For the last several years the coastlines of Caribbean islands have from time to time been clogged with sargassum. It is a seaweed that floats on the surface of the sea, inevitably reaching the coastlines of landmasses in its path.
Besides the unsightly look of the seaweed covering the beaches, the stinking smell of the sargassum as it decays is worse than the smell of a thousand wet farts.
It does not matter if the sargassum menace is caused by global warming or a freak of nature. What matters is that it represents a formidable threat to the economic survival of small island developing states in the region. Since 2011 sargassum has been an economic threat to Caribbean islands and unsurprisingly, it has not provoked a collective response from our leaders.
It seems foolhardy for economic planners in Barbados and neighbouring territories to be committing millions, billions of dollars to the tourism plant and at the same time ignore the threat sargassum posses to the sector. After a decade the region seems helpless to fight back. We have to find a solution to trap and collect the seaweed at sea before it pollutes our beaches. Who wants to travel thousands of miles to have the rotting stench of sargassum assail the nostrils and the unsightly look it presents?
The following link is presented as a positive step to addressing the issue. Why are we not sensing greater urgency from leaders in the region about combating the threat sargassum posses to the livelihood of the region?
Stinky seaweed is clogging Caribbean beaches – but a New Zealand solution could turn it into green power and fertiliser
https://images.theconversation.com/files/465600/original/file-20220526-20-aw4z77.jpg
Published: May 31, 2022 3.16am BST
https://theconversation.com/stinky-seaweed-is-clogging-caribbean-beaches-but-a-new-zealand-solution-could-turn-it-into-green-power-and-fertiliser-183807
Thanks Bentley!
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