[Coral-List] Re: climate change and coral reefs

Sun Jul 25 10:55:11 EDT 2004

I was interested to read the responses to the issue of coral reefs and
global warming, but was curious to know how coral reefs "serve as nurseries
to our world's fish stocks". I was under the impression that the majority of
fish in the ocean never go anywhere near a coral reef. If I am mistaken then
I'd love to know.
Yours
JOHN CLAYDON

Department of Marine Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
john.claydon at jcu.edu.au

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <coral-list-request at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 2:00 AM
Subject: Coral-List Digest, Vol 13, Issue 20

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Fw: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ? (Todd Barber)
>    2. Coastal Zone 05 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS (Rhonda Crawley)
>    3. Re: Basic Question. Simple Answer ? (Mark Eakin)
>    4. Re: Basic Question. Simple Answer ? (Hajime Kayanne)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:52:16 -0400
> From: "Todd Barber" <reefball at reefball.com>
> Subject: Fw: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ?
> To: <coral-list at aoml.noaa.gov>
> Message-ID: <0e8401c470dd$cb2e29a0$6c02a8c0 at LaFalda>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Todd Barber
> To: Fishy
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 9:32 AM
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ?
>
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Here are some other points to consider in answering that question, "Why
are
> marine biologists so worried by a forecast global warming  rise of 1.4-5.8
> degrees occurring over the next century, when the  coral obviously
survived
> a far more rapid and greater increase (~7 deg over 10 years) about 15000
> years ago (Younger Dryas) ?"
>
> 1) Temperature changes would involve a re-distribution of coral reefs.
> Coral Reefs are major assets for everything from tourism to fisheries to
> cultures.
> Re-distributing reefs would involve a loss of reefs in some areas causing
> economic problems and any gains in other areas would be so slow from a
human
> perspective to provide new assets at least for the next several
generations.
>
> 2) When any biological systems are subjected to "shocks" or rapid changes
in
> the environment, they nearly always survive but what occurs is a loss in
> biodiversity (species extinctions).  Now, in the very long run,  may not
be
> a bad thing (then again it might depending upon your point of view) but in
a
> world that is increasingly dependent on biodiversity to provide continued
> solutions to our rapidly changing needs (many of them not foreseeable to
us,
> but that does not mean we don't need them) it is scary to ponder how mass
> extinctions could limit our future options as a species.
>
> 3) There are numerous other factors putting additional stresses on coral
> reefs today that were not present 15,000 years ago...pollution, coastal
> re-engineering, changes in CO2 concentrations, etc, etc.   The more stress
> factors that add up...the more magnification one is likely to see in the
> effects of rapid environmental changes.
>
> 4) Coral Reefs serve as nurseries to our world's fish stocks....something
> that Man has come to depend upon and harvest that was not occurring at any
> significant level 15,000 years ago.  With world fisheries already on the
> verge of collapse (and in fact, with many fisheries already collapsed),
> massive changes in coral reefs is not welcomed at this time.
>
> 5) In that regard, Coral Reefs serve also a great variety of other roles
in
> the ocean....perhaps roles we don't even know in supporting a huge variety
> of marine (and perhaps even land based) life forms.  Rapid change on any
> scale is difficult to adapt to even if it is possible.  The earth used to
> have oxygen levels below that which would support human life....but life
> still existed on the planet...does that mean we should not worry if
> something we are doing was going to drive oxygen levels back to 8%?
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Todd Barber
> Chairman Reef Ball Foundation, Inc.
> 6916 22nd Street West
> Bradenton, FL 34207
> reefball at reefball.com
> http://www.artificialreefs.org
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Fishy" <fishy.1 at optusnet.com.au>
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 7:38 PM
> Subject: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ?
>
>
> > Greetings all,
> > My sincerest apologies for wasting time and bandwidth with what Im sure
> > is an eye-rolling question for you all.
> > I have tried to answer this question myself but have found
> > insufficient research
> > to back up my response.
> > Can anyone help me ?
> >
> > "Why are marine biologists so worried by a forecast global warming
> > rise of 1.4-5.8 degrees occurring over the next century, when the
> > coral obviously survived a far more rapid and greater increase (~7
> > deg over 10 years) about 15000 years ago (Younger Dryas) ?"
> >
> > My response is this:
> >
> > 1. Greenland never had hard corals and the temperature change was
> > probably local not global.
> > 2. Just because some corals survive, doesnt mean losing massive
> > diversity was a minor effect.
> > 3. Tropical coral reefs have been stable for a long time now - sudden
> > change will be disasterous.
> >
> > But thats the best I can offer.
> >
> > Hope someone out there has some patience.
> > Sorry again.
> >
> > Chris.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 14:11:24 -0400
