[Coral-List] Observations of current bleaching impacts in Pacific Islands

[Mark Eakin]

All,

Please watch for an article we will have coming out in this month’s issue of Reef Encounter. It will have a broad summary of the timeline of the current global bleaching event. It will also come out as a web page on http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov <http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/> shortly.

I will also be speaking on this at the ICRS next month.

Cheers,
Mark

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C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov
Twitter: @CoralReefWatch	FB: Coral Reef Watch

NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (NCWCP)
5830 University Research Ct., E/RA32
College Park, MD 20740
Office: (301) 683-3320     Fax: (301) 683-3301
Mobile: (301) 502-8608    SOCD Office: (301) 683-3300

“We all know that human activities are changing the atmosphere in unexpected and in unprecedented ways...Together, we have a responsibility to ourselves and the generations to come to fulfill our stewardship obligations." 
President George H.W. Bush, February 5 1990

> On May 3, 2016, at 6:04 PM, arthur <webbarthur at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello Coral-List,
> 
> Like everyone here I've watched with great concern as the current 
> bleaching event has unfolded. Reading the reviews out of NOAA (thanks so 
> much for the excellent information and services you continue to provide) 
> and reading the survey updates from our colleagues working in the Great 
> Barrier Reef leaves me wondering how widespread and bad things are in my 
> "back-yard", the Pacific Islands region (I'm based in Tarawa). From what 
> I can tell it seems to have affected countries mostly near and north of 
> the equator but there is so little quantitative data or information on 
> spatial extent and severity of impacts I'm unsure if this is correct? In 
> many cases it's only possible to assume the extent and level of impacts 
> based on remotely sensed SST data.
> 
> Questions of reef system function, persistence and productivity are for 
> us pivotal to the very survival of whole communities, ways of life and 
> indeed the persistence of many of our islands as habitable environments. 
> I'm trying to gather quantitative information regarding observations 
> from the Pacific region on the current event? I've read some material 
> from the Hawaiian group, Marshall Islands and Guam but much is anecdotal 
> or stories in the popular media, etc. All up I'm struggling to find 
> sound quantitative studies for the Pacific Islands.
> 
> Can anyone highlight studies or research in the region regarding the 
> current event, any information or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Arthur
> __________________________________________
> 
> Dr Arthur Webb
> Senior Fellow - ANCORS
> University of Wollongong
> 
> webbarthur at gmail.com
> http://ancors.uow.edu.au/index.html
> 
> 
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