Thailand has shut down 10 popular diving sites in a bid to slow a coral bleaching crisis, an official said Thursday, in a rare move to shun tourism profits to protect the environment. The tropical country's southern coastline and string of islands are home to some of the world's most prized white sand beaches and scuba sites, and the booming tourism industry props up Thailand's lagging economy. But warming waters and ever-growing swarms of visitors have damaged coral reefs and local ecosystems. The National Parks department has now indefinitely closed at least 10 diving spots after a survey found bleaching on up to 80 percent of some reefs. http://www.france24.com/en/20160526-thailand-closes-dive-sites-over-coral-bleaching-crisis
I'm not sure shutting down tourism is really the answer, but am quite willing to concede it is at least a start. Australia is having similar problems with the Great Barrier Reef, and doesn't appear to know what to do at all: http://www.theguardian.com/environm...ef-that-australia-didnt-want-the-world-to-see
Yep. Apparently more than one-third of the coral reefs of the central and northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef have died in the huge bleaching event earlier this year. Corals to the north of Cairns – covering about two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef – were found to have an average mortality rate of 35 per cent, rising to more than half in areas around Cooktown. As this article states it should be "a huge wake up call." But unfortunately, it won't be. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/c...barrier-reef-corals-dead-20160528-gp6dc9.html
At the risk of sounding spurious and cynical, perhaps we need a Donald Trump to come in, be made aware of the damage to the tourism industry and the economic danger, and become a champion of those proposing man-made climate change. At least then, stronger and more invested minds might be put to the problem.
