National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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Balloons, sky lanterns harm the environment
Gamboa-Amante, Kitty (The Manila Times Publishing Corporation, 2019-01-10)
The spectacle of the symbolic releasing of balloons and night sky lanterns is, without a doubt, a beautiful sight to behold and has become increasingly popular at festivals, weddings and other celebrations across the world. For Filipinos, the event is oftentimes symbolic and can even be observed in occasions such as burials. But after traveling for long distances and falling to the ground or waters, the burn-out and plastic remnants from the lanterns and balloons may not only litter the earth and seas, but can also hurt livestock and marine animals.
Reef Alert
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc., 2016-10-09)
There is no way attention will be directed at the crying urgency of protecting the coral reefs unless we belabor the issue and repeat ourselves. At the rate coral reefs are being destroyed by human activity or damaged by bleaching due to global warming, it won’t be long before these “colorful gardens under the sea where marine life thrives” die off, never to be appreciated by future generations. Indeed, though the Philippines is “the richest place on earth” in terms of biodiversity, according to scientist Wilfredo Licuanan, he has warned that because of climate change, “we can lose our corals in a matter of weeks, not years.”