Extremes of drought and flooding, no snow in winter, heat waves in the Northern Hemisphere and still wearing a winter coat at the beginning of May are just few of the many signs of climate change.
The responsibility for such change has been put on human activities but skeptics still question the validity of such claims.
It is true that many of those activities have been going on for decades but the scale of it has increased to such an extent that nature is not having time to re-establish the balance.
While it is a fact that a growing population increases the demand for food, overproduction and overexploitation of natural resources is often motivated by greed. Blinded by materialism, the quest for money supersedes the need for sustainability, as well as the protection of the individuals, the community and the environment.
What few might realise is that when we impact the environment of one corner of the earth, the effect ripples in the remaining three. If we take our ocean for example, overfishing has depleted marine resources like oysters, which are the natural bioengineers and biofilters that support and maintain diverse marine biodiversity. Without oyster reefs, other species have lost their home.
Mass production of agricultural goods within a short time requires heavy use of fertilizers, often in excess. The excess nutrients runoff into the waterways, resulting in toxicity and the overgrowth of algae. This excessive algae growth consumes the oxygen that fish need, leading to death and decay in the ocean.
The absence of biodiversity means a reduction in nutrient sequestration and incomplete geochemical processing resulting in an increase in the production and release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
Consequently, phenomena like the greenhouse effect, ocean acidification, El Niño and La Niña impact the earth’s environment.
At a forum in Sweden (June,2016), Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the United Nations General Assembly, stated that tackling the effect of climate change: “..requires the redistribution of wealth and power and a transition from greed to solidarity, from prejudice to empathy and kindness, from indifference and hate to radical love for humankind and nature.”.
At Oyster Heaven, our contribution is to restore the ability of the ocean to regulate the nutrient balance through the sustainable, large-scale regeneration of its keystone species: the oysters.
We are doing so in collaboration with the local community, the fishermen community, the scientific community and any committed organisation that is willing to invest in making a better world.
This Christmas, give a gift that gives back to nature.
You can now adopt a Mother Reef for your loved ones and help restore 100 oysters!
