About Rod's Corner: Sometimes the urge strikes me to do something off the beaten path, if you will, that might not have anything to do with hiking, snorkeling, or adventures. Life is an adventure, right? So here is where I write about stuff that strikes my fancy. Some of it might actually be related to adventures, like enviromental issues. I particularly like my Selected Writings.
Selected Writings
Rodney's Christmas Tree Adventure: A children's book about getting a Christmas tree
Not So Small After All: A children's book for when you feel small
Rocky, the Boy with the Hole in His Middle: A book for all of us children
Lily, Dave and The Web: A cautionary tale
The Environment
Coral Bleaching: A discussion of the causes and effects of coral bleaching, and what we can do to help.
Corals are animals, and tiny algae living inside them provide much of their food and color. When the water gets too warm—or pollution and other problems put them under stress—corals can lose those algae and turn white. That is coral bleaching. A white coral is not necessarily dead, but it is in trouble. If conditions improve soon enough, it can recover. If the stress lasts too long or keeps coming back, the coral may die.
This matters far beyond losing a beautiful place to snorkel. About 25% of all marine species—roughly one in four kinds of ocean life—depend on coral reefs at some stage of their lives. Reefs provide food, shelter, and places to breed. Losing or severely damaging them can disrupt food webs and reduce fish populations, with consequences that reach far beyond the reef itself. For people, that can mean less food, lost fishing and tourism income, and struggling coastal communities. As dead reefs break down, they also offer less protection from waves, erosion, and storm damage. Cleaner water, less physical damage, and growing and replanting corals can help. But protecting reefs over the long term also means slowing global warming. Restoration can give reefs a helping hand, but it cannot make up for an ocean that keeps getting hotter. More...