[Coral-List] Follow the Money -> Re: corals will survive alkalinity shift

[Douglas Fenner]

The newly discovered mechanism didn't do much good for the corals in the Fine study where their skeletons completely dissolved but the polyps survived, or the corals in New Guinea near volcanic vents that release CO2 bubbles underwater which change the pH (Fabricius et al.).  But will be interesting to read this new article.  

  Cheers,  Doug


Fabricius,
K.E.; Langdon, C.; Uthicke, S.; Humphrey, C.; Noonan, S.; De’ath, G.; Okazaki,
R.; Muehllehner, N.; Glas, M.; Lough, J.M. Losers and winners in coral reefs
acclimatized to elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. Nature Climate
Change 2011.

Fine, M., Tchernov, D.  2007.  Scleractinian coral species
survive and recover from decalcification.  Science 315: 1811.



________________________________
 From: Ian Zink <izink at rsmas.miami.edu>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov 
Sent: Wednesday, April 4, 2012 6:35 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] Follow the Money -> Re: corals will survive alkalinity shift
 
Eugene,
   Thank you for passing on this interesting article.

  A quick look at the editorial board etc. on the ENN website states 
Lincoln Atkin Norton is the Chairman of the Board for ENN:
http://www.enn.com/static/enn_staff

Lincoln Atkin Norton is "..currently...the owner and CEO of /The 
Environmental News Network <http://www.enn.com/>/"  reported in this 
article to be "one of the most respected environmental news sources on 
the web." He also "...is an entrepreneur in corporate America and a 
vocal proponent..."
http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=4929

He also seems to have some ties to big business (which generally follow 
the line of "business as usual"):
"Lincoln Norton has started a number of businesses as an entrepreneur in 
the fields of executive education, real estate development, computer 
software and the Internet. He is currently the Founder and Chairman of 
The Corporate University, Inc. a membership organization that evaluates 
the best of the best of development activities for managers and 
executives in large companies around the world. Its 260 corporate 
members include companies like Boeing, Chevron, Ford, SBC, Sprint and 
Walt Disney."
http://www.hartleyfarms.com/hfpages/biolnorton.htm


Furthermore, it seems that the article takes comments and conclusions 
from the authors out of context (I only quickly read the abstract, and 
see obvious spin differences):
www..nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1473.html

It is great that we have noted that a mechanism which allows corals to 
continue to calcify under more acidic conditions.  What does this mean 
for bioenergetics of a living coral colony which must (most likely I 
would assume) allocate more energy towards calcification rather than 
other functions, such as reproductive growth? Even if the living tissue 
of a coral can calcify under more acidic conditions, what will happen to 
a living colonies' base if acidic waters are able to dissolve it?  Does 
this new mechanism mean living corals will be able to handle this threat 
and stressor along with continued increases in human population, sewage 
outfall (bacterial/viral diseases), increases coastal eutrophication, 
increased fisheries pressure and modification of reef 
ecosystems/communities?

Though the article does highlight some issues with the "allegedly 
raising the planet's natural temperature, carbon dioxide is turning the 
world's oceans more acidic" problem, it seems the intent of the article 
is to propagandize away these concerns.

Follow the money.

<)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><  <)))><

  Ian C. Zink
  Research Associate
  Cooperative Institute for Marine&  Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS)
  U. of Miami - Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS)
  4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
  Miami, FL 33149
  office: 305-421-4146
  cell: 603-498-3988
  email: izink at rsmas.miami.edu


On 4/4/2012 10:07 AM, Eugene Shinn wrote:
>   Nature Climate Change
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