the impacts of climate change

The cleanest air in the world is at Tasmania's Kennaook/Cape Grim. For nearly five decades, the Kennaook/Cape Grim air-monitoring station on Tasmania's north-west tip has been pivotal in tracking human-induced changes to the global atmosphere.

Top Stories: 

‘Like wildfires underwater’: Worst summer on record for Great Barrier Reef as coral die-off sweeps planet
As the early-morning sun rises over the Great Barrier Reef, its light pierces the turquoise waters of a shallow lagoon, bringing more than a dozen turtles to life.

Federal Court hears closing arguments in Torres Strait Islanders' climate change case
Traditional owners say Torres Strait islands that have been populated by First Nations people for tens of thousands of years and were Australia's frontline during WWII are being swallowed by the sea.

The cleanest air in the world is at Tasmania's Kennaook/Cape Grim. It's helping solve a climate puzzle
For nearly five decades, the Kennaook/Cape Grim air-monitoring station on Tasmania's north-west tip has been pivotal in tracking human-induced changes to the global atmosphere.

How killer whales move around Australia now better understood, thanks to citizen science project
Killer whales have long been a challenge for researchers, particularly off Australia's south-eastern coast.

There's a soundtrack to our coral reefs and scientists are hopeful it can encourage coral regrowth
Every coral reef has its own soundscape. The pops, grunts, crackles and croaks made by marine creatures create signature soundtracks to each reef.

Western Australia's Shark Bay seabeds are a ticking carbon time bomb, says scientist
Australia's zero greenhouse gas ambitions could be set back if a vast reserve of carbon stored in a seabed off Western Australia is released into the atmosphere, according to a leading marine ecologist.

Vietnam temperature records tumble as heatwave scorches
More than 100 temperature records fell across Vietnam in April, according to official data, as a deadly heatwave scorches South and Southeast Asia.

Cyclone bears down on flood-hit Kenya, Tanzania
Beaches were deserted and many shops closed on Saturday as heavy rains and winds from a tropical cyclone buffeted coastal areas of Tanzania and Kenya. 

Floods in southern Brazil kill 57, force 70,000 from homes
Raging floods and mudslides have killed at least 57 people in southern Brazil and forced nearly 70,000 to flee their homes, the country's civil defense agency said on Saturday.

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