[Coral-List] Do coral studies lack crucial species information??
Ivan Steward
ivansteward at gmail.com
Tue Jul 31 17:56:29 EDT 2018
As a self-appointed minnow who watches these discussions from the
sidelines, but, one who has undertaken the Coral Finder training course AND
had the pleasure of working with Doug in the field, I'd like to add my take
to this discussion.
The CICBP / Coral Finder is an excellent piece of kit and a very useful
tool as it provides people with an intuitive (given the human brain is a
fairly remarkable pattern recognition machine) and rapid means to begin the
process of indo-pacific coral ID. As Rome (or Atlantis) does indeed seem to
be ablaze, and as the skill of coral ID seems to be so very niche, the more
people out there with even a cursory ability to identify a patch of reef to
genus level (yes yes, obviously to species level ideally), to tell when a
reef is doing well or when it has begun to decline, to place any given reef
somewhere on the continuum of health/diversity/whatever in order to inform
urgent management actions - the better. As Russ says, it also encourages
further interest in the finer-resolution aspects of taxonomy and this is
surely only a good thing.
Doug's borderline encyclopedic knowledge of IP coral species has been honed
over many, many years of practice, research and field truthing clearly. But
he is a rarity and especially for those coming up the ranks, I can
understand that staying abreast of taxonomic revisions is challenging, even
discouraging, particularly given the well recognised difficulties of taking
species level ID knowledge into the field or collecting voucher specimens
in all situations. All but the most well funded/staffed studies employing
the most senior and saavy brains, that also allow sufficient time,
equipment and expertise to be dedicated to characterising reefs to their
minutiae can capture what some people may deem as the minimum data
standard, yet, the logistic, financial, geographical and other limitations
prevent this in many cases and places. Noble as it is, I just can't see
taxonomic puritanism doing 'the cause' many favours.
By all means let the pure taxonomic work continue, it's certainly beyond my
understanding to comment on, but as people have probably already mentioned
on previous posts and as the old addage goes, if we let the perfect hinder
the good enough with regard to assessing and communicating the declining
state of reefs, we are just adding another rod to our backs. I understand
that 100% taxonomic certainty is ideal but we don't live or function under
ideal circumstances and we will be waiting for a day that comes too late if
we fail to act with what we have. This 'eye to perfection' seems like a
recurring theme amongst this admirable group of coral crusaders - so rather
than self-flagellate, take a second to congratulate, then get on with the
ever-more-urgent business of keeping reefs alive and flourishing.
My 2c
On Wed, 1 Aug 2018, 01:41 russell @ BYOGUIDES, <russell at byoguides.com>
wrote:
> Hi Phil
>
> Re:
>
> > Good Grief Charlie Brown,
> > When all the corals are dying faster than rats deserting a sinking ship
> does it really matter what we call them?
> > It becomes an academic exercise that allows "science" to pontificate
> longer and not get down to the real business at hand.
> > Phil
>
>
> ;-)
>
> Phil - totally understand where you are coming from re this - as middle
> aged geologist who has spanned the Holocene / Anthropocene boundary I’m
> pretty frustrated by how things are turning out. Which was in part the
> point of my initial reply to Doug. People are walking away from taxonomy
> because: (a) it’s falling apart, (b) agencies no longer fund it, and, (c)
> taxonomists are obliged by arcane rules to noodle in the details rather
> than propose practical, human friendly solutions. No one with an informed
> appreciation of the current situation facing reefs does not want urgent
> action. Indeed I find myself throwing things at the television.
>
> That said - those of us involved in resource management and field science
> still need and use taxonomic frameworks on a daily basis. Without a name,
> or a group, or morpho-structural bucket we can not communicate, let alone
> give the next generation the tools to put their shoulder to the wheel. So
> we’re stuck with it - even if some days it feels like fiddling while Rome
> burns. As I mentioned in my previous post I see Visual Decision Tools like
> the Coral Finder as a science communication exercise as much as a taxonomy
> tool. For the interested person, the Coral Finder helped unlock /
> facilitate the massive practical potential of Corals of the World. But
> once we started running workshops we soon realised that for most people in
> the tropical world the real question that needed answering was not... ”What
> coral is that? ...but rather... “How did you know it’s a coral?”
