[Coral-List] Has the death of the Great Barrier Reef been greatly exaggerated??

Damien Beri beridl at g.cofc.edu
Tue Oct 18 16:09:38 EDT 2016


No this doesn't hurt or affect anything besides bring to attention the
people that it will "die" sooner than later, and so will the rest of the
worlds coral reefs.  The article does not explicitly say that every single
section of the great barrier reef is dead and gone and there is nothing
left, it exaggerates and already powerful massive die-off.

Younger generations didn't care, now they do….  The only ones who should be
complaining about the miss-use of the word "dead" are Australian
stakeholders who have something to loose in the tourism sector… which is a
huge chunk.

All I know is every person who explicitly explained them the severe details
of the bleaching event didn't quite get it… then they heard about that
article, and Eureka…. they get it now….

On Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 9:58 AM, Dennis Hubbard <dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu>
wrote:

> As I remember, there was a disclaimer that this was a "future" obituary. We
> have waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on our hands if we spend any time going
> back and forth on this one.
>
> Dennis
>
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2016 at 11:07 AM, Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >    Dear Doug,
> >    Yes, it seems that the article/obituary has set off a firestorm. I
> took
> > it
> >    as  satire, but it seems that many readers and scientific purists felt
> >    betrayed. Does it hurt legitimate science? Does it fuel indifference
> and
> >    hopelessness?  I'm not sure, but it did get people talking about the
> > state
> >    of coral reefs and I believe that's better than neglect.. After all,
> the
> >    higher purpose of satire is to be sure to infuse it with "the intent
> of
> >    shaming  individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into
> >    improvement". You can't deny that in that sense, this is exactly what
> > the
> >    coral doctor ordered.
> >    Regards, Steve
> >    ---Original Message-----
> >
> >      >From: Douglas Fenner
> >      >Sent: Oct 17, 2016 4:19 AM
> >      >To: coral list
> >      >Subject: [Coral-List] Has the death of the Great Barrier Reef been
> >      greatly exaggerated??
> >      >
> >      >Here's the piece that seems to have started this debate off:
> >      >
> >      >Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 million BC- 2016)
> >      >
> >      >http://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-
> > barrier-reef-25-milli
> >      on-bc-2016
> >      >
> >      >A quick search on "is the Great Barrier Reef dead" produced a
> myriad
> > of
> >      >hits, including:
> >      >
> >      >Great Barrier Reef obituary goes viral, to the horror of
> scientists.
> >      >
> >      >http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-take-on-
> > great-barrier-reef
> >      -obituary_us_57fff8f1e4b0162c043b068f
> >      >?
> >      >
> >      >An irresponsible obituary for the Great Barrier Reef has gone
> viral-
> >      here's
> >      >what's actually going on.
> >      >
> >      >http://www.businessinsider.com/coral-bleaching-viral-
> > obituary-what-actual
> >      ly-going-on-2016-10
> >      >
> >      >The Great Barrier Reef isn't dead, in spite of its viral obituary
> >      >
> >      >https://www.yahoo..com/news/great-barrier-reef-isnt-dead-
> > 134129631.html
> >      >
> >      >and many more.
> >      >
> >      >Cheers, Doug
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >--
> >      >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
> >      >subscription to the journal Coral Reefs, and there are discounts
> for
> > pdf
> >      >subscriptions and developing countries. Coral Reefs is the only
> > journal
> >      >that is ALL coral reef articles, and it has amazingly LOW prices
> > compared
> >      >to other journals. Check it out! www.fit.edu/isrs/
> >      >
> >      >"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.
> >      >
> >      >Policy: hasten the end of dated fossil-fuel subsidies
> >      >http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v538/n7624/full/
> > 538171c.html?WT.ec_i
> >      d=NATURE-20161013&spMailingID=52515861&spUserID=
> > MjA1NTA3MjA0OQS2&spJobID=1
> >      022286029&spReportId=MTAyMjI4NjAyOQS2
> >      >
> >      >Visuallizing the warmest August in 136 years.
> >      >http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2016/
> > 09/12/heres-how-
> >      the-warmest-august-in-136-years-looks-in-chart-form/
> >      >
> >      >website: http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
> >      >
> >      >blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
> >      >_______________________________________________
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> >      >Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >      >http://coral.aoml..noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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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*"
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