covid-19 tagged posts

We are going through one of the hardest times in the 21st Century. Filled with bad news, the human species is fighting for survival. As much as we need to battle the pandemic, we must resist the climate crisis and choose sustainability as our survival pathway. Amidst the pandemic, and the loss of lives, time and happiness, let’s look at some good news for biodiversity and the ecosystem.

Coral Reefs of the Red Sea surprisingly resist climate change.
Increasing temperature and marine pollution is a threat to the coral reefs — the ecosystem of the Red Sea that protects and provides a habitat to hundreds of coastal organisms. Environmental activists and scientists, for a long time, believed in the possibility of the death of coral species due to temperature rise...

Every dollar invested in a sustainable ocean economy can yield at least five times the return in benefits, according to a new report commissioned by the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

As many countries roll out bailout packages to counter the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the report says investment in these four key ocean intervention areas could help aid economic recovery both now and in the future:

• Conservation and restoration of mangroves
• Decarbonization of the shipping industry
• Scaling up offshore wind production
• Increasing sustainable protein from the ocean

“They give jobs and livelihoods to people and communities and you’re doing so by investing in making your environment more sustainable,” said Manaswita Konar, lead author of the report...

Since coronavirus emptied Hawaii of tourists, seals have been lounging on beaches, fish are swimming closer to shore and the turquoise water of the U.S. islands’ famous Hanauma Bay is 55% clearer, one marine biologist said.

The pandemic has been devastating economically for Hawaii, whose $18-billion tourism industry employs more than 200,000 people, or about a third of the workforce. It is among the U.S. states with the highest unemployment rate since March.

But the absence of thousands of visitors a day has been a boon for fisheries, coral reefs and other aspects of the fragile island ecosystem that has become degraded by too much tourism and climate change.

As islands around the world grapple with similar challenges, some authorities see the pandemic as an opportunity for change...