>
> So we spent 5 years imaging and designing the Reef Finder - a plain
> language, visual decision tool that let’s the interested person put most
> anything into a “group” and have visual reasons why. It proved to be the
> tool that was needed to move an audience hungry for ocean literacy forward
> to the next step that is coral ID. So for some front line reef audiences…
> 'The Coral Finder was the ID tool Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs
> right now.’… (with apologies to Chris Nolan and Batman fans everywhere).
>
> When I look around the reef community I don’t feel like taxonomy is some
> vast, fashionable black hole into which people are flocking and resources
> are being poured, but rather a dwindling essential service that must be
> conserved.
>
> You’ll miss it when it’s gone. So rage, rage against the dying of the
> light.
>
> Cheers
>
> Russ
>
>
>
>
> Russell Kelley
> russell at byoguides.com
>
> Recipient 2017 Australian Coral Reef Society Medal for Science Advocacy
>
> Manager: BYOGUIDES (Be Your Own Guide)
> Author: Reef Finder <http://www.byoguides.com/reeffinder/> - the world’s
> first searchable underwater ID smart guide to reef life
> Author: Indo Pacific Coral Finder <http://www.byoguides.com/coralfinder/>
> - the world’s first searchable ID smart guide to corals
> Subscribe to Dr Flotjet’s Ocean Literacy Newsletter <
> http://www.byoguides.com/subscribe/>
>
> www.byoguides.com <http://www.byoguides.com/>
> www.russellkelley.info <http://www.russellkelley.info/>
>
>
> Int. + 61 (0) 7 47804380 ph.
> Int. + 61 (0) 419 716730 mob.
> P.O. Box 1859, Townsville, 4810, AUSTRALIA
> ABN 66208215206
> GMT + 10 hours
> Email: russell at byoguides.com
> Skype: wireruss
>
> Writer, project manager, television producer, science communication
> consultant.
>
> Program Director
> Coral Identification Capacity Building Program
>
> Adjunct Senior Lecturer
> College of Science and Engineering
> James Cook University
>
>
>
>
> > On 31 Jul 2018, at 1:16 am, Phil Dustan <dustanp at cofc.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Good Grief Charlie Brown,
> > When all the corals are dying faster than rats deserting a sinking ship
> does it really matter what we call them?
> > It becomes an academic exercise that allows "science" to pontificate
> longer and not get down to the real business at hand.
> > Phil
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 12:02 AM, Douglas Fenner <
> douglasfennertassi at gmail.com <mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>> wrote:
> > Russell,
> > I thought the point of the insect article was that people publishing
> > studies of individual species, such as physiology or whatever, commonly
> > said they did their study on "Species X" and left it with that. No
> > information to back up their identification, and no way for a reader to
> be
> > able to know the ID was correct or to check the ID, since no voucher
> > specimens were stored to document what was studied. We could take their
> > word for it on faith, but do we really want to base what we call
> "science"
> > on faith?? Scientific studies on individual species is a different
> > situation/question from people getting into the water and recording units
> > in the water, whether genus or species. If a study involves fieldwork in
> > which a large number of colonies and species are studied, generally they
> > can't all be collected and often few or none of those that could be
> > collected are collected, for logistical reasons.
