Sex, Sex, Sex - Raping the planet, one step at a time

Disclaimer. If you came here for sex and boobs, go back to your caves, get your eyes checked on a doctor or simply reread the title.

Back in 2009 there was an advertisement.

A job offer to "The Best Job In The World". An opportunity to become a caretaker for the islands in the Great Reef Barrier in Australia. Around 35.000 applications flocked from all over the world. I was one of them. The salary was huge, the chance to experience such beauty and exotic locations and being responsible for them even greater.

But what is the Great Barrier Reef (GBR)? Here are some brief facts.

It is the largest coral reef system in the world. It is considered one of the most beautiful places on earth as well as it's biggest living organism. It was declared a Natural Wonder of the Earth in 1981 and a world-heritage site. It is massive, around the size of Italy, comprising of around 3000 reefs and 900 islands that stretch over 2300 kilometers off the coast of Queensland, Australia. No wonder it can be seen with a naked eye from space.

I wish one day i visit that place.

So what is the problem? There are three mainly. One is that climate change is slowly eating the reef. The global warming effect causes the ocean temperature to rise, which causes coral bleaching and makes the fish and organisms migrate elsewhere since their preferred temperature and environment is disturbed. That leads to loss of biodiversity and chain deaths that greatly affect predatory carnivores from fish to birds.

The other one is pollution. Simply put the coastal area close to the GBR is used for farming. Tons of fertilizers pollute the soil and decline the water quality due to runoff and cause eutrophication, an effect that ends up killing the fish due to depletion of oxygen.

Pesticides, ship wreckages, mining and over-fishing are the other reasons and they are pretty self-explanatory.

Do you see any link between all these? They are all linked to human activity. We are effectively raping the planet. We are destroying our own heritage in the name of money and power. Oil spills, coal mining, fake reports that try to divide and mislead the public.

Tony Abbott of the Australian government announced in 2013 that the reef was not in such a poor condition so they intended to construct a massive coal factory nearby for a massive 16 billion dollars. It sounds like death by a thousand cuts to the reef. Some might say that i am talking bullshit but i am writing a scientific paper based on these assessments and strategic management of the reef. I am not going to supply all the information because that would be impossible, but i would be happy to answer any of your questions or concerns. I also found out that the main driving force of Australia's income is tourism and that it is more important and bigger than the coal industry. The Cost-Benefit analysis might show an advantage to the coal factory initially but when the reef is destroyed in the long run it will lead to devastating effects not only in the country's physical beauty but also in its economic power and income.

These statements were sort of pulled back during 2014 and there was a new assessment going on about the management and the plan to sustain the reef until 2050. If you want to read more and try to sign petitions or make a difference, head up to GetUp!

I am pretty sure you can find Nemo here!

I got so angry reading about all this. Do not let them rape our planet one step at a time. Do something about it. It is time to make a difference.

Good Weekend Sweden!