[Coral-List] A World without Coral Reefs?

[Dennis Hubbard]

Phil:

Wow, what a great poster! Do you have this in a Powerpoint format or
something else where I could show the slides to a class? The resolution
would not hold up from the jpg.

Cheers,

Dennis


On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Phillip Dustan <phil.dustan at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Dennis,
>  Your post reminded me of a poster I assembled in 2004 based on Sir
> Nicholas Nuttalls campaign to save the groupers in the Bahamas. He used
> "Imagine the Bahamas without grouper" which I turned into  Imagine the Keys
> without corals?
> Sad to say it's just about happened................
>  Here's the Dropbox url
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/dbe9u1a2a6cxnsh/Imagine%20the%20Keys%20without%20corals%20poster.jpg
>
> All the best
>   Phil
>
>
> *"When one tugs at a single thing in nature *
> *he finds it attached to the rest of the world."*
> *   John Muir*
>
> Phillip Dustan PhD
> Department of Biology
> College of Charleston, SC
> Charleston SC  29424
> 843-953-8086 office
> 843-224-3321 (mobile)
>
>
> On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 12:31 PM, Dennis Hubbard <
> dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu> wrote:
>
>> Steve raises an important point that I've been wrestling with for the past
>> five years or so every time I convene my *Biology, Geology and Politics of
>> Coral Reefs* course; at least one student has asked me this very question
>> every time I teach it.
>>
>> If my understanding of the consensus is correct, even in the most
>> optimistic of scenarios (a 50% reduction of 1990 emissions levels by early
>> to mid century), we'll be seeing CO2 levels at least in the mid-400s and
>> then will probably not see numbers below that in the lifetime of our
>> youngest contributor.
>>
>> I wouldn't advocate for just "facing reality" as this makes it too easy
>> for
>> anyone to use this as an excuse to do nothing - and many of the proposed
>> measures will probably have at least collateral environmental benefits
>> even
>> if
>> corals aren't among the recipients. So, I would ask a modified version of
>> Steve's question. If we do feel that reefs as we know (knew?) them are not
>> likely in the future, then 1) how do we either triage what to save (I
>> argue
>> against this as it's the same hubris that got us to this point), or 2) how
>> do we determine a strategy that focuses on the things that are most likely
>> to be key ecological elements in the future (note, I use the word
>> "elements" in favor of "species" on purpose).
>>
>> Just to make a wild projection.... we won't reach consensus.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 3:13 PM, Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >    Dear Listers,
>> >    I hate to put this out there, but I'm beginning to wonder if I've
>> been
>> >    kidding myself.
>> >    I've been collaborating with others in an effort to urge the diving
>> > industry
>> >    to openly address the issue of local and global threats to coral
>> reefs
>> >    including an honest assessment of the pending impacts of climate
>> > change. In
>> >    doing  so  I've  found  it necessary to tread carefully in that
>> strong
>> >    resistance remains intact throughout the industry at just the mention
>> > of the
>> >    term climate change.
>> >    But that's not really my focus at this point. What I want to know is
>> > this:
>> >    Are efforts to forestall or mitigate the impacts of climate change on
>> > coral
>> >    reef ecosystems already past the point being practical? Are efforts
>> like
>> >    last  year's  consensus  statement  from  the  ICRS  just based on
>> the
>> >    institutional inertia of conservationists who value hope over truth
>> and
>> >    scientists who can't see the reefs for the corals? Am I (are we)
>> > spreading
>> >    false beliefs and misdirecting efforts by persisting that coral reefs
>> > have a
>> >    future rather than urging that we begin to address the greater
>> fallout
>> > from
>> >    their inevitable collapse?
>> >    I'm honestly beginning to wonder.
>> >    Regards,
>> >     Steve
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Coral-List mailing list
>> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dennis Hubbard
>> Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
>> (440) 775-8346
>>
>> * "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
>>  Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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>>
>
>


-- 
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"