[Coral-List] CO2 and the inconvenient truth

Wed Nov 1 14:26:27 EST 2006

Dear James and listers

In terms of what coral managers/scientists can do with specific reference to
"coral reef" management, perhaps those are the best actions!? 

However, in terms of what coral reef managers/scientists should do that would
have the most impact, it would be to i) beef up the awareness of the
potential impending tragedy facing coral reefs (and the millions of people
that rely on their ecosystem goods and services)to the general public and key
decision-makers.  

and ii) promote the actions proposed in the recent "Stern Review on the
Economics of Climate Change".  This was prepared by Sir Nicholas Stern
(former World Bank Chief Economist) for the UK Government (see link for the
Executive Summary). The fate of corals gets a mention in the Figure on page
v.

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/8AC/F7/Executive_Summary.pdf

Fotunately, the UK Government is planning to take a lead on the matter (see
link below).  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6096084.stm

Lets hope other Governments will work together to follow suit.  As
highlighted at the recent ITMEMS 3 conference, that will only happen if
politicians are fully aware of the true economic consequences and voters make
it an important issue!

I hope this helps
James

James Spurgeon
(Coral reef economist)
Director of Environmental Economics

Jacobs
Jacobs House
Reading
England
RG6 1BL
Tel: +44 (0)118 963 5346
Fax: +44 (0)118 926 3888 
E-mail: james.spurgeon at jacobs.com 
Web: www.jacobs.com
www.jacobsbabtie.com

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Dr. James M
Cervino
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 2:42 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [Coral-List] CO2 and the inconvenient truth

Dear Coral Ecologists, Physiologists, and Pathologists,

Since this is a discussion forum that focuses on the latest issues 
affecting coral reef health I have a consensus question pertaining to 
this shocking new report titled NEW CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT GUIDE 
PROVIDES STRATEGIES  TO CONSERVE WORLD'S CORAL REEFS that was 
published on 10-11-2006 by various agencies.

I am giving a presentation tonight in NYC at 4pm focusing on thermal 
coral reef bleaching, before the showing of the Al Gore Film titled 
'An Inconvenient Truth'.  I have a few questions for all of the 
dedicated scientists on this list regarding this latest strategy that 
is supposed to "increase our understanding of the phenomenon of coral 
bleaching".

#1) Knowing that CO2 and other heat trapping gasses produced by the 
worlds wealthiest countries are responsible for the massive heat 
stroke corals are undergoing in the last 25 years is it honest to 
implement at strategy for the world to follow that will simply not 
work?

When asked tonight if the 3 following suggestions below will help 
save the worlds reefs what shall I say:

The Repor Says:
(1) increase observations of reef condition before, during and after 
bleaching to increase information and understanding of impacts and 
areas that may be especially resistant to bleaching, (2) reduce 
stressors (e.g., pollution, human use) on reefs during severe 
bleaching events to help corals survive the event, and (3) design and 
implement reef management strategies to support reef recovery and 
resilience, including reducing land- based pollution and protecting 
coral areas that may resist bleaching and serve as sources of coral 
larvae for "reseeding" reefs.  

#2) Why are we not speaking out against this report? Is it out fear 
of not getting funding from federal agencies?  Are we so afraid to 
speak the Inconvenient Truth and say that the only way to save corals 
from heat stroke is to DRASTICALLY reduce carbon emissions beyond the 
Kyoto Protocol? I respect James Hansen (formally at NASA) for 
speaking up and telling the real Inconvenient Truth Regarding global 
warming!  Can the coral reef scientists speak out and say that this 
federal report is spurious in nature? 

#3) According to strategy#3 of the report : Will the USA begin to 
reduce the large amounts of sewage and fertilizers that are spilling 
out into the reefs?  Can someone point me in the direction of this 
new amazing plan that is part of a federally funded program that 
begins to implement tertiary treatment in South Florida and the US 
Virgin Islands?

Since I was part of a large population that helped fund this federal 
report from the tax dollars deducted from our checks it is not honest 
to say that if we follow these suggestions from this federally funded 
report that it will help corals survive climate change ? We need to 
protest this report.

I needed this report to jump start my presentation prep, James

Oct. 11, 2006   
NEW CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT GUIDE PROVIDES STRATEGIES  TO CONSERVE 
WORLD'S CORAL REEFS

Innovative strategies to conserve the world's coral reefs are 
included in a new guide released today by NOAA, the Australian Great 
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and The World Conservation Union 
(IUCN). "A Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching" will provide 
coral reef managers with the latest scientific information on the 
causes of coral bleaching and new management strategies for 
responding to this significant threat to coral reef ecosystems.  

The reef manager's guide, developed in partnership with the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and 
other organizations, grew out of a 2002 resolution by the U.S. Coral 
Reef Task Force calling for development of information and tools for 
coral reef managers to address threats from coral bleaching. The reef 
manager's guide can be found online at www.coralreef.noaa.gov and 
includes contributions from over 50 experts in coral bleaching and 
coral reef management. 

  "By implementing actions suggested in the guide, coral reef managers 
are in a unique position to increase our understanding of the 
phenomenon of coral bleaching, to take meaningful action during a 
bleaching event, and to develop strategies to support the natural 
resilience of reefs in the face of long-term changes in climate," 
said David Kennedy, manager of NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation 
Program, which helped produce the guide.

  The reef manager's guide reviews management actions that can help 
restore and maintain resilience of coral reef ecosystems. This review 
draws on a growing body of research on ways to support the ability of 
coral reef ecosystems to survive and recover from bleaching events. 
The reef manager's guide includes specific guidance and case studies 
on how to prepare bleaching response plans, assess impacts from 
bleaching, engage the public, manage activities that may  impact 
reefs during bleaching events, identify resilient reef areas, and 
incorporate information regarding reef resilience into marine 
protected area design.

The reef manager's guide also supports a major goal of the U.S. 
Administration's Climate Change Science Program - to "Understand the 
sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed 
ecosystems and human systems to climate and related global changes" - 
by providing managers with options for sustaining and improving 
ecological systems and related goods and services, given projected 
global changes.  

-2-

The guide identifies three key actions reef managers can take to help 
reefs survive and recover from mass bleaching events:  (1) increase 
observations of reef condition before, during and after bleaching to 
increase information and understanding of impacts and areas that may 
be especially resistant to bleaching, (2) reduce stressors (e.g., 
pollution, human use) on reefs during severe bleaching events to help 
corals survive the event, and (3) design and implement reef 
management strategies to support reef recovery and resilience, 
including reducing land- based pollution and protecting coral areas 
that may resist bleaching and serve as sources of coral larvae for 
"reseeding" reefs.  

-- 
**************************************************
Dr. James M. Cervino, MS, Ph.D.
Marine Pathology
Department of Biological & Health Sciences
Pace University New York NYC
Phone: (917) 620-5287
Web site: http://www.globalcoral.org
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