[Coral-List] NOAA Final Report
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Mon Aug 14 16:04:10 UTC 2023
Hi Gene,
“However, I do not fully agree that creating more government regulations
will solve the problem. I may not have read the document closely enough
but I gather the basic conclusion is that most if not all of the current
coral demise can be attributed to climate change. If so, there may
be little that can be done at the local level to prevent continued
demise. It is well documented that there are other causes for demise
that are mainly related to increasing development. For example, National
TV continues to advertise and promote tourism to the Florida Keys and
other locations in the Caribbean. Of course that is necessary for the
economy and will continue in spite of climate change”.
I don’t think anyone is claiming that climate change is the only factor in the demise of corals along the Florida reef tract. A recent article in Nature points out that local efforts to control land based pollutants and overfishing are important, but that climate change has the potential to “fry” coral reefs even if these local stressors are brought under control.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02512-w
You conclude with the statement that “ . . . I appreciate the desire to stop Keys and
Caribbean-Wide coral demise but as long as climate change and population
rise and development continues these expensive politically driven
efforts will likely continue to fail”.
My question to you is assuming you are in support of protecting and conserving coral reefs, how else can we manage to neutralize such forces as climate change, overpopulation and coastal development without those often maligned “government regulations”? You point out that tourism is still being promoted in the Keys and throughout the Caribbean, doesn’t this support the contention that left to their own devices, we cannot rely on industries to responsibly regulate themselves?
Regards,
Steve Mussman
On 8/13/23, 3:24 PM, Eugene Shinn via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
Dear Jennifer and all involved in preparing the huge document re
habitats and 5 species of coral proposed for special protection.
However, I do not fully agree that creating more government regulations
will solve the problem. I may not have read the document closely enough
but I gather the basic conclusion is that most if not all of the current
coral demise can be attributed to climate change. If so, there may
be little that can be done at the local level to prevent continued
demise. It is well documented that there are other causes for demise
that are mainly related to increasing development. For example, National
TV continues to advertise and promote tourism to the Florida Keys and
other locations in the Caribbean. Of course that is necessary for the
economy and will continue in spite of climate change.
In addition to climate change there remains many local problems
such as ground water pollution from septic tanks and treatment
facilities. In the keys there are also shallow disposal wells. These
wells, generally little more than 100 ft deep, dispose of treated fresh
water into the underlying saline aquifer. Once injected this less saline
water floats upward to the overlying fresh water lens which has been
shown to move laterally toward the Atlantic side of the Keys and the
coral reefs. This movement is caused by tidal pumping driven by the
higher bay-side water level. Seaward movement of shallow groundwater has
been demonstrated in the past using monitoring wells and florescent dyes
including bacterial phages. The nutrient-rich water leaks from the
porous limestone during low tides when bay side water levels are higher.
I may have missed it but I saw none of this mentioned or referenced in
the approximately 250 references cited. Of these references the vast
majority are studies published since 2000. As a result the classic
papers by R. N. Ginsburg and Judith Lang (including the AGRA reports)
and many others including those by former Sanctuary members are missing.
Also missing is the huge USGS compilation by B. H. Lidz (highlighted
recently in vol 80 issue 8 of the coral-list).
Once again, I appreciate the desire to stop Keys and
Caribbean-Wide coral demise but as long as climate change and population
rise and development continues these expensive politically driven
efforts will likely continue to fail. Gene
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