Climate change is hitting coral reefs hard, turning once vibrant diving and fishing locations into bleached shadows of their former glory.

This is putting in jeopardy millions of people’s livelihood.

Ariel Carlos joins fisherman in Palawan in the Western Philippines to see the damage that has been done.

The deafening sound of a running motorised pump boat makes it impossible to talk.

But this sound is music in the small village of Palawan in the Western Philippines. It means another day of fishing is underway.

The water is calm; there is just a slight eastern wind. Ramon Abrina makes his first anchor in the coral reef area.

His sunburned skin and callous hands show years of experience at sea. While carefully watching his nylon line he tells me times are tough.

“During the early years we got a lot of fish when our coral reefs were still unspoilt.�

The fish are not biting, for more than 15 minutes we sit and wait.

Ramon says it’s because there are more and more fisherman working in these waters.

But below his boat the coral reef shows traces of bleaching.

But Ramon is not aware that the dying coral beyond him is related to the warming waters caused by climate change.

But back on shore Angelique Songco, a dive master and director of the Tubbataha Reef, the largest marine park in the Philippines, tells me Palawan is intensely feeling the effects of global warming.

“In Tubbataha we had an experience in 1998. It was one of the first widespread incidents of coral bleaching in the world and we have suffered 21 per cent of the damage. And we are lucky because we have many areas in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean that have suffered one hundred percent coral damage. Can you imagine if all the reefs are gone?�

Lory Tan the World Wildlife Fund director in the Philippines says coral bleaching is taking place because of the warming waters.

“Hightened temperatures and changes in the El Nino and La Nina episodes are the manifestation of climate change. They could get shorter. They could get more intense. The interval between these episodes could become shorter… Coral bleaching could be more frequent and more widespread.�

This she adds will have a dramatic impact on the fishing industry world wide.

“Fishing is a weather dependent activity. Weather affects navigation, ability to travel, movement of species, the breading and spawning patterns, and productivity of fisheries areas, mangroves, and water temperature. It affects virtually all components of marine ecosystem. Therefore, weather patterns are changing when and where as well as how much people can fish.�

And small Islands she goes on will be the most affect.

“Because small-island ecosystems do not enjoy the wide range of land mass like has. You do not have major rivers… Palawan’s economy is so ecology dependent.�

NGO leader Cleofe Bernardino is deeply concerned about the future of poor fishing communities.

“That would be the day that Palawan will be doomed. As we say in the Filipino family, the poorest of the poor if they can’t eat fish anymore that’s the sign that we don’t have resources anymore.�

But Filipino environmentalists remain optimistic.

Diver Angelique Songco says closely monitoring the reefs is one way of combating the effects of climate change.

“We do our best to ensure the integrity of the Tubbataha Reefs. It’s a 10,000 hectare reef. Although there is not much we can do about coral bleaching because it’s the impact of climate change, we do our best to make the area resilient to changes. It’s like a person, if your immune system is very weak, you get diseases very easily, and if you’re strong then diseases bounce off of you or does not affect as much as the weak person.�

World Wildlife Fund country director Lory Tan says the fight against climate change is local and global.

“Climate change will rule at its own pace. We cannot solve this alone… Therefore, efforts such as watching the amount of energy we at our homes, the way we live our lives, the way we travel from point to point whether we use a car or SUV or bus. All these things that affect your life will be a common responsibility…As an organisation we hope to influence policies of nation, encourage things such as renewable energy bills…�

While at the grassroot level environmental lawyer Grizelda Anda is working with fisherman to try and save and regenerate the reefs.

“We work with people to establish watersheds and marine sanctuaries because sea grasses absorb carbon dioxide. Carbon sinks like trees and sea grasses are important. We work to establish protected areas and mobilize the community to protect the mangroves.�

Back on the fishing boats Isagani de Leon has finally caught some fish.

His catch is the same as yesterday he says— just enough to feed his family of five.

As I stand in the middle of Isagani’s boat, the mid-morning sun starts to burn our skin.

It is time for the lucky fishermen to go back to sell their excess catch to people waiting at the pier.

They are largely unaware of the threat global warming posses to their way of life.