The Death of Our Oceans

If you feel powerless, you need to at least mourn the loss of glaciers, the coral reefs and the loss of a responsible President who has the people and the planet as the best interest in his life and not using his power for personal profit. It is clear that every decision Trump makes is one that will eventually benefit him personally or there is no discussion on the matter. Trump is encouraging more companies to burn fossil fuels and have stopped the environmental laws governing pollution from businesses. We are living in a time when climate change is warming our waters and wild fires everywhere is threatening our planet’s existence. Greedy politicians and corporate leaders choose to tune out science and look the other way. It is a sad situation that has reached beautiful Australia that is a ecology friendly country but the effects of pollution has reached all parts of the earth.

There is located a part of the ocean called The Great Barrier Reef. It is a section that is so large that they say you can see it from space. It too now is a place that is dying down under. To millions of sport divers it was paradise. It was the beautiful underwater marvel that was home to the largest eco-system of life on earth. Sections are surviving but large amounts of places are dead. What makes the area so great is the size. In miles.  It is as long as the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. In acreage, it is as large as the size of Germany.  There is no fish and colorful beautiful place on earth. Divers say it is a kaleidoscope of movement and life. There is such an abundance of life there that the fish are friendly and the sharks don’t seem to mind the divers because food is plentiful for all species. Why can’t humans learn from the fish and cohabitate freely together surrounded by the abundance the earth can offer us in food and fresh water if we would only worship these gifts to humanity?

See a healthy part of the reef for yourself by starting from Fort Douglas in the north east coast of Australia. Travel by boat for about two hours and thirty miles later and drop anchor. Snorkel the eco-system that is home to about 130 kinds of sharks and rays, 60 hundred species of fish and 30 different species of whales and dolphins. It is a place where healthy colorful majestic coral reefs provide the shelter for the varieties of underwater life. The problem is that places like this is becoming harder to find. The reef that has been sheltering underwater life for 25 million years is suddenly dying. Putting CO2 into the atmosphere from years of burning fossil fuels is ruining the world’s oceans. The warmer temperatures is killing the coral that needs cool water to thrive in.

Stupid humanity is killing our world. The warmer waters is bleaching the coral essentially killing the growth. Half of the coral has died in the last two years alone. We know this information from the old divers and scientists like Dr. John Charlie’ Veron that have been studying the areas for the past thirty years. There are about 340 species of coral in the Great Barrier Reef. In 2016 they measured that 30% of the reef has died. This year they measured that another 20% was bleached and dying. There is no more warning. Our eco-system is experiencing death quickly now. Yes, it is all nauseating as we just feel powerless as citizens of the earth. The people that have the power to make clear changes are not taking the best interest of saving our beautiful planet into consideration. Trump put most of American’s wealth into more dangerous weapons and have cut off funding to any scientific environmental causes. Can we just forget the obvious neglect? It is sad that one of the wealthiest countries on the planet just doesn’t care anymore. Somehow the self-serving idiot became our world leader representing America.

First you notice that the coral loses its vibrant color and looks white and bleached. Then the algae starts growing on the coral covering it with green slime. View the damage for yourself and travel 20 miles out from the coast to an area of the reef called Turtle Bay. The coral is covered in green slime, breaks off easily and there aren’t any fish there. It looks like the world’s largest underwater grave yard. This carnage is happening to other reefs around the world as well. It is a tragedy because coral reefs is essential to the health of our planet. Without the life and vitality in the oceans that this habitat offers the fish, we will also be in an economic collapse of the fishing industry. Fish is the main source of food for a half billion people. Should humans be killing off a main source of food? Dr. Vernon reports that the Florida Keys has been decimated. There is almost nothing left that was once a United States wonderland of marine life.

Coral reefs is a source for billions of dollars that could be made in the tourism industry. In Australia marine life tourism brings in 2 and a half million visitors each year, provides 65 thousand jobs and a billion dollars every year. No tourist will want to see slime covered coral in a dead sea devoid of marine life. Businesses are down-playing the destruction for fear of scaring away the tourists and thus not sounding the alarm to the devastation because there is still some beautiful reef left. They will just travel farther to find it.

Much of the problem in Australia is the mining industry. It is the number one producer of coal. They burn coal there and the pollutants from the burning coal is the most damaging thing for the environment. It is Australia’s main export and is a cash cow for the country. Trump wants to increase coal production in America. They unearth about half a billion tons of coal from mines all over the country. The government there regards the practices as “a long and proud tradition.”  Killing the earth is a long and proud tradition?  Leave the gas, oil and coal in the center of the earth where it belongs undisturbed. Our creator gave us for free everything we need here on earth. We have created greed and a worship for money and have forgotten that the real wealth is LIFE here on earth. Do SOMETHING to preserve all life on earth!