Lets appreciate what we have before it becomes what we had

I live in a very special place. When I wake up early in the morning and watch the sunrise its shear beauty often moves me to tears.

Every three weeks the view from my front verandah looks even more nutritious and delicious when the real cows come to visit.

I just don’t know how I could cope if I woke up every morning to watch it slowly bleaching and dying in front of me which is what is currently happening to our World Heritage listed  Great Barrier Reef

Can you believe that despite the Great Barrier Reef being one of the healthiest coral reef ecosystems there has been a 50% decline in coral cover since 1985.

Last weekend at the invitation of the Camp Earth Hour Retreat my front verandah on Heron Island looked like this.

As you can imagine it was hard to leave but then not everyone is like me and gets to live some-where just as special.

I am a great believer in the adage

Appreciate what you have before it becomes what you had.

This brings me to the question “why is the reef dying?” Well lots of reasons and most of them are man made areas including catchment run-off, degradation of coastal ecosystems and direct-use activities such as shipping and fishing. Why has it become a burning bed issue and crucial  we act now. Dare I say it CLIMATE CHANGE

And boy am I sick of the energy wasted on the climate change debate “is it or isn’t happening?”. In reality you don’t need people’s opinions on a fact.

You know what I dislike most about the people who say it isn’t, they are the type of people who don’t take responsibility for anything. Thank goodness they are just a small minority albeit a noisy one. I care very much that it even might be a possibility.

Professor Lesley Hughes ( who I was lucky enough to meet this weekend) sums up why we should all care beautifully in this slide

To borrow this quote from Time magazine

Science is hard—which is why not everyone gets to do it.

More than 97% of the people doing the hard yards say the science is in. Lets get with the times, lets care and act now