HI Liam - welcome to Has2BGreen This group is about learning about climate change - I have been involved for years and "kind og knew" what I was talking about, but decided that kind of was not good enough. So I am exploring the subject deeply - attempting to work out not only the science but the mechanisms behind the issue of climate change and the full impact that it is having on the world's ecology and our desire to survive. I want to have the answers for my kids, for people I speak to, and when I run for government again (if that is what happens), I want to know the most effective way to help make change happen. So this is an exploration and a sharing of what I find. If you see something that doesn't make sense, or you have a different view, I would love to hear it and explore it further. Please, everyone, welcome Liam.

May we all look after this creation called Earth

This year, I travelled to Hamilton Island in Australia to see what was left of the Great Barrier Reef. I expected to see a mix: areas of healthy reef, patches of bleached coral, confused fish moving between them. Instead, what we found looked like a lunar landscape. The reef was dead — reduced to rubble and dust on the sea floor. There were a few corals left. Around them swam a few dozen brightly coloured fish. My kids didn’t know this wasn’t normal. They were delighted. I watched them, feeling distraught, horrified, and quietly terrified. In that overheated water, with the air hot above us and sea levels rising, I had a sudden thought I couldn’t shake: this might be the last time I ever see a coral reef. I took photos with a cheap underwater camera and had to wait weeks for them to come back. When they did, they were blurred and dull. I tossed them aside — too depressing to look at. A couple of days later, something clicked. The photos weren’t poor quality. They were accurate. The water was full of particles. The sea floor really was that dull grey-green. Without the coral — and the billions of organisms that live within a healthy reef — nothing was cleaning the water anymore. Dirt, dust, organic matter, all suspended. The system had lost its workers. Years earlier, while training as an architect, I worked on a project designing an oyster-farming community on the Norfolk coast. As part of that, I learned how oysters work — and how astonishingly effective they are at cleaning water. The Norfolk coast once held billions of oysters. For centuries they were cheap food, eaten in huge quantities by Londoners. As stocks were over-exploited, numbers collapsed. Oysters went from poor man’s food to luxury — but something else disappeared too. Billions of tiny workers stopped cleaning the sea. Water quality declined. Life retreated. Now, in the UK, in New York, and elsewhere, people are trying to bring oysters back — not just as food, but as function. To restore water quality. To allow ecosystems to recover. To let life return to places that have slipped into dead zones.

1. Once upon a time, the water cleaned itself. Before we dredged, polluted, and overharvested our coasts, oysters formed vast reefs along shorelines like Norfolk’s. They weren’t just food. They were infrastructure. Each oyster filtered litres of water every hour, quietly removing excess nutrients and particles. Clearer water meant healthier seagrass, more fish, and resilient coastlines. The system worked — without machines, chemicals, or management plans. 2. Then we removed the cleaners and blamed the water. As oyster populations collapsed, the water turned murkier. Algae blooms increased. Biodiversity dropped. We responded with treatment plants, restrictions, and expensive fixes — all while missing what had changed. The problem wasn’t just pollution. It was the loss of the living system that handled pollution. We didn’t just lose oysters. We lost a function. 3. Now we’re learning how to let nature do the work again. The Norfolk oyster restoration project isn’t nostalgic — it’s practical. By restoring oysters, we restore a process: filtration, balance, resilience. The oysters don’t argue. They don’t need incentives. They just get on with the job, every hour of every day. Sometimes the most advanced solution isn’t new technology — it’s remembering how the system used to work, and stepping out of the way. Why this matters This isn’t just a story about oysters. It’s a reminder that many of our environmental “problems” are really missing systems. When we restore the system, the benefits cascade. Here is someone restoring oysters that once numbered in the millions off the Norfolk coast in England. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/dec/21/norfolk-coast-oysters-project

Hi Kirsten! To everyone, Kirsten runs the Field, Farm & Forest Living Skool group, which covers reconnecting with the seasons for eating habits. This issue is huge when it comes to reducing "food miles" - the distance our food travels to reach our tables. If you eat seasonally, you are eating food that is grown locally, which supports local growers and reduces CO2 emissions. To do this, you need to know what grows in each season and what to cook with what you can find. Kirsten covers all of that and the connection between what you eat and your health. Kisten, please feel free to correct me! And please tell us where you are from and your level of engagement with solving the Climate Crisis.