Mexico offers a model for saving our suffering seas.


** News of the world environment
------------------------------------------------------------
NEWSLETTER | AUGUST 4, 2023
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]


** Ocean Conservation Works
------------------------------------------------------------

Last month, I did something I have not done in a long time: I took a vacation. For much of my career, I traveled for work, so I would spend my downtime visiting family, or relaxing in whatever wilds I could find wherever I happened to be. So it was a great joy to find myself instead in a small boat off the coast of Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, slipping on fins and a mask and dropping into the warm waters of the Pacific, learning to spearfish.

July was particularly hot for many regions of Mexico, including this one, which suffered under the same heat-dome conditions that hit the United States ([link removed]) . As I followed my guide, Lisandro, a lanky Argentine, through pristine water, finning over a rocky reef and looking for pompano and green jack, I found myself thinking about our warming world.

Mexico is among the 20 countries responsible for supplying three quarters of the world’s fish and shellfish. For its maritime ecosystems, and the coastal communities that rely on them, climate change brings a slew of challenges ([link removed]) . Changes in the sea surface temperature will mean dying coral, increased algal blooms, parasites and diseases, and decreased catches. Ocean acidification will kill off species and impact harvests of bivalves, while deoxygenation will mean smaller average sizes of fish and changes in migration patterns of some species. Rising sea levels will displace harbors, towns, and aquaculture sites.

These changes are coming fast, and here, as elsewhere, adaptation is important (so is mitigation, but that’s another story). Conservation will be paramount. Luckily, Mexico provides a great model. In 2017, the country extended protection to 57,000 square miles around the Revillagigedo Islands. A recent study concluded ([link removed]) that the protests by the fishing industry — which feared the protections would lead to depleted catches — were ill-founded. In a before-and-after study, researchers found “no decrease in catches,” helping to demonstrate that “well-designed [marine protected areas] benefit marine ecosystems and, in the long term, can also benefit the fisheries they support.”

We need more such protections, and fast. Moneyed interests need to step aside, or, even better, pitch in. We are out of time for excuses, deflection, foot-dragging, and belly-aching. Small changes are better than nothing. Big changes are best of all. All of it helps.

Back from fishing, after a home-cooked meal of pan-fried pompano and fresh mango salsa, I sat down to read, another vacation pleasure. I brought with me All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis ([link removed]) , a collection of essays and poetry edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson, who remind us that, though it may seem daunting, and though, yes, some irreparable damage is done, “it is far too soon to give up on the rest.”

Don’t give up. Take a break if you need to, but then keep fighting, keep hoping.

I’ll see you out there.
Brian Calvert
Associate Editor, Earth Island Journal


Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky/ ([link removed]) Unsplash
TOP STORIES ()
[link removed]


** Being Prepared ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Life on a warming planet is going to be rough for our kids. Good thing the majority of US states are acknowledging we need to ready them for the challenge and are incorporating some climate science in their curriculum.

READ MORE ([link removed])
[link removed]


** Flavor Bombed ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Ever bit into a juicy, sun-ripened strawberry expecting a burst of pure summer and thought... meh? Yeah, apparently pesticides are killing flavors in fruit as well.
READ MORE ([link removed])
Are you in? Earth Island Journal is a nonprofit, and we're looking for 75 new donors to the Green Journalism Fund.
As a nonprofit, Earth Island Journal is driven by purpose, not profit. We have no billionaire benefactors. We rely on the support of people like you. Can we count on you to donate to the Green Journalism Fund?
Yes, I'll support the Green Journalism Fund ([link removed])
[link removed]


** Life in Smoke ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Wildfire smoke is alive with bacteria, fungal spores, and other microscopic beings. Who are they? Where do they go? What they do when they get there? The answers offer both good and not-so-good tidings.
READ MORE ([link removed])
ICYMI ()
[link removed]


** Revamping Vehicles ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Vehicles that swallow up the carbon they spew? Can we please get these “upcycled cars” out of labs into the real world asap!

Read more » ([link removed])
Photo by Alan/Flickr ([link removed])

[link removed]


** Climate Lore ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

Fairy tales and archetypal characters can offer new ways to express and understand important questions about our climate and the environment. Sit back and read.

Read more » ([link removed])
Photo by Johnny McClung ([link removed])


** Send this to a friend:
------------------------------------------------------------
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2F236c744ce5ac%2Fgrowing-change-13364563 Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2F236c744ce5ac%2Fgrowing-change-13364563)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])


**
------------------------------------------------------------
Did a thoughtful friend forward you our newsletter? Keep up with the latest from Earth Island Journal!


** SIGN UP TODAY ([link removed])

------------------------------------------------------------

============================================================
** Like the Journal ([link removed])
** Like the Journal ([link removed])
** Tweet our Stories ([link removed])
** Tweet our Stories ([link removed])
** Follow us on Instagram ([link removed])
** Follow us on Instagram ([link removed])
You are receiving this email newsletter because you signed up on our website.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can ** si ([link removed])
** gn up ([link removed])
** to the email newsletter ([link removed])
** here ([link removed])
** . ([link removed])

Support our work by ** subscribing ([link removed])
** to our quarterly print magazine ([link removed])
.
Copyright © 2023 Earth Island Journal, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
Earth Island Journal
2150 Allston Way Ste 460
Berkeley, CA 94704-1375
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]