Best Degraded
Updated Daily
Scarborough Shoal is a disputed reef in the South China Sea claimed by China, Taiwan, and the Philippines, which famously blockaded it during a 2012 naval standoff.
The Aral Sea Basin Steppe, spanning Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, is notably impacted by the Aral Sea ecological disaster and subsequent regional desertification.
Puerto Rico Reef encompasses the coral ecosystems surrounding the US territory, notably featuring the island of Culebra's protected Luis Peña Channel Natural Marine Reserve.
The Barbados Reefs encircle the easternmost island in the Caribbean, featuring well-developed fringing reefs that surround the capital city of Bridgetown and its historic shipwrecks.
Located in Uzbekistan where the Amu Darya river historically met the Aral Sea, this steppe ecoregion suffered severe desertification due to Soviet-era irrigation projects.
Spanning central China, the Loess Plateau Steppe is recognized for its highly fertile but easily eroded wind-blown soil, which served as the geographic cradle of ancient Chinese civilization.
The Jamaica Reefs surround the Caribbean island of Jamaica, historically serving as the foundational site for the establishment of modern tropical coral reef ecology science.
The Florida Reef Tract is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, extending about 360 km from Biscayne Bay to the Dry Tortugas.
