[Coral-List] CO2 and the inconvenient truth

Paul Hoetjes phoetjes at cura.net
Thu Nov 2 08:54:44 EST 2006


   Dear Tom, James,
   I  think  you  need to also consider this publication (a guide to help
   local  managers  respond  to  the fact of bleaching, and yes, probably
   also  handy  to  find  funding)  from the viewpoint of the non-wealthy
   nations.  In Curacao (Dutch Caribbean) at least, but I suspect in most
   small  island  developing  states,  it  is  very  hard to convince the
   decision makers of the need to protect the reefs and the way NOT to go
   about  it is to stress the effects of global warming to them, which is
   locally  considered  a  hopeless  problem, and about which they are in
   flagrant  denial. The fact is that the easy way out for governments of
   such  islands  is  to say, "what's the use of allowing conservation of
   coral  reefs  to hamstring our economic development if the coral reefs
   are going to be gone anyway due to climate change, against which we as
   a  small  nation  are  powerless." It gives them an excuse to not curb
   nutrient   and   chemical  pollution,  erosion,  uncontrolled  coastal
   development, and overfishing of the reefs. This is an attitude we have
   to  fight on a daily basis in our islands, basically at the expense of
   being able to also advocate local CO2 reduction
   The  report  you  are reviling, finally provides us with ammunition to
   counter  this  situation.  It  basically  says  that of course climate
   change  will  destroy  the  reefs if it doesn't stop, but if the world
   does   manage  to  stabilize  temperatures  at  some  higher  but  not
   catastrophic  level  (which is probably the best we can hope for since
   realistically  speaking it is already too late for anything else), and
   you  still want to have at least some reefs left, you had better start
   attending  to  your  local  problems  while the big guys get their act
   together.
   This  report  finally  allows  us to beat the decision makers over the
   head  with  (it  is pretty heavy)the need to locally reduce greenhouse
   gas  emissions,  AND  to  safeguard  the reefs by costly/unpopular but
   sustainable  solutions  for  waste  water,  solid  waste,  and coastal
   development problems, by providing a framework which acknowledges that
   bleaching  is  with  us to stay (until the wealthy nations - but let's
   not forget Russia, India, and China either) do something about it, but
   then  goes on to say that it makes the need to continue addressing all
   the  other threats to our coral reefs even more essential because they
   work  synergistically  with bleaching and will kill off the reefs even
   faster. It may be restating all the things you and I already know, but
   it  nicely  integrates  bleaching  with all the other threats in a way
   that can be more easily understood by decision makers.
   I assume that this is why all the hundreds of managers from all around
   the  world  gathered  at the ITMEMS meeting (by the way, they were not
   'paid'  by the Australian and US governments; travel and lodging costs
   of  a  number were covered, not only by those governments, but also by
   UNEP,  and  ICRI,  allowing  managers who would otherwise not have the
   means to do so, a unique opportunity to network and exchange knowledge
   with  their  peers)  welcomed  the  publication  and did not raise any
   criticism  such as you do. It's a shame you could not be at this forum
   uniting  protected area managers from around the world to present your
   views there in order to generate some healthy discussion.
   Best,
   Paul Hoetjes
   Thomas Goreau wrote:

/usr/bin/arc: /usr/bin/arc

Dear James,

It's nice to see that somebody is willing to point out that the king  
has no clothes! This is just more of the same old stuff. In effect  
they are using bleaching as a funding opportunity to push for all the  
standard things that, though desirable in themselves, actually have  
nothing at all to do with coral bleaching or restoration. Basically  
they are saying "don't step on or throw anchors on bleached corals  
because they are just not in the mood for  it right now! And please  
give us more money for monitoring and setting up marine parks", which  
are full of dead and dying corals that can't be protected from the  
real causes of harm, global warming, new diseases, and land-based  
sources of nutrients.  All the stuff about resilience and killing  
healthy corals by moving them into bad neighbourhoods is silly too.  
The funding agency is wasting vast sums on these highly paid  
consultants who still don't get it, neither climate change nor new  
diseases nor tertiary sewage treatment nor serious coral reef  
restoration. This report was handed out to a meeting of hundreds of  
marine park managers paid by the Australian and American governments  
and international agencies to attend a conference next to dead and  
dying reefs in Cozumel as a hired audience for this propaganda. I'm  
sure most of them saw right through it.

Best wishes,
Tom


  

Message: 5
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 09:41:40 -0500
From: "Dr. James M Cervino" [1]<cnidaria at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Coral-List] CO2 and the inconvenient truth
To: [2]coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Message-ID: [3]<a06230901c16e61631b9f@[192.168.1.104]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

Dear Coral Ecologists, Physiologists, and Pathologists,

Since this is a discussion forum that focuses on the latest issues
affecting coral reef health I have a consensus question pertaining to
this shocking new report titled NEW CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT GUIDE
PROVIDES STRATEGIES  TO CONSERVE WORLD'S CORAL REEFS that was
published on 10-11-2006 by various agencies.

