The National Science Foundation announced the results of a study today that investigated the threats to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands (Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument). Please read below for an introduction to the study and then follow the link below that for the full article.

"In the current issue of the journal Coral Reefs, authors Kimberly Selkoe and Benjamin Halpern, both of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at the University of California at Santa Barbara, explain how maps of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI)--a vast area stretching across more than 1,200 miles of Pacific Ocean--can be used to make informed decisions about protecting the world's fragile coral reefs."

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114538&govDel=USNSF_51