Australians get beached

An interesting article cam in via Twitter about Oz's potentially vanishing beaches, with 3/4 million homes at risk of flooding in the next 90 years if sea levels continue to rise as expected.

The piece had some built-in irony, as is frequently found:

So, if carbon dioxide hit the levels predicted for between 2030 and 2060, we can wave goodbye to the world’s largest and most diverse marine ecosystem. And Australia can say cheerio to €3.2 billion in tourist revenues. (Worldwide, reefs are worth €220 billion.)

Just imagine losing the world's largest and most diverse marine ecosystem AND having a tourism industry affected. I have difficulty (maybe unreasonably) imaging a world where our ecosystems have collapsed and tourism is still important. Call me narrow minded, but I can't help but feel that other things might be more important.

The article goes on:

What should we do, then? The first thing is to try and live as carbon free lives as possible. The second thing is to try and understand what the world will lose, by diving the reef.

If you’re lucky enough to go for option two (remembering of course to plant enough trees to cover the carbon cost of your flight), I’d definitely recommend Pro Dive in Cairns. They have a really professional set up, great instructors and a fantastic cook on their boats. And if that weren’t enough, this year they were awarded the Advance Ecotourism Certification from Ecotourism Australia for their liveaboard trips to the reef. If you do dive in while the reef’s still alive, I promise you’ll develop a passion for keeping it that way.

There's still some way to go...