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Marine heatwaves

Climate change

Ocean acidification

Pollution.Coral bleaching gravely threatens Belize's crucial tourism and fishing industries, which are economically dependent on the health of the Barrier Reef and are vital for local livelihoods. The degradation of the reef also weakens the natural coastal protection it provides against increasingly severe storms and erosion, leaving coastal communities more vulnerable. Furthermore, the loss of biodiversity and the reef's declining health jeopardize Belize's UNESCO World Heritage status, which would have negative long-term impacts on the nation's international standing and reputation as a prime ecotourism destination.

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Coral Bleaching NGSS Educational Presentation in Blue and Yellow Textured and Illustrative Style

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1. The frozen Pandora’s box: Reactivation of microbes in a warming cryosphere

For millennia, diverse microorganisms have remained dormant in the cryosphere - regions where water is frozen solid. Climate warming could reactivate and remobilize them into new environments, potentially altering microbial communities, introducing pathogens, or causing biodiversity loss as some might fail to survive thawing. This chapter explores these impacts, emphasizing the urgent need to preserve microbial biodiversity, as some species may aid in developing biotechnologies, disease therapies, and insights into climate and evolution.

2. Clearing the path: Barrier removal for river restoration

While dams have provided significant benefits, they have also disrupted indigenous and fishing communities while damaging river ecosystems. Removing dams and barriers is an increasingly accepted strategy to restore river health, and has gained momentum, particularly in Europe and North America, where large, older dams that have become unsafe, obsolete, or economically unviable are being removed. The practice has emerged as a vital strategy for ecological restoration -by reestablishing natural river connectivity, dam removal helps reverse ecosystem fragmentation, benefiting aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity while enhancing resilience against future environmental challenges.

3. Demographic challenge: Growing old in a changing environment

The world is undergoing significant demographic and environmental shifts, with the global population aged 65 and older projected to increase from 10% in 2024 to 16% by 2050 - primarily in low- and middle-income countries. Concurrently, climate change is exacerbating environmental risks such as heatwaves, air pollution, and floods, which disproportionately threaten older adults. Since environmental conditions critically influence health in later life, proactive urban planning must prioritize age-friendly, resilient cities with reduced pollution, improved accessibility, and expanded green spaces to safeguard this vulnerable population.

4. Forgotten but not gone: Remobilization of legacy pollutants by flood events

Many regions have faced an increase in the frequency and magnitude of severe storm events with extreme rainfalls and floods. While the direct effects of these floods on life and infrastructure are widely recognized, indirect outcomes are often overlooked. An underestimated issue is the remobilization and redistribution of chemical contaminants in river sediments by frequent and severe flooding, posing environmental challenges and socioeconomic repercussions.

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A major problem that happens in Belize city is flooding. And it's even worse during the rain, this happens due to improper drainage systems and the low lying area Belize city is located in. Many people have to through this and it's affecting, jobs, homes, transportation and education. We need to come up with ways to prevent any other flood in the future.

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Rising sea levels have a major threat to Belize, impacting its low-lying coastal areas with increased flooding, erosion, and storm surge, affecting communities and ecosystems. The country faces projected sea level increases of over 9 cm by 2050 and potentially much more by 2100, leading to the inundation of coastal land and damage to infrastructure like seawalls. In response, Belize is developing adaptation plans, focusing on coastal zone management, community engagement, and ecosystem restoration to build resilience.

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Rising sea levels

rising sea levels affect many coastal cities such as Belize this interrupts our main income “fish” and “tourism” and main food income global warming is the main source of rising sea levels so we can

.Save energy

use cleaner renewable sources

walk more often

keep the environment safe here's a website to better show it https://alejandro-moralez.my.canva.site/idk-why-it-says-alejandro-but-its-for-me-carlisle-bol

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Climate change: The main cause of increased erosion is climate change, which leads to rising sea levels and more intense storms.

Destructive coastal development: Infrastructure projects like piers and seawalls, especially in areas such as Ambergris Caye and Placencia, disrupt the natural movement of sediment along the coast. This can cause erosion on beaches.

Sand mining: extracting sand from beaches and rivers for construction removes the sediment supply, harming the coastline.

Destruction of natural barriers: The loss of mangroves, which act as crucial natural barriers, removes the roots that stabilize the sand that line the islands and coastal lands

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Rising Sea Levels

Rising sea levels refer to a rapid increase in the average height of the world’s oceans, mainly caused by melting glaciers and polar ice caps, and the thermal expansion of seawater as it warms. This situation leads to coastal flooding, erosion, and the loss of land in low-lying areas, threatening homes, farmland, and infrastructure such as homes or buildings. Also it damages ecosystems as saltwater intrudes into freshwater habitats, affecting species and resources. Economically, rising seas harm tourism, fisheries, and agriculture, while socially, they force people in vulnerable coastal regions to relocate, becoming climate refugees. This occurrence has a big impact on Belize by damaging our islands, causing water threats, and also communities in low lying areas. This can cause floods and can leave the average Belizeans homeless. To reduce this problem we can do simple things like reducing our carbon footprint and thinking more about the environment.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L5ZOzAFRNnuh2X58RTTXQHoqjcB1IsWh0fPKdxO4QO0/edit?usp=sharing

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Belize's low land level increases vulnerability to flooding due to frequent rainfall, poorly maintained drainage systems, limited government funding, and climate change. The country's low land level, near sea level, and rising sea levels further threaten low-lying areas, necessitating awareness and public participation.

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One of the problems is because Belize has low land level.

We are 1,124 meters above sea levels.

Frequent rain fall

Poor done drain system leading to water build up because government cheap

Climate change is one of the biggest problems

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Most problems are water-related, especially rising sea levels. Many stories describe Belize being submerged, suggesting that if trends continue, Belize could eventually disappear underwater. Sharing this message could make an impact depending on how it’s presented. Therefore I choose rising sea levels, I would need to know how to spread information in order to spread awareness.

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There are similarities and trends

with the mind map, like the

increasing amount of Rising Sea

Levels that have been mentioned,

being 15 out of 34 problems

specified on the index cards (more

than half). The story is that rising

sea levels are the main problem,

causing or worsening many of the

other climate problems on the

map. That makes it the most

important issue to share since it's

connected to so many other things.

For step two, I'm picking Rising

Sea Levels. I need to find out what

specific problems this is causing

right here in Belize and get the

facts on why it's happening to

begin with.

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☐ Step One

Look at the mind map with all climate
change issues.

Are there trends, similarities?

What are the stories that are emerging?

Which issue is worth sharing with
people?

☐ Step Two

pick one issue you are interested in
from the list and research further in
order to become the experts in that
field.

What more do you need to know to be
able to fully spread awareness of it?

Add a sticky note with the information.