Corals may be better placed to cope with the gradual acidification of the world's oceans than previously thought -- giving rise to hopes that coral reefs might escape climatic devastation.

In new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, an international scientific team has identified a powerful internal mechanism that could enable some corals and their symbiotic algae to counter the adverse impact of a more acidic ocean.

We're nearly 20 years into celebrating World Water Day, and the issues have only grown more complex -- and in many locales, more serious.

* Rising population, development put more in harm's way

* Policymakers urged to act in next few decades

* Less emphasis on mitigation, more on cutting risk

By David Fogarty and Deborah Zabarenko  

March 28 (Reuters) - A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. 

Damage from disaster so severe that clean-up expected to take decades, according to latest examination of nuclear plant

One of Japan's crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and much less water to cool it than officials estimated, according to an internal examination that renews doubts about the plant's stability.

MARSEILLE, France (AlertNet) - Water must be used more efficiently and its waste reduced if the world is to meet rising food demand from a fast-expanding population amid the pressures of climate change, experts have said ahead of World Water Day.

Marked each year on March 22, the United Nations hopes the 2012 event will focus attention on water's critical role in feeding the world.