> From: "Rhonda Crawley" <Rhonda.Crawley at noaa.gov>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Coastal Zone 05 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
> To: coastal_list at udel.edu, czm at onms.nos.noaa.gov,
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <410154CC.B57141F0 at noaa.gov>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> ******************************************************************
> Coastal Zone 05
> Balancing on the Edge
> July 18 - 21, 2005
> New Orleans, Louisiana
>
> CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
> You are invited to submit an abstract of 250 words or less for one or
> more of the many sessions planned for the conference.
> Deadline for submission is October 4, 2004
>
> Please visit www.csc.noaa.gov/cz/ for submission guidelines and
> additional conference information.
>
> Coastal Zone is the premier conference for the world's coastal resource
> managers. The 14th installment of the biennial conference series focuses
> on balancing the issues and interests of land and sea. With over 1,000
> participants expected from all over the world, this conference promises
> to provide valuable tools, lessons learned, and new ideas to help
> address the coastal management issues we're all facing.
>
> ******************************************************************
>
>
>
> =================================
> Rhonda H. Crawley
> Coastal Management Specialist II
> Perot Systems Government Services
> NOAA Coastal Services Center
> 2234 South Hobson Avenue
> Charleston, SC 29405-2413
> (843) 740-1326 ph
> (843) 740-1224 fax
> Rhonda.Crawley at noaa.gov
> ==================================
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:16:25 -0600
> From: "Mark Eakin" <Mark.Eakin at noaa.gov>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ?
> To: Fishy <fishy.1 at optusnet.com.au>
> Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <CA3CE87A-DCDC-11D8-9463-000A95BCF0E6 at noaa.gov>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> While air temperatures rose dramatically in Greenland at the end of the
> Younger Dryas, it is unlikely that tropical oceans warmed anywhere near
> that much.  More important were changes in the area of warmth in the
> tropics.  That was also an increase from cold (glacial) conditions to
> warm (interglacial).  Your question regarding global warming is a
> further increase in interglacial temperatures.
>
> If corals were not under a wide range of other anthropogenic stresses,
> then the warming would probably be less of an issue.  The temperature
> problem is really compounded by the additive and synergistic effects of
> other stress imposed on the corals at the same time as the warming.
>
> Corals are not likely to go extinct.  However, it can take a long time
> for coral reef ecosystems to recover from severe stresses like those we
> are likely to see in the next century.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
>
> On Jul 21, 2004, at 5:38 PM, Fishy wrote:
>
> > Greetings all,
> > My sincerest apologies for wasting time and bandwidth with what Im sure
> > is an eye-rolling question for you all.
> > I have tried to answer this question myself but have found
> > insufficient research
> > to back up my response.
> > Can anyone help me ?
> >
> > "Why are marine biologists so worried by a forecast global warming
> > rise of 1.4-5.8 degrees occurring over the next century, when the
> > coral obviously survived a far more rapid and greater increase (~7 deg
> > over 10 years) about 15000 years ago (Younger Dryas) ?"
> >
> > My response is this:
> >
> > 1. Greenland never had hard corals and the temperature change was
> > probably local not global.
> > 2. Just because some corals survive, doesnt mean losing massive
> > diversity was a minor effect.
> > 3. Tropical coral reefs have been stable for a long time now - sudden
> > change will be disasterous.
> >
> > But thats the best I can offer.
> >
> > Hope someone out there has some patience.
> > Sorry again.
> >
> > Chris.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> --------------------------
> C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
> Director of the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology
>
> NOAA/National Climatic Data Center
> 325 Broadway E/CC23
> Boulder, CO 80305-3328
> Voice: 303-497-6172                  Fax: 303-497-6513
> Internet: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
> http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 11:28:16 +0900
> From: Hajime Kayanne <kayanne at eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Basic Question. Simple Answer ?
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID: <p06001f0bbd2776ebe09a@[211.206.102.106]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
>
> Before answering the question, scientists must know how much
> percentages of marine biologists (and earth scientists or other
> disciplinary scientists as well) are actually "so worried" (or a
> little worried or not worried) by the global warming forecast.
>
> It is now being investigated at
> http://www.esig.ucar.edu/ICRS/icrs_survey.html for those who
> participated in the 10ICRS.
> Please join this investigation before 1 August!
>
> Best wishes,
> Hajime
>
> >>"Why are marine biologists so worried by a forecast global warming
> >>rise of 1.4-5.8 degrees occurring over the next century, when the
> >>coral obviously survived a far more rapid and greater increase (~7
> >>deg over 10 years) about 15000 years ago (Younger Dryas) ?"
>
> -- 
> Hajime Kayanne
> Dept Earth & Planetary Science, Univ Tokyo
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Coral-List Digest, Vol 13, Issue 20
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