WEATHER AND POLLUTION

Recently, a report of extensive coral bleaching off the coast of Australia caused new alarm about the effects of global warming. 

Extreme sea temperatures have long been recognized as causative, but energy executives insisted that they had found the real agent.  According to them, the coral bleaching was caused by a housekeeper who works at a home along the shore where the reef was spotted. 

At first, their claim was scoffed at, but they produced the housekeeper, who stated, “I guess I’m to blame.  I’ve used Clorox to bleach my boss’s white shirts for years.  I guess some got into the water.” 

Environmentalists were outraged and insisted she could not be entirely to blame, since the bleaching was far more widespread than her laundry water could possibly account for. 

As one environmentalist stated, “This ongoing tragedy is not all due to one housekeeper’s use of Clorox, and the sooner we face that, the sooner we’ll once again see this reef in living color."

The housekeeper has sworn never to use Clorox again, and the energy execs are confident that in time the reef will heal itself. But environmentalists remain skeptical.

As usual, many years will be required to determine if global warming has played a significant role.

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