We could still turn the tide and avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we mobilized allied nations as we did in World War Two. Instead the recent UN Summit in Copenhagen suggests we're treating our greatest global threat like the invasion of Grenada. One of the few solid agreements to come out of the talks was for the establishment of a multibillion-dollar fund to reduce deforestation. The burning and clearing of forest is the second largest source of human-generated carbon after the burning of fossil fuels. A recent UN report on "Blue Carbon" suggests that funding needs to be expanded to protect carbon sequestering coastal habitats, specifically mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows that also function as the nurseries, filters and storm barriers of the sea. Sea turtle hatchlings need healthy coastal and marine ecosystems in order to survive. It just so happens that we also need the same healthy ocean ecosystems to survive on this blue planet," notes coral scientist Steven Lutz who's organized an international 'Blue Climate Coalition' working to bring the Blue Carbon discussion into the mainstream of policy and action.
