[Coral-List] Has the death of the Great Barrier Reef been greatly exaggerated??
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Wed Oct 19 14:03:43 EDT 2016
Dear Halard,
Although it was a bit disconcerting to hear that your students did not
recognize the satirical nature of the article/obituary in Outside Magazine
([1]https://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-barrier-reef-25-mil
lion-bc-2016), it seems to have presented a great teaching opportunity.
I would start out by asking them if they believed that the last paragraph of
the obituary was true based on their current knowledge of the state of the
world's coral reefs. Here is what it said: "The Great Barrier Reef was
predeceased by the South Pacific’s Coral Triangle, the Florida Reef off the
Florida Keys, and most other coral reefs on earth. It is survived by the
remnants of the Belize Barrier Reef and some deepwater corals". If they know
a little about coral reefs they might be able to pick up on the sarcasm and
then you could expand on to the real intent of the piece. As to what the
appropriate response to the obituary should be, that is the big question. As
I see it, the message emanating from the marine sciences today is somewhat
in need of clarification. The general public if coral- conscious hears about
many issues that are adversely affecting coral reefs. The lionfish invasion,
marine debris, sunscreen and even diver interactions with the reef are all
problematic, but are these issues being presented in the proper context? If
someone frames any of these problems as "life threatening" to the reefs
should they be corrected or reinforced? I am of the mind that believes that
threats to the reefs ought to be prioritized with climate change, land-based
pollutants and over-fishing to be emphasized, but I leave it to the experts
(many listers included) to provide guidance and insight on that. So if this
article deserves a reprimand, what exactly is the correct message that we
should be putting out there in order to ensure that the dramatic and
sensationalized GBR obituary remains a total misrepresentation of the facts?
Regards, Steve
Sent from my iPad
On Oct 18, 2016, at 3:49 PM, Lescinsky, Halard
<[2]hlescinsky at otterbein..edu> wrote:
The article in question was featured prominently on Facebook, and was
widely distributed and read by many people with little interest or
knowledge about reefs. My experience was that over the weekend I was with
a group of friends and was asked out of the blue if the it was true the
Great Barrier Reef had died.. The conversation stopped as many in the group
had also heard this and truly want to know. I was a little perplexed not
having known the origin of the rumor, but filled in the background about El
Nino and bleaching, and the difference between dead coral and the
structural reef and its inhabitants. Monday morning I caught up on Coral
List and sent a rebuttal link to a couple of my friends one of who texted
back "Good. That makes me feel better" . Today I taught two sections
of my general ed science course on Coral Reefs and before I had even
started the first lecture a student had approached me to ask if it was
true. I had planned ahead and put a link to the original article and a
rebuttal into my lecture and made it an area of discussion for the
day. More than half the students in each of the two sections had seen the
obituary, and I'd say they seemed to have lots of concerns, and not one
thought is was satirical or a possible future event. They read it as a
news feed.
While I was glad to have something to discuss and to have some truly
concerned and interested students, I guess I am more worried about the
"crying wolf" effect. Its hard to explain both that reefs aren't dead and
that their predicament was exaggerated while at the same time stressing
that they are still in fact in dire danger going forward... its easy to
lose the subtleties in such conversations.
In anycase, this is BIG NEWS among Americans on Facebook (I don't know
about elsewhere), and at least those in the US should plan a response
because we will probably be asked..
...Hal
On Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 9:58 AM, Dennis Hubbard
<[3]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 <[4]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)
[5]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.
[6]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.
[7]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
[8]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! [9]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
[10]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.
[11]http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2016/
09/12/heres-how-
the-warmest-august-in-136-years-looks-in-chart-form/
website: [12]http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
blog: [13]http://ocean..si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
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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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References
1. https://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-barrier-reef-25-million-bc-2016
2. mailto:hlescinsky at otterbein.edu
3. mailto:dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu
4. mailto:sealab at earthlink.net
5. http://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-
6. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-take-on-
7. http://www.businessinsider.com/coral-bleaching-viral-
8. https://www.yahoo..com/news/great-barrier-reef-isnt-dead-
9. http://www.fit.edu/isrs/
10. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v538/n7624/full/
11. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2016/
12. http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
13. http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
14. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
15. http://coral.aoml..noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
16. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
17. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
18. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
19. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
20. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
21. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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