Let's balance out

It isn't as bad as you think. Or maybe it is.

Another week has passed and we're back with the climate updates! This is "Let's balance out" and you'll read one good news and one bad news about the climate crisis. Shall we begin?

So what do you want first? The good news or the bad news?

Okay, as we already said a thousand times, we're all in a lockdown. We can't go anywhere and even if we could, we shouldn't. This means people are not moving around anymore, and we already talked about how this is positively impacting the environment.

Still, there is not just a bright side, because apparently in the US the lack of passengers is not matching a stop or a slow down in the flights. All over the world airline companies are reducing the amount of flights, since there is really few people still going around.

But in the US the passenger rate is dropping faster than the cancelation of the flights, and this leads to a lot of planes just flying empty. This is not good for the environment, as the aviation industry accounts for about 2% of global carbon emissions.

Coming back to talk about corals. We know that the Great Barrier Reef is in danger due to the climate crisis, and the ideal solution to save it would be to reduce the emissions. In the meantime though scientists are testing ways to make it survive even in a warming environment.

The project is called Reef Restoration and Adaption Program and it splits the research into 3 groups:

• Shading and cooling reefs to cut sunlight or lower ocean temperatures
• Stabilising and rebuilding reef structures damaged from bleaching, cyclones or ocean acidification
• Helping corals adapt to warmer temperatures and then moving their larvae around en masse

If you want to know more, read here!