[Coral-List] Coral mortality in a warmer and acidified ocean
Risk, Michael
riskmj at mcmaster.ca
Sat Feb 4 09:15:12 EST 2017
Good day.
Please excuse me if I sound somewhat testy-as I said, these are perilous
times, when we scientists should all be on our best behaviour. Not only will
we thereby gain merit-some of you living in that nation which is about to be
made great again (or not) need to realise there are people looking over your
shoulder, searching for excuses.
Don’t shoot the messenger. Do not allow your opinion of the messenger to
cloud your appraisal of the message.
Read the freakin paper. It is free access. It clearly states Acropora
“...has not only survived these environmental changes, but has maintained
its distinct skeletal biomineralization pattern for at least 40 My.” Those
environmental changes involved large swings in temperature and pH.
Arguments that the present rate of change is more rapid than those that came
before are valid, but irrelevant to what I think is the central message: how
did we get here?
If we really want to save the reefs of today, we must be able to say-from
what? As a group, we have probably been aware that the most important thing
we could possibly do is identify and prioritise the threats to reefs.
We have yet to do this, which is a signal failure of the group. I realise
that absorbing the results of this work may shake some shibboleths, but that
is how science advances.
Instructions outlining how to emigrate to Canada may be found
at [1]http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGlish/immigrate/index.asp
Mike
On Feb 3, 2017, at 6:52 PM, Steve Mussman <[2]sealab at earthlink.net> wrote:
As a scientifically literate non-scientist, the first thing I do when
examining new information is consider the source(s). So while in this case
I don't advocate shooting the messenger, I certainly have the right to
question his motives especially considering the fact that this isn't the
first time he has chosen to cite a source which you have described as having
questionable credibility. By accepting such sources we begin to legitimize
them. Next thing you know "alternative science" will creep into our lexicon
right along with "alternative facts".
Regards,
Steve
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
On Feb 2, 2017, at 1:05 PM, Risk, Michael <[3]riskmj at mcmaster.ca> wrote:
Hi Pedro (Doug, Gene).
These are perilous times, with science seemingly under threat from all
sides
and societies increasingly polarized. This is especially true of the US.
It is increasingly important to all of us on this list that we stick to
the
science. Gene's scientific credentials should need no repeating to anyone
on
this list. He also performs a valuable although sometimes annoying service
by posting items that cause us to think, or cause our hair to catch on
fire.
This recent exchange I think can be used as a microcosm to formulate our
proper responses. We must not fall into the trap of shooting the
messenger.
It is true that Gene's posting came from a website that some of us would
not
deem as credible. Nonetheless, however, the description of the science
itself was accurate. Gracious behaviour on our part would be to thank Gene
for bringing this to our attention.
Lost in the noise is the essential conclusion of this piece of science,
and
I am disappointed that this seems not to have been absorbed. We as a group
need to accept that one of our major genera of reef building corals has
sailed through previous climate changes with its skeletal architecture
intact. We either have to accept that the recent declines are due to
local
stresses, or we need to devise experiments to challenge the original
findings.
Mike
On Feb 1, 2017, at 3:00 PM, Pedro H. Rodríguez
<[1][4]phernanrod at yahoo.com>
wrote:
Doug,
Thanks for checking the references provided to the list to support a
counter-argument. An apparent need for attention has, once again,
disguised
as someone's "pushing the boundary" of the science with a fact-based
argument. This is a huge disservice to the List- many people not have the
time to check every claim that poses as a scientifically-based argument.
As
a defense mechanism, some of us pay special attention to claims made by
frequently debunked offenders.
Best,Pedro
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2017 11:20:08 -0500
From: Douglas Fenner <[2][5]douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Coral mortality in a warmer and acidified
ocean
To: Nicole Crane <[3][6]nicrane at cabrillo.edu>
Cc: Eugene Shinn <[4][7]eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>,
"[5][8]coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov"
<[6][9]coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID:
<[7][10]CAOEmEkF34OUZHy2WWtY6=3opq5eX3TLhj+eybY4YJUun6ZODNw at mail.gmail.
com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Well, all of the wording in Gene's message other than the article
reference
was from the "CO2 Science" website, except where it quotes the article...
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
[8][11]Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[12]http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
Risk, Michael
[9][13]riskmj at mcmaster.ca
References
1. [14]mailto:phernanrod at yahoo.com
2. [15]mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
3. [16]mailto:nicrane at cabrillo.edu
4. [17]mailto:eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
5. [18]mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
6. [19]mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
7. [20]mailto:CAOEmEkF34OUZHy2WWtY6=3opq5eX3TLhj+eybY4YJUun6ZODNw at mail.gma
il.com
8. [21]mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
9. [22]mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
[23]Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[24]http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
Risk, Michael
[25]riskmj at mcmaster.ca
References
1. http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGlish/immigrate/index.asp
2. mailto:sealab at earthlink.net
3. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
4. mailto:phernanrod at yahoo.com
5. mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
6. mailto:nicrane at cabrillo.edu
7. mailto:eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
8. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
9. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
10. mailto:CAOEmEkF34OUZHy2WWtY6=3opq5eX3TLhj+eybY4YJUun6ZODNw at mail.gmail.com
11. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
12. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
13. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
14. mailto:phernanrod at yahoo.com
15. mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
16. mailto:nicrane at cabrillo.edu
17. mailto:eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
18. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
19. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
20. mailto:CAOEmEkF34OUZHy2WWtY6=3opq5eX3TLhj+eybY4YJUun6ZODNw at mail.gmail.com
21. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
22. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
23. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
24. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
25. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list