Sea stars. We know their beauty. Their bright colors and tenacity to cling to the rocks regardless the tide. I'd include a photo here, but there might not be many of them left to take photos of.
They are dying. According to friends, dissolving and melting away within 24 hours to 2 weeks of being exposed to a pathogen. "Sea Star Wasting Syndrome". The main cause is the rising of the water's temperature worldwide, and the upcoming ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) cycle will only amplify it.
I have two questions:
1) Where is the pathogen coming from?
2) How can we cool the water temperatures worldwide?
Answers:
1) We don't know. We don't even know what pathogen it is, if it's even a pathogen. Therefore, with not knowing, half the battle is lost.
2) It would take a long time to reverse global warming. But if there's any way to do it, it involves storing the carbon dioxide back into the environment. That means, more trees and more plants.
The ocean is usually a giant carbon sink, meaning that when it is cold, it absorbs the carbon dioxide. When the ocean heats up, on the other hand, it becomes a giant carbon source. 70% of the planet giving off previously-stored carbon dioxide, meaning that then the planet gets even warmer, which leads to even more carbon dioxide being released… Positive (and not in the "good" sense necessarily) feedback cycle: the change grows on itself.
We need to cool the ocean down. We need to plant more trees on land. What we do on land directly affects what we do in the ocean.
Now, how can we restore the lands to their natural forest states?
What are the forests that are closest to San Francisco?
