[Coral-List] Alert Diver Article on proposed coral listing

[Ulf Erlingsson]

I suggest you do an energy budget for every activity you do. That will open you eyes. You mention polluting. Chemicals are produced by using a lot of energy. You mention clearcutting. Unless you cut down the trees with saws and axes and machetes, and transporting them out with only horses or other animals, you are using fossil fuels. And the food you eat is produced after plowing, harrow, harvesting with diesel-fueled tractors, and fertilizing with something that very likely is produced using a lot of energy. The amount of energy use that we see is not the major part. Energy use is everywhere in our society - and a lot of it is wasted.

Ulf Erlingsson

On 2013-05-14, at 14:37, mtupper wrote:

> Ulf Erlingsson wrote:
>  
> > I see several replies to my comment, but NOBODY mentions the core problem: We are depleting a limited natural resource at an unsustainable rate. 
> > 
> > Of course nobody wants to face this reality, because it impacts ALL OF US. 
> > 
> > So by denying it, WE ARE NO BETTER than the ones we criticize, the fisheries, the agricultural runoffers, etc. 
> > 
> > Let me state this clearly: OUR PRESENT SOCIETY IS FOUNDED ON AN UNSUSTAINABLE RATE OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION. 
> > 
> > That, and nothing else, is the CORE issue our civilization is facing. Deal with it.
>  
>  
> The CORE issue our civilization is dealing with is overpopulation. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels, the human race is likely capable of polluting, clearcutting, "runoffing", dewatering, fishing, and generally abusing this planet into oblivion. I think a lot of people like to choose their (least) favourite issue to deal with, but aren't they all synergistic to some degree? For example,might corals not be more susceptible to certain levels of pollutants if they are simultaneously dealing with thermal stress? Fish are certainly less resilient to overfishing when their habitat is also being destroyed by other activities (or by warming/acidification). There seems to be a view among many that climate is global but pollution, overharvesting, etc. are local problems. They are not only local problems. They are global problems too. You can find all kinds of nasties in the water hundreds of km from the nearest populated landmass. Fisheries all over the world are in decline. Other than polar regions, pretty much all the world's coastlines are inhabited to some degree - certainly most of the areas where coral reefs occur.
>  
> Anyway, when it comes to energy consumption, I think you would be more correct to say:
>  
> "That, and everything else, is the core issue our civilization is dealing with."
>  
> Cheers,
> Mark