> > A separate, different point is that the taxonomy of corals, that is
> the
> > applying of genus and species names to corals, is almost entirely done
> with
> > skeletons, a name is defined by skeleton structures. One genus,
> Euphyllia,
> > has some species distinctions that are partly based on tentacles. When
> we
> > get into the water and identify corals, whether to genus or to species,
> we
> > are only able to use those aspects of the skeleton which can be seen
> > through the tissues, such as the colony shape and the larger shapes of
> > things like corallites, and without a microscope. Generally, details of
> > septa are not visible under water, though there are some exceptions such
> as
> > in Fungia, and smaller structures like spines usually can't be seen. Our
> > identifications in the water are in some sense hypotheses which can be
> > tested with examination of skeletons. Even the identification of a
> > skeleton can be considered a hypothesis. Part of the problem with genera
> > is that there are loads of differences between species within genera.
> > Another is that the most fundamental level in taxonomy is the species.
> > That is why, for instance, the USA has an "Endangered Species Act" but
> not
> > an "Endangered Genus Act." Indeed, species are not easy to ID, at least
> in
> > the Indo-Pacific.
> > We are all definitely restrained by what is possible, and I think
> > ecologists will always need to identify species in the field. It is much
> > easier with fish and with Caribbean corals than Indo-Pacific corals. I,
> > too, feel that a logical first step is to learn some genera, and then
> > follow with learning species. Genera are much easier than species, and
> > there are many fewer of them, so they make a great starting point, I
> > completely agree.
> > But what my post was about, was whether people doing research on
> > specific corals on Indo-Pacific coral reefs (which includes the Indian
> > Ocean, Red Sea and Arabian/Persian Gulf in addition to the Pacific), need
> > to save voucher specimens and give some indication of how species were
> > identified, and by whom. Or else, like insect researchers, our research
> > studies may be impossible to replicate, because there is no sure way to
> > know what species were studied.
> > For some time, I have had a feeling, people have not valued having
> > someone with expertise identify their corals for them. In the Caribbean
> > and Brazil, there is little need. But in the Indo-Pacific it is not a
> > trivial matter. No one would think of trying to survey reef fish without
> > identifying the individual species, you need species by length and by
> > numbers to calculate biomass. We're lucky with corals that we can
> measure
> > coral cover without knowing what the species are, but that leaves much
> > important information uncollected. Genera are a good start, but are not
> > enough. The wrasse family includes the giant Humphead wrasse up to 7
> feet
> > long, plus many very small wrasse species. Surgeonfish include species
> > with very different diets and lifestyles. And so on. Same with corals
> > (American Samoa has a massive Porites colony that is 41 meters in
> diameter,
> > but also Stylaraea that looks almost identical to Porites in the field,
> > which is almost always well under 1 cm diameter, and they surely have
> very
> > different biology and ecology).
> > Identification of Indo-Pacific corals always has some level of
> > uncertainty with it. Uncertainty is lowest when done with skeletons
> > usually (except small fragments or badly damaged specimens), higher with
> > photos but that depends on the quality of photos, and probably highest
> when
> > done in the water without photos or skeletons collected. If neither
> photos
> > or skeletons are collected, there is no way to check whether someone's ID
> > is correct. The more experience and expertise the person has, the less
> > uncertainty, and the less experience and expertise the more uncertainty..
> > Checking type specimens and/or original descriptions increases certainty.
> > But some type specimens are very poor, the earliest species named had no
> > type specimens, no photos (photography wasn't invented) or even drawings.
> > Any language can be used in original descriptions, the earliest were in
> > Latin, I've seen an original description that consisted of two sentences
> in
> > Latin. It could all hang on the meaning of one word in Latin. In many
> > original descriptions, the information you may need isn't in the
> > description, and the type specimen is then the only possible thing you
> can
> > use. It can be a nightmare (but certainly isn't always, much of the time
> > it is quite clear, especially with a good type specimen). For more of
> this
> > story, take a peek at
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coralsoftheworld.org%2Fpage%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056678720&sdata=iGjBQdggod2w2e%2Bt9CckP%2FIvy4y%2BEDf5Y%2FnUs53P1UE%3D&reserved=0
> > overview-of-coral-taxonomy/ <
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coralsoftheworld.org%2Fpage%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056678720&sdata=iGjBQdggod2w2e%2Bt9CckP%2FIvy4y%2BEDf5Y%2FnUs53P1UE%3D&reserved=0overview-of-coral-taxonomy/>
> Veron points out that species themselves
> > vary greatly in the level of uncertainty, which he explains in this
> essay.
