And another after-effect of climate change - and of harmful human activities - is sargassum. We've shown you what the beaches in San Pedro and Hopkins look like, but the problem is also present on the beaches of St George's Caye, Caye Caulker, and Placencia.
And as you know - sargassum stinks and is unsightly. But according to Oceana's VP, it also worsens the erosion of the beaches, and is bad for human health:
Janelle Chanona - Vice President, Oceana/Moderator
"But again, it's one more indicator that we are changing the natural environments, we always used to get sargassum but never at these levels so you look at what's changed. Well, the sea has gotten warmers, there's more stuff in it, there's more nutrients, there's more fertiliser, there's raw septic, there's a lot more things in it and it's creating the perfect environment conducive to this massive sargassum bloom so again it's really about looking at, well, if we don't like this much sargassum and if we hate what it's doing to our tourism product, then what can we be changing to make sure that what's coming out of the rivers, what they need to be instead of what they are now, and what are the things that we can do to help to mitigate to make sure that the environment isn't there. Sargassum also compounds the erosion that we're seeing along our beaches because when we're trying to remove it, we're taking out sand and that's compounding it, so that's one thing and yes, because there's so much organic matter within the sargassum that's floating in and all the plastic, I'm sure you've seen all the bits and pieces as well as the pieces of plastic in there, we can't treat it as a non-organic and that's actually creating, I think we've documented, some level of toxicity, it's caused impacts to marine species like turtles but I think we have also seen where residents along these more effected communities report not just their jewellery changing colour or their electronics being damaged, their computers, their TVs but also they're feeling that respiratory impact."
Chanona notes that while there is a Sargassum Taskforce, this issue is a conversation that needs to remain at the forefront.
