News from a Changing Planet -- This Week on Earth #4

Protecting the oceans -- turns out it's good for people too! Plus batteries to the rescue, the incredible PM of Barbados, and more!

Damaged coral reef south of Cancun in the study area. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

PROTECTING THE OCEAN: TURNS OUT IT’S A GOOD IDEA. A study shows that protecting marine life helps people too. Huge surprise!

A study in Nature Sustainability this week found that protecting coastal regions from fishing, mining and other developments helps the people who live nearby, providing more household wealth and food security.

The study looked at the Mesoamerican coral reef system, which spans about 600 miles from Mexico south to Honduras.

A map of the study area Credit Smithsonian Institution

“The most important finding for me is that marine-protected areas can achieve these co-benefits” for both humans and fish, Steven Canty, a marine biologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and one of the study’s authors, told the New York Times.

And the UN officially adopted the world’s first treaty to protect the high seas and conserve biodiversity in international waters on Monday, which was agreed upon by more than 100 countries in March.

In approving the text, member states have "pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gueterres said in a statement.

YOU TOO COULD SAVE THE GRID: “Virtual power plants,” aka networks of residential batteries, are finally big enough to help save the grid during peak demand (heat waves, etc) this summer.