I am giving a presentation tonight in NYC at 4pm focusing on thermal
coral reef bleaching, before the showing of the Al Gore Film titled
'An Inconvenient Truth'.  I have a few questions for all of the
dedicated scientists on this list regarding this latest strategy that
is supposed to "increase our understanding of the phenomenon of coral
bleaching".

#1) Knowing that CO2 and other heat trapping gasses produced by the
worlds wealthiest countries are responsible for the massive heat
stroke corals are undergoing in the last 25 years is it honest to
implement at strategy for the world to follow that will simply not
work?

When asked tonight if the 3 following suggestions below will help
save the worlds reefs what shall I say:

The Repor Says:
(1) increase observations of reef condition before, during and after
bleaching to increase information and understanding of impacts and
areas that may be especially resistant to bleaching, (2) reduce
stressors (e.g., pollution, human use) on reefs during severe
bleaching events to help corals survive the event, and (3) design and
implement reef management strategies to support reef recovery and
resilience, including reducing land- based pollution and protecting
coral areas that may resist bleaching and serve as sources of coral
larvae for "reseeding" reefs.

#2) Why are we not speaking out against this report? Is it out fear
of not getting funding from federal agencies?  Are we so afraid to
speak the Inconvenient Truth and say that the only way to save corals
from heat stroke is to DRASTICALLY reduce carbon emissions beyond the
Kyoto Protocol? I respect James Hansen (formally at NASA) for
speaking up and telling the real Inconvenient Truth Regarding global
warming!  Can the coral reef scientists speak out and say that this
federal report is spurious in nature?

#3) According to strategy#3 of the report : Will the USA begin to
reduce the large amounts of sewage and fertilizers that are spilling
out into the reefs?  Can someone point me in the direction of this
new amazing plan that is part of a federally funded program that
begins to implement tertiary treatment in South Florida and the US
Virgin Islands?

Since I was part of a large population that helped fund this federal
report from the tax dollars deducted from our checks it is not honest
to say that if we follow these suggestions from this federally funded
report that it will help corals survive climate change ? We need to
protest this report.

I needed this report to jump start my presentation prep, James



Oct. 11, 2006
NEW CORAL REEF MANAGEMENT GUIDE PROVIDES STRATEGIES  TO CONSERVE
WORLD'S CORAL REEFS

Innovative strategies to conserve the world's coral reefs are
included in a new guide released today by NOAA, the Australian Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and The World Conservation Union
(IUCN). "A Reef Manager's Guide to Coral Bleaching" will provide
coral reef managers with the latest scientific information on the
causes of coral bleaching and new management strategies for
responding to this significant threat to coral reef ecosystems.

The reef manager's guide, developed in partnership with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and
other organizations, grew out of a 2002 resolution by the U.S. Coral
Reef Task Force calling for development of information and tools for
coral reef managers to address threats from coral bleaching. The reef
manager's guide can be found online at [4]www.coralreef.noaa.gov and
includes contributions from over 50 experts in coral bleaching and
coral reef management.

  "By implementing actions suggested in the guide, coral reef managers
are in a unique position to increase our understanding of the
phenomenon of coral bleaching, to take meaningful action during a
bleaching event, and to develop strategies to support the natural
resilience of reefs in the face of long-term changes in climate,"
said David Kennedy, manager of NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation
Program, which helped produce the guide.

  The reef manager's guide reviews management actions that can help
restore and maintain resilience of coral reef ecosystems. This review
draws on a growing body of research on ways to support the ability of
coral reef ecosystems to survive and recover from bleaching events.
The reef manager's guide includes specific guidance and case studies
on how to prepare bleaching response plans, assess impacts from
bleaching, engage the public, manage activities that may  impact
reefs during bleaching events, identify resilient reef areas, and
incorporate information regarding reef resilience into marine
protected area design.

The reef manager's guide also supports a major goal of the U.S.
Administration's Climate Change Science Program - to "Understand the
sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed
ecosystems and human systems to climate and related global changes" -
by providing managers with options for sustaining and improving
ecological systems and related goods and services, given projected
global changes.

-2-

The guide identifies three key actions reef managers can take to help
reefs survive and recover from mass bleaching events:  (1) increase
observations of reef condition before, during and after bleaching to
increase information and understanding of impacts and areas that may
be especially resistant to bleaching, (2) reduce stressors (e.g.,
pollution, human use) on reefs during severe bleaching events to help
corals survive the event, and (3) design and implement reef
management strategies to support reef recovery and resilience,
including reducing land- based pollution and protecting coral areas
that may resist bleaching and serve as sources of coral larvae for
"reseeding" reefs.



--
**************************************************
Dr. James M. Cervino, MS, Ph.D.
Marine Pathology
Department of Biological & Health Sciences
Pace University New York NYC
Phone: (917) 620-5287
Web site: [5]http://www.globalcoral.org
***************************************************

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References

   1. mailto:cnidaria at earthlink.net
   2. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   3. mailto:a06230901c16e61631b9f@[192.168.1.104]
   4. http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/
   5. http://www.globalcoral.org/
   6. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   7. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
   8. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   9. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list



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