Documentary: Chasing Coral

A few weeks ago I shared a blog post about The documentary Chasing Ice. That documentary was absolutely stunning and sad at the same time. As I watched it on Netflix, they recommended another documentary to me: Chasing Coral. I’ve seen it now and I am telling you: you should see this too.

Climate change

Last time, in the article about Chasing Ice, I told you the earth is severely damaged. The glaciers and ice are melting. The problem is huge. If you watched Chasing Ice and will see Chasing Coral, you’ll see the extend of climate change. Yes, the glaciers are melting, but that’s just a small portion of the problem. The coral is dying too, and even though these problems are immense, I’ll tell you: this is not all. Both the documentaries give a good impression though, climate change isn’t just about one thing, it affects the whole globe, everywhere.

But I don’t notice anything?

Right, if you live in The Netherlands like me, you probably won’t notice much from climate change. We’re living in a bubble, and that bubble is going to burst someday. I really wish we could avoid that, but right now it’s about lowering the damage, because preventing the damage can’t be done anymore. We, the richest people of the world (I don’t mean to brag about that, but I think people don’t realize that often enough, don’t notice much from climate change. And that’s exactly why documentaries like Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice are so important! They open our eyes. We have to stop global warming, right now. The urge is alarming and we need to see that.

Chasing Coral

In the documentary Chasing Coral filmmakers try to capture coral bleaching. That is a hard job to do, filming under water during a long period of time, so they face some challenges. Coral bleaching is the term used for coral reefs dying. And if all the coral reefs die, a whole ecosystem dies. Many people rely on fish as their main source of protein and they jobs (like tourism). The coral reefs are dying, fast. And just like Chasing Ice, this documentary is beautiful and horrible at the same time. I find coral reefs beautiful, I could look at it forever. But at the same time, seeing it die, is heartbreaking. Climate change is the biggest reason the coral reefs are bleaching, because the water is simply getting too warm for them to live. I really think the world should see this, because we need to do something.

‘The planet has lost 50% of all its coral reefs in the last 30 years’ – Chasing Coral

Now what?

As I said above, it can seem like these problems aren’t going to influence us, because we don’t see them. Because of that, it seems like there’s not a lot we can do. But that, my dear reader, is not true! We can do so much about climate change. On this blog you can of course read what I do, but I’ll give you the most important tips.
1. Stop buying new stuff. In ‘De Verborgen Impact’ (in English ‘The Hidden Impact’) a Dutch writer describes what causes the most negative impact on the environment by Dutch people. It is our stuff. The process of making new clothes, new electronics and all other stuff has a huuuge impact on the planet. By buying less, you cause less carbon emissions. Thrift, lend or just make do. Minimalism is great, I swear.
2. Become vegan. Yes, this one is hard to hear. But the second thing that causes the most carbon emissions, are animals products. Cutting those has a huge impact, and you’ll save lives too!
3. Fly less or not. This is a hard one for me too, still. But, if you can, try to avoid flying to your holiday destination. Flying is boring anyway, and by train, bus or car you’ll see so much more of the world.
4. Watch Chasing Coral, duh.

I hope you’ll enjoy the documentary Chasing Coral, let me know what you think!

Yours sincerely,
Romee