[Coral-List] (Coral-List) Toward a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring

[Steve Mussman]

"Everyone is focusing on restoration but corals will never thrive in

polluted water." “This stood out to me... The coral isn't the problem. It is the water.

We should be working on *water* restoration. It feels very hopeless.

What can I do as a young scientist”?

Dear Jianna,

It does seem hopeless at times, but I would just encourage you as a young scientist not to give up and perhaps more importantly, not to lose sight of this revelation. What has to change is not only how we steward our waters, but how we interact with the entirety of the natural world. The task before you and others of your generation is no less than to change the fundamental way we view our relationship with nature. If you follow the coral sciences, the trend is clear and has been for decades. So, if you really want to take on this challenge you will have to help point humanity in the right direction by becoming an advocate for building new and fundamentally different societies based on sustainability in balance with nature rather than unfettered growth and consumption. My advice to you would be to stay in the coral sciences and help shift the focus from providing triage and treating symptom after symptom of a collapsing ecosystem and on to the need for directly confronting and effectively addressing causation.

Regards,

Steve Mussman

https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/can-we-save-coral-reefs