> > He also points out that genera and families also have their own problems.
> > For better or for worse, we're stuck with the Linnean species
> > naming system, because while some improvements have been made, no one has
> > come up with a better system. To my knowledge, species cannot be
> described
> > and thus defined, on the basis of DNA only. DNA sequence results can
> > certainly be included in the description, but "description", at least in
> > animals (but likely not in bacteria or viruses) has to include
> morphology.
> > The names, fundamentally, correspond to morphology descriptions and type
> > specimens. Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong.
> > All this is not meant to deter people from starting a learning
> > journey with genera, that's the place to start and hopefully progress is
> > rapid and gratifying. Yes, there is a place for surveying genera, that's
> > better than not surveying genera at all. Plus it makes no sense for
> > everyone who surveys to dedicate their entire life to trying to learn
> every
> > coral species in the Indo-Pacific. Some specialization is surely more
> > efficient, such as assembling teams with different specialties or
> > expertises.
> > Cheers, Doug
> >
> > On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 2:18 PM, russell @ BYOGUIDES <
> russell at byoguides.com <mailto:russell at byoguides.com>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Hi Doug
> > >
> > > *You wrote…. *
> > >
> > > *Many studies in the Indo Pacific report results only at the genus
> level,
> > > which are vastly easier to ID, and*
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *thus more certain. But I think this is a potential problem for work
> > > donewith individual species in the Indo-Pacific. What do you think?
> We
> > > doneed information at the species level, species within genera differ
> on
> > > allkinds of things, and can differ in dramatic ways.*
> > >
> > >
> > > Doug - I agree we should all be mindful about taxonomic resolution in
> > > science / surveys / resource management / conservation etc. With the
> advent
> > > of *Corals of the World* (COTW) Veron 2000 there existed for the first
> > > time a centralised framework for grappling with the Indo Pacific fauna.
> > > However even this great achievement was overwhelming for the interested
> > > person at the beginning of their coral ID learning pathway. To make
> COTW
> > > more user friendly I created the Coral Finder to act as a Visual Index
> into
> > > the three taxonomically arranged volumes - a reverse engineered
> practical
> > > solution if you will that unlocked the science within.
> > >
> > > Even with the changes being wrought by the molecular revisions the
> Coral
> > > Finder remains useful because it is primarily a Visual Decision Tool -
> i.e.
> > > it works in the real world. To that end in my coral ID workshops I have
> > > opted for a “learn the old - translate to the new” approach. In this
> way
> > > the interested person can still have the benefits of a practical visual
> > > learning pathway and be shielded from a complex, confusing taxonomy
> where
> > > the changes sometimes keep changing.
> > >
> > > That said I do feel the pace of change in the coral taxonomy
> literature is
> > > starting to slow and that it is probably time for a new synthesis
> aimed at
> > > the interested person. Because many of the changes are not outwardly
> > > visually intuitive I don’t look to the taxonomists for a solution
> here, I
> > > feel it will fall to someone with a science communication headspace to
> > > create the next fiendishly clever practical coral ID tool.
> > >
> > > To address your concerns with species level Indo Pacific coral ID.
> We've
> > > (the Coral Identification Capacity Building Program) trained over 600
> > > people in coral ID in recent years and I always say at the beginning
> of our
> > > workshops 'learn the genera and the species will come’. The challenge
> the
> > > is then to recognise the same species in different habitats and
> > > geographies. Many of the molecular changes (particularly as they
> relate to
> > > the former family Faviidae) are not that surprising - field people
> > > understood that some names (both genus and species) were buckets
> awaiting
> > > further delineation. Well now some of these answers are at hand - the
> > > problem is that some of the molecular answers are not very intuitive
> for
> > > humans or field friendly. So wile I can understand the excitement for
> those
> > > on the cutting edge of the coral taxonomy using the new techniques I
> always
> > > try and sheet it back to the trying to teach this stuff in the field.
