I know that this weekend was the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States and that here in Canada we simply remained about as thankful as all other weekends that we are “not the United States”. But the world’s most thankful news this week may have come from the waters near Cairns, Australia. That’s where the Coral of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) spawned in a colourful orgasm of life that no doubt would have made Will Smith puke (if you don’t know that “news” story, well, I envy you). The event was captured by marine scientists and is said to give hope to the world because the GBR had been decaying in what is known as “mass bleaching events” for several years now due to warming water caused by climate change. So no doubt the decreased greenhouse gas emissions caused by the decrease in travel over the course of this pandemic have been a massive relief to places like the reef. And equally no doubt, humans will screw it up again as soon as we can, by traveling to see things like the Great Barrier Reef. So, while the reef has done itself a favour in terms of procreation, it may actually be hurting itself because it’s just so darn beautiful to look at.
