[Coral-List] Coral mortality in a warmer and acidified ocean

Risk, Michael riskmj at mcmaster.ca
Mon Jan 30 11:36:11 EST 2017


   Well, Doug, the Devil can quote scripture. At least, that is what he tells
   me.

   The paper says substantially what Gene reported. From the Abstract:

   “...has not only survived these environmental changes, but has maintained
   its distinct skeletal biomineralization pattern for at least 40 My.”

   Mike

   On Jan 30, 2017, at 11:20 AM, Douglas Fenner
   <[1]douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:

   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.  The
   "CO2 Science" website is a denier propaganda website, put out by Idso, Idso,
   and Idso.  The first Idso is  "An outspoken [2]global warming denier known
   for  claiming  that  rising  CO[2] levels  will  have  mainly positive
   environmental effects" (Wikipedia:
   [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_D._Idso).
        The last half of the last paragraph in Gene's message is likely not
   supported by the article at all.
   Cheers,  Doug
   On Sat, Jan 28, 2017 at 11:18 AM, Nicole Crane <[4]nicrane at cabrillo.edu>
   wrote:

     I will plead ignorance as I have not read the paper…but as scientists of
     living systems - interacting with their non-living systems know, it is as
     much about the speed and nature of change in the non-living systems as the
     change itself that controls biological system response.  Documenting
     historical change is not enough empirical evidence.  There is a nuance to
     the nature of that change that needs to be captured too.  Again, maybe it
     was captured in the paper I don’t know.  But the synopsis below is far too
     simplified.
     Nicole

   > On Jan 27, 2017, at 7:45 AM, Risk, Michael <[5]riskmj at mcmaster.ca> wrote:
   >
   > Fascinating, Gene.
   >
   > I await feedback from the rest of the 8,000-odd on the -list, those who
   are still able to respond after the recent political changes in your county.
   >
   > The implication, or the inevitable conclusion, is that the recent decline
   in Acropora has been caused by local stresses, not global change. This is
   something many in the reef community find hard to accept.
   >
   > Mike
   > ________________________________________
   >From:[6]coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov[coral-list-bounces at coral.
   aoml..[7]noaa.gov] on behalf of Eugene Shinn [[8]eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu]
   > Sent: January 25, 2017 12:43 PM
   > To: [9]coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   > Subject: [Coral-List] Coral mortality in a warmer and acidified ocean
   >
   > *In addition to the paper reviewed in the previous Coral-list here is A
   > review published in the blog Co2 Science   Gene
   > *
   >
   > *Paper Reviewed*
   > Stolarski, J., Bosellini, F.R., Wallace, C.C., Gothmann, A.M., Mazur,
   > M., Domart-Coulon, I., Gutner-Hoch, E., Neuser, R.D., Levy, O., Shemesh,
   > A. and Meibom, A. 2016. A unique coral biomineralization pattern has
   > resisted 40 million years of major ocean chemistry change. /Scientific
   > Reports/ *6*: 27579, DOI: 10.1038/srep27579.
   >
   > Publishing their work in the journal /Scientific Reports/, the team of
   > eleven international researchers compared the skeletal structures of
   > living /Acropora/ corals with those of well-preserved fossil /Acropora/
   > skeletons from the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene, noting that these
   > latter organisms "have experienced major fluctuations in atmospheric CO2
   > levels (from greenhouse conditions of high pCO2 in the Eocene to low
   > pCO2 ice-house conditions in the Oligocene-Miocene) and a dramatically
   > changing ocean Mg/Ca ratio." By doing so, it could therefore be
   > empirically determined whether or not higher levels of CO2 (i.e., ocean
   > acidification) truly are a detriment to corals, interfering with the
   > process of calcification and disrupting or weakening skeletal structure.
   >
   > So is that what they found? Were these major reef building corals harmed
   > by ocean acidification and temperature changes of conditions past?
   >
   > In a word, /no/. In stark contrast, in fact, Stolarski /et al/. report
   > that "the most diverse, widespread, and abundant reef-building coral
   > genus /Acropora/ (20 morphological groups and 150 living species) has
   > not only survived these environmental changes, but has maintained its
   > distinct skeletal biomineralization pattern for at least 40 My." Such
   > "remarkable evolutionary stability," they continue, "exists despite
   > major global geochemical fluctuations, from greenhouse (high pCO2)
   > conditions and low seawater Mg/Ca (calcitic seas) in the Eocene to
   > icehouse (low pCO2) conditions and rapidly increasing Mg/Ca (aragonite
   > seas) during the Oligocene-Miocene."
   >
   > The take home message of the Stolarski /et al/. paper is that the
   > skeletal formation process of /Acropora/ is, as they state, "strongly
   > biologically controlled," uninhibited by changes in temperature or
   > seawater chemistry, including seawater pH/ocean acidification conditions
   >  that are predicted to occur over the course of the next century and
   beyond.
   >
   > --
   >
   >
   > 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
   > <[10]eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
   > Tel [11]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
   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!  [18]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.
   Last    year    was-    again-    the    hottest   year   on   record.
   [19]http://www.sciencemag.org/news/sifter/last-year-was-again-hottest-record
   99 Reasons 2016 was a good year.
   [20]https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-reasons-why-2016-has-been-a-great-ye
   ar-for-humanity-8420debc2823#.9iznf7pfk  Check items 42-59.
   43. Global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels did not grow at
   all in 2016, for the third year in a row.  [21]Scientific American
   44. renewables now account for more newly installed capacity than any other
   form of electricity in the world, including coal.. [22]Gizmodo

   Risk, Michael
   [23]riskmj at mcmaster.ca

References

   1. mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
   2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_denier
   3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_D._Idso
   4. mailto:nicrane at cabrillo.edu
   5. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
   6. mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   7. http://noaa.gov/
   8. mailto:eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
   9. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  10. mailto:eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
  11. tel:727%20553-1158
  12. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  13. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
  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. http://www.fit.edu/isrs/
  19. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/sifter/last-year-was-again-hottest-record
  20. https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-reasons-why-2016-has-been-a-great-year-for-humanity-8420debc2823#.9iznf7pfk
  21. http://futurecrunch.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6321feeb3ffd42b0e44a01616&id=18ef49d1e6&e=20926c12c5
  22. http://gizmodo.com/renewables-now-exceed-all-other-forms-of-new-power-gene-1788195297
  23. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca


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