Climate change plays a major part in the destruction of coral reefs (see Threats to corals). We believe and hope we can change the global heating and its effect on water temperatures and currents. But we have to act now.
Our personal choices matter and we often know quite well what actions are required. We mention a few nevertheless:
- eat less meat (especially beef has a high carbon footprint), eat less fish or even better: become vegan;
- flying has a very high carbon footprint. Do we really have to travel the world? Let’s fly less, the train can bring you to great places too;
- avoid using your car but use public transport or go on a bike (much healthier!);
- if you need a car, drive electric and start carpooling;
- choose green energy;
- for all the products we consume, energy is needed to produce, to package and to transport them. Every time we buy a new product it means extra emissions, whether it is food, clothing, household products or otherwise. Being aware of this, is a good start towards a change into the daily choices we make. Do we really need all the products we buy? What if we would start to re-use, repair and remake existing products instead of buying new ones. What if we buy more second hand. And if we decide to buy a new product, make an eco-friendly choice e.g. buy local products to reduce transportation, choose products that are not wrapped in plastics and/or other packaging materials, buy more durable (often higher quality) products that have a long lifespan, buy products with eco-friendly components, etc.
- cut down on your food waste. An estimated 1/3 of greenhouse emissions comes from food waste occurring in production, transport, the supermarket and last but not least in your own household.
- check in your household what changes you can make to use less energy;
- support environmental organizations.
- if you have a chance to vote, vote for non-isolationalist, green parties. Climate change is a global problem that needs a global solution.
So we have the choice to change our behavior and make a less negative impact on the climate. But we also have to talk about an unpopular subject: overpopulation. Our planet, our oceans and the rest of the natural world, can not cope with the pressure we humans put on it at the moment. The growing world population will have an increased greenhouse effect, especially if we don’t change radically. The positive changes we make today can be erased by a growing population tomorrow. A difficult subject for many. Nevertheless, world’s political leaders have to address this issue, with the priority it requires.
