[Coral-List] Save the reefs?

[John Ware]

Michael,

Sorry for the typo.  My #2 should have said "9 billion pounds" not "9 
billion tons".

I guess I had tons on my mind.

My numbers are correct after that.

John

On 1/9/2015 6:52 AM, Michael Burton - NOAA Federal wrote:
> I can't help but notice, there is a big difference between 9 billion 
> pounds vs. 9 billion tons....are we preventing pounds or tons?  , i 
> don't know if one over the other changes the conclusion dramatically, 
> but some clarification as to which is which would be 
> appreciated....thanks...mlb
>
> On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 10:49 AM, John Ware <jware at erols.com 
> <mailto:jware at erols.com>> wrote:
>
>     Peter et al,
>
>     As important as all the information you have provided about the
>     fate of
>     coral reefs is, I see some fundamental problems - not with you or your
>     information - but about how to get the message across.
>
>     (BTW: Following is extracted from a presentation I gave at
>     International
>     Congress on Conservation Biology, 2013).)
>
>     In the famous words of Cool Hand Luke (1967): "What we have here is
>     failure to communicate".
>
>     To my way of thinking, there are a couple of rules to be followed for
>     successful communication:
>
>     1- Have something to say.
>     2- Say it in terms intelligible to your audience.
>
>     The example I used was based on the following quote:
>
>       "If every American home replaced just one light bulb with a
>     light bulb
>     that's earned the ENERGY STAR, we would ... prevent 9 billion
>     pounds of
>     greenhouse gas emissions per year."
>
>     The public response is: So what?  Sounds like a big number, but is it?
>
>     I proceeded to show the following "facts" (which could be argued):
>
>     1- Each US ton of CO2 emitted has killed ~0.5 ft**2 of coral reef.
>
>     2- The 9 billion tons equates to about 40+ US football fields of coral
>     reef/yr.
>
>     3- American kill (via GHG emissions) ~0.1% of world's coral reefs/yr.
>
>     4- World total is almost 1%/yr.
>
>     So the message is put in terms the average person can understand.
>
>     HOWEVER, it begs the question: Why should the average person be
>     interested in saving coral reefs?  The answer better not be that they
>     are really pretty and have nice fish, but that is the way that
>     Americans
>     probably view coral reefs.
>
>     John
>
>     --
>      *************************************************************
>          *      *
>          *                      John R. Ware, PhD     *
>          *                         President      *
>          *                      SeaServices, LLC      *
>          *                     302 N. Mule Deer Pt.     *
>          *                    Payson, AZ 85541, USA     *
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>          * jware at erols.com <mailto:jware at erols.com>             *
>          * http://www.seaservices.org               *
>          *      *
>          *                   Member of the Council:     *
>          *            International Society for Reef Studies      *
>          *                                          _     *
>          *                                         |      *
>          *  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
>          *                                        _|_     *
>          *                                       | _ |      *
>          *        _______________________________|   |________      *
>          *     |\/__       Untainted by Technology            \     *
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>
>     If you are a coral-reef scientist and you are not a member
>     of the International Society for Reef Studies, then
>     shame on you.
>     Become a member of the International Society for Reef Studies
>     http://www.coralreefs.org
>
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-- 
     *************************************************************
     *                                                           *
     *                      John R. Ware, PhD                    *
     *                         President                         *
     *                      SeaServices, LLC                     *
     *                     302 N. Mule Deer Pt.                  *
     *                    Payson, AZ 85541, USA                  *
     *                       928 478-6358                        *
     *                      jware at erols.com                      *
     *                 http://www.seaservices.org                *
     *                                                           *
     *                   Member of the Council:                  *
     *            International Society for Reef Studies         *
     *                                          _                *
     *                                         |                 *
     *   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
     *                                        _|_                *
     *                                       | _ |               *
     *        _______________________________|   |________       *
     *     |\/__       Untainted by Technology            \      *
     *     |/\____________________________________________/      *
     *************************************************************

If you are a coral-reef scientist and you are not a member
of the International Society for Reef Studies, then
shame on you.
Become a member of the International Society for Reef Studies
http://www.coralreefs.org