3 Beaches With 3 Very Different Stories

Who doesn’t love a beach day? Chillin’ in the sun, getting your glow on, living your best life. Yet pollution is taking over and ruining hot girl summer for us and the sea life.
 

Istanbul, Turkey

Overfishing, endless pollution, direct sewage runoffs and increasing urbanization, have caused waters surrounding south Istanbul to become anything but picturesque. A thick layer of marine mucilage AKA ‘sea snot’ has become a major threat to marine life and humans as the slime carries bacteria’s such as E Coli. It could take up to five years to clean up these shores, however, with no signs of the city slowing down, a clean-up is only touching the surface of a deeper issue. Without controlling what and who goes into the water, there is little hope the sea snot will go away.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Approximately 3,500 miles away, another beautiful beach is set for ruin. Black Johnson Beach in Sierra Leone has been sold to China for a new finish harbor costing $55m. The 250 acres of beach sold will no doubt affect the lives of many local fishermen and women as they will be forced to relocate and out of a job. Fisheries Minister, Emma Kowa Jalloh, states “we want to be classified as an upcoming country… and somebody has to sacrifice.” Yet many would argue this isn’t the way to do it as major campaign groups fight back on this life-changing deal, as the pollution caused will certainly destroy local wildlife.
 

Cornwall, England

Heading over to the UK, the G7 (group of 7) held its 2021 summit in Cornwall, where the 7 leaders and their families had a BBQ on the beach as part of their weekend away. How lovely, no social distancing, no masks and no accountability! And of course, just days later, Boris Johnson told the British public restrictions couldn’t be lifted due to ongoing risk… Despite that, Extinction Rebellion protests were seen across the country for the lack of regard for climate change. Boris states, “I’ll be asking my fellow leaders to rise to the challenge of beating the pandemic and building back better, fairer and greener.” However, took the 200-mile trip from London by private jet… MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!?

Pollution is becoming more and more deadly. As many countries attempt to change their ways, it's not enough. Societies should be able to look to their leaders and government in hopes of fixing the issue the public face with increasing climate change. However, in these three recent cases, the government's attempts are either, too late, poorly managed or straight up contradictory.
 

Next Up, Gatekeeping In Environmentalism: How NOT To Be Deterred