[Coral-List] Reef scientists benefit from global change?

[Douglas Fenner]

        Yes, Gene, coral reef researchers and managers benefit from climate
change, global warming, and ocean acidification.  They also benefit from
sediment runoff, nutrient runoff, overfishing, diseases, and a long list of
other things that damage reefs.  Also, doctors benefit from diseases, as do
public health workers.  Defense industries and the military benefit from
war and the threat of war.  Police benefit from crime.  Firefighters
benefit from fires.  Environmental Protection Agency workers benefit from
toxic chemicals, as do the chemists who invent the chemicals and the
companies that produce them.  Geologists benefit from oil, minerals, etc.,
as do the companies that pump or mine them and sell them and cleanup
workers benefit from oil spills, toxic mine wastes and the like.

          If you believe what the article says about the unreliability of
science, you'd better not trust your life to fly on an airplane or drive a
car, better not go to a doctor when you get sick (better to go to a faith
healer!), better not take any antibiotics or get any immunizations, better
not eat any food grown with fertilizers or depend on a military that uses
science, or anything else based on science.  Why are you using a computer?
If you use the products of science like these and trust your life to them,
does that indicate you really believe what the article claims about science?

         If you really believed what the article says, why did you spend
your life doing science?  Your findings can't be replicated?  Did you waste
your life?  Is that what you're saying?  If so, I don't believe it, and I
rather doubt you do either.

        I notice that the author bases a lot of his arguments on scientific
studies of rates of replication, scientific fraud, etc.  I note that these
were all done by scientists, and appear to be part of an effort by some
scientists to correct science, yet the author dismisses the ability of
science to self-correct.  I wonder if many readers realize that if the
author is correct, those studies have a high probability of being wrong??
He seems to accept studies he likes yet say that all the other studies have
a high probability of being wrong because of the studies he likes, and
doesn't mention that the studies he likes could be wrong.  Seems a bit
selective to me.



        I'm sure all those who don't like particular findings of science
will find this article comforting.  Like those who don't like
immunizations, and those who like the long list of pseudosciences, those
who love crystals, pyramid powers, creation science, various superstitions
and urban myths and that humans causing climate change is a hoax, evolution
is all wrong, the sun revolves around the earth, the earth is flat, and a
myriad of other things.  Many other political websites are suddenly
referring to this article, it seems to fills a need to confirm those
beliefs.  I note that the web site that published this article is a
religious web site.  Good place to get your science?  This article does
raise real issues, but it appears to be an artful exercise in
cherry-picking negative examples, and a good example of propaganda which
will be lauded by those who don't like some of the findings of science.



         Cheers,  Doug

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 9:22 AM, Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
wrote:

> Of Course reef scientists benefit from global change...as do many
> others. The following website article explains a lot about science,
> bandwagons, tenure, funding and paradigms. I could not find anything in
> this article that I have not seen first hand within universities and
> government agencies.  Reef scientists are likely little different from
> all the other science tribes. Gene
>
> http://www.firstthings.com/article/2016/05/scientific-regress
>
> --
>
>
> No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
> E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
> University of South Florida
> College of Marine Science Room 221A
> 140 Seventh Avenue South
> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
> <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
> Tel 727 553-1158
> ---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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>



-- 
Douglas Fenner
Contractor for NOAA NMFS, and consultant
"have regulator, will travel"
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

phone 1 684 622-7084

Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
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"Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim Beever.
  "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts."-
Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The political hurdles facing a carbon tax- and how to overcome them.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/26/11470804/carbon-tax-political-constraints

Earth's hot streak continues for a record 11 months.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/earths-hot-streak-continues-record-152700358.html

Solar can power more than 100 times America's current electricity needs, a
new report finds

http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs/solar-can-power-more-than-100-times-americas-current-electricity-needs-new-report-finds

website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner

blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope