[Coral-List] THE NEXT66

Mon Dec 10 10:06:51 EST 2012

Good Day Phil,

Well said!  We know that ecosystems are failing and we know why.  What is
lacking is individual, industrial, and political will-power to reverse the
trend. 

Q 

Quenton Dokken, Ph.D.
President
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
www.gulfmex.org

361-882-3939 office
361-442-6064 cell

qdokken at gulfmex.org

Mail Address:
    PMB 51  5403 Everhart Rd.
    Corpus Christi, TX 78411

Office:
     3833 South Staples
     Ste.  S-214
     Corpus Christi, TX 78411

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Phil Dustan
Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2012 10:02 AM
To: Coral List
Subject: [Coral-List] THE NEXT66

Dear Listers,
 With all the talk about the *NEXT66* species (sort of like the Chicago 7?)
I'd like to add the following into the debate:

    Two very remarkable events occurred on December 7 that were separated by
about 30 years: Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 which began the US
involvement in WW2 and astronaut Jack Schmidt photographed the earth from
space on his way to the moon onboard Apollo 17. Both offer insight into the
debate about the *Next 66* which will morph into the *Next128*  then *1000,*
then the ocean will be declared off limits. Astronaut Schmidt's photograph,
taken while under instructions not to take pictures by NASA, revolutionized
the way we regard out planet. Some suggest it began the Age of Ecology while
others have seen the Blue Marble as a photographic manifesto for global
justice. Whatever your preference, the photo remains the most widely printed
(used) photograph ever taken - and probably the most influential for
humankind.

So now we come to WW2. The United States along with its allies was faced
with fighting two major wars that threatened our very existence. We
mobilized and backed our fears with a whopping 53% of GDP contributing to
the war effort. Luckily, this was enough to do the job and we owe a great
debt of gratitude to those who gave more with the currency of their lives.
The country and its allies did what it took to get the job done.

 We are now facing another type of global threat that is going to take human
civilization down a long long hard miserable path. In fact it already has.
Our beloved reefs are just some of the beginning indicators of what's in
store for humanity. If we want to get serious about the imminent threat we
are going to have to roll our sleeves up and fight the real battle.
Right now we are just playing. Government programs are watching, monitoring,
probing to figure out the mechanisms when we pretty much have identified the
threats and know the causes. The NOAA budget for coral reef related programs
has ballooned along with their jurisdiction - but the reefs are still dying.
We have "protected" the Florida Keys with a "Sanctuary" but the reefs now
have about 1-2% of the living coral they had in 1975 when the first NOAA
sanctuary began in Key Largo. Today, as I write this, there is a massive
coral disease outbreak on Kauai which appears to mirror what happened in the
Florida Keys. Monitoring has satisfied the legal regulations, helped to ease
people's fears ('cause we got our finger on the pulse so to speak), and made
the scientists happy with their grants to study the issue. BUT THE REEFS ARE
STILL DYING.

No matter how many of the species we claim to protect, until we commit some
real effort to the local, regional, and global issues the reefs will
continue to die. Conservatively, it will probably take two or more times the
level of commitment we made in WW2 to begin to turn the problem around.
Anything else is child's play and done to help us placate our collective
political conscience. You can protect more by listing them on lists which
will probably hinder rather than help obtain a deeper understanding of the
problems - but the paperwork will be "minimal" we are told. But its not
enough to even say we have started to get a handle on the problem on this
December 7, 2012. At this point its all pretty much a very sad joke with a
lot of money being spent by well-intending persons to measure and map the
disappearance of reefs, rainforests, species, fish, and any other aspect of
nature you want to name! The global predictions have already revealed that
temperature rise and ocean acidification are going to increase if  we
continue continuing......along with the human population.

So we need to do more, and more and more. We need to start by really using
the knowledge we have about the problem at effort levels that
will actually accomplish something.   But as so many of your have said over
the years - its not just reefs and its not just monitoring, or listing, or
the things we do as scientists. "It's the Blue Marble stupid" and thanks to
Astronaut Schmidt for  making that so apparent some many years ago.  We
Earthlings need to get it through our thick, politically protected skulls
that the Long Term Really Has No Price...  just like WW2.
Think about it when New Years Resolution time rolls around.

Happy Holidays,
        Phil

PS- Check out EOS, Vol 93:49 4 Dec 2012 for the Blue Marble story.

--
Phillip Dustan
Department of Biology
College of Charleston
Charleston SC  20401
Charleston SC
843 953 8086 (voice)
843-224-3321 (m)
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