Corals in the northern section of Australia's vast Great Barrier Reef – a length of more than 1000km or so – have become the latest and most famous victims of the third global "mass bleaching" of corals since 1998.
At their best, mangroves form a vast coastal barrier of trunks and roots against the sea, controlling erosion, protecting communities from storms, and providing an environment for greater fish diversity.
It is easier to get to Jersey City from Wall Street than to much of the rest of New York, even though you have to cross a state line, not to mention a vast psychological barrier.
Mr Sharon has yet to approve this, but is expected to.The security barricade, begun last year, is a vast territorial barrier, sometimes 100 metres deep, comprising walls, patrol roads, electronic fences and earth trenches.
Across the hall, a grid of massive steel bolts emerges from the 20-metre-high slurry wall, the vast concrete barrier that was cast to keep out the waters of the Hudson River and which held firm when the towers collapsed on 11 September 2001, stopping the subway tunnels beneath from flooding.
This vast manmade barrier might not be visible from space, as is often claimed, but it is truly one of the great wonders of the ancient world.
The bastion of its long-guarded independence is the mountain range known as Picos de Europa (the Peaks of Europe), a vast natural barrier sheltering the region from the south.
Vast earth barriers did little to contain the rivers of fire and Zafferana remained in the path of destruction until, mercifully, Etna's lava ground to a halt on 27 May 1992, less than a kilometre from the town.
A certain bias existed in interpreting interviews due to vast language barriers and culturally diverse definitions.