> > >
> > > To that end while it might be ‘possible' to subdivide genera and their
> > > species I often feel that we will need to work with some of the old
> > > ‘buckets’ going forward - lets call them ‘complexes’. Complexes are
> more
> > > likely to be teachable. If they need unpacking into their most granular
> > > units then we will need to fund that kind of detailed and specialised
> work
> > > (molecular / micro-structural) which, even when you have the answer,
> will
> > > most likely only be comprehensible to a very small number of people
> > > bringing us back to the 'complex’ as the lowest practical species level
> > > unit with management / conservation benefits.
> > >
> > > My fear is that if we continue to alienate 'interested people' from
> > > learning coral ID because it is 'too hard’ then ultimately we might
> also
> > > provide management agencies and funders with an excuse to walk away
> from
> > > their resource management obligations because they don’t see practical
> > > application with tangible benefits. We need some kind of middle way
> that
> > > says “We know there is more detail in this bucket - but for practical
> > > reasons we are going to manage the bucket.” In the interim coral
> surveys at
> > > the genus level remain a useful, practical proxy for reef richness /
> > > health, and, if done systematically, can be used to detect change over
> > > time. You can train people to do them with modest resources and with a
> > > little extra effort we can even have people using the new names.
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > >
> > > Russ
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *Russell Kelley*
> > > *russell at byoguides.com <mailto:russell at byoguides.com> <
> russell at byoguides.com <mailto:russell at byoguides.com>>*
> > >
> > > Recipient 2017 Australian Coral Reef Society Medal for Science Advocacy
> > >
> > > Program Director
> > > Coral Identification Capacity Building Program
> > >
> > > Manager: *BYOGUIDES (Be Your Own Guide)*
> > > Author: Reef Finder <
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> -
> > > the world’s first searchable ID smart guide to corals
> > > Subscribe to Dr Flotjet’s Ocean Literacy Newsletter
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> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Int. + 61 (0) 7 47804380 ph.
> > > Int. + 61 (0) 419 716730 mob.
> > > P.O. Box 1859, Townsville, 4810, AUSTRALIA
> > > ABN 66208215206
> > > GMT + 10 hours
> > > Email: russell at byoguides.com <mailto:russell at byoguides.com> <
> russell at byoguides.com <mailto:russell at byoguides.com>>
> > > Skype: wireruss
> > >
> > > Writer, project manager, television producer, science
> > > communication consultant.
> > >
> > >
> > > Adjunct Senior Lecturer
> > > College of Science and Engineering
> > > James Cook University
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On 21 Jul 2018, at 7:16 am, Douglas Fenner <
> douglasfennertassi at gmail.com <mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > I recently spotted this piece (open access):
> > >
> > > Most insect studies lack crucial species information
> > >
> > >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-018-01541-0&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=a3UWpPwWcxQXe7JQjrCdLbsBbQ%2B6m3mbTFyYJTt3o7Q%3D&reserved=0
> <
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fd41586-018-01541-0&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=a3UWpPwWcxQXe7JQjrCdLbsBbQ%2B6m3mbTFyYJTt3o7Q%3D&reserved=0
> >?
> > > utm_source=briefing-dy&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20180205
> > >
> > > "Survey results suggest that a lot of entomology research could be
> > > impossible to replicate."
> > >
> > > "More than 98% of entomology papers contain so little species
> information
> > > on the insects being studied that they are essentially impossible to
> > > replicate, according to a survey of more than 550 articles published in
> > > 2016."
> > > Come to think of it, I don't remember many studies on corals in the
> > > Indo-Pacific that include this kind of info. May not be necessary in
> the
> > > Caribbean, where many of the corals are easy to ID, but nearly all
> > > Indo-Pacific coral species have at least one other species (usually
> > > several) that are the very devil to tell apart. Many studies in the
> I-P
> > > report results only at the genus level, which are vastly easier to ID,
> and
> > > thus more certain. But I think this is a potential problem for work
> done
> > > with individual species in the Indo-Pacific. What do you think? We do
> > > need information at the species level, species within genera differ on
> all
> > > kinds of things, and can differ in dramatic ways.
> > >
> > > Cheers, Doug
> > >
> > > --
> > > Douglas Fenner
> > > Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant
> > > PO Box 7390
> > > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA
> > >
> > > New online open-access field guide to 300 coral species in Chagos,
> Indian
> > > Ocean
> > >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fchagosinformationportal.org%2Fcorals&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=uoRp5FJYPVYxF6KpwWsQlgnQRbKGcFpHBl5R%2F1pn1hc%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> > >
> > > By getting serious about limiting global warming, the world could save
> > > itself more than $20 trillion. (action would cost only a half trillion
> > > over 30 years, a third the cost of the Iraq war, benefits would be 40
> times
> > > costs, that's a huge return on investment)
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=3%2BtGZxXOIP8n9NmZp%2BJKravrJHYvqhW3WpYGa%2F03sdM%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> > > science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-global-warming-costs-20180523-story.html
> > >
> > > The cost of a warming climate
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readcube.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=LxQNyLpbeI6QXRbD8if%2F39fiJtsunmSJNB9Wvhip9fs%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> > > articles/10.1038/d41586-018-05198-7
> > >
> > > Climate costs
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readcube.com%2Farticles%2F10.1038%2Fd41586-018-05219-5&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=iNO3vuxgWjoyYEinVpgbtkf%2FogY%2FclHSpYiDXpR9lvs%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> > >
> > > Large potential reduction in economic damages under UN mitigation
> targets
> > > (and 30% loss of world economy if the climate is allowed to warm by
> 4oC)
> > >
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> >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Coral-List mailing list
> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov <mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > >
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> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Douglas Fenner
> > Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant
> > PO Box 7390
> > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA
> >
> > New online open-access field guide to 300 coral species in Chagos, Indian
> > Ocean
> >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fchagosinformationportal.org%2Fcorals&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=uoRp5FJYPVYxF6KpwWsQlgnQRbKGcFpHBl5R%2F1pn1hc%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> >
> > How Did the Climate Apocalypse Become Old News?
> >
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> >
> >
> > By getting serious about limiting global warming, the world could save
> > itself more than $20 trillion. (action would cost only a half trillion
> > over 30 years, a third the cost of the Iraq war, benefits would be 40
> times
> > costs, that's a huge return on investment)
> >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fscience%2Fsciencenow%2Fla-sci-sn-global-warming-costs-20180523-story.html&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=Ac6txk5ZrpDNNG1GrXfh8pBK9kfk08GR%2FUInouo%2Fq0c%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> >
> > Large potential reduction in economic damages under UN mitigation targets
> > (and 30% loss of world economy if the climate is allowed to warm by 4oC)
> >
> https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readcube.com%2Farticles%2F10.1038%2Fs41586-018-0071-9&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfd32d5e15c114331266308d5f62ec1fe%7Ce285d438dbba4a4c941c593ba422deac%7C0%7C0%7C636685603056688728&sdata=y%2BTsoJmeUWA3%2BzeScfgFoY0M0eJJXTGYHNo5MDEfg6Y%3D&reserved=0
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> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov <mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Phillip Dustan
> > Department of Biology
> > College of Charleston
> > Charleston SC 20401
> > Charleston SC
> > 843 953 8086 (voice)
> > 843-224-3321 (m)
> >
> > "When we try to pick out anything by itself
> > we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
> > that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
> > John Muir 1869
>
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