[Coral-List] Objective Science?

[Steve Mussman]

The good news is that peer-reviewed studies relating to
corals published in accredited scientific journals is
exactly what needs to be focused on when examining the 
issue of climate change and its impact on reef ecology.
We should all be open to new, credible information
regardless of whether it reinforces or contradicts an 
established predisposition.
 
There are many aspects of the current climate regime that 
create uncertainties for those of us concerned with the future
of marine ecosystems. Rest assured that there is no resistance
to the consideration of the science in the study referenced. 
Only a reminder that it is the science that should be evaluated, 
not the politics. 

I might point out that one of the sites recommended for further 
information regarding that study (www.australianclimatemadness.com)
is clearly interested in more than pure scientific concerns. 

None of us should be asking for more than to allow real and 
unaffected science to decidedly rule the day.

  Steve
 

-----Original Message-----
>From: Bill Allison <allison.billiam at gmail.com>
>Sent: Feb 8, 2012 10:45 PM, >To: GlennPatton <glenn at glennpatton.com>
>Cc: Coral List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Objective Science?
>
>At this time temperature seems to be the primary controlling factor. The
>authors plainly expect calcium to be a limiting factor in the future.
>Curious that wasn't mentioned in the abstract but I suppose it would have
>decreased readership and opportunities for faux-controversy.
>
>Here is the closing para:
>"Seawater carbon chemistry is a key determinant of coral calcification, and
>the potential for future anthropogenic-influenced declines in carbonate
>saturation state, and hence coral calcification, is cause for serious
>concern (*2*<http://www.sciencemag.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/content/335/6068/593.full#ref-2>,
>*4*<http://www.sciencemag.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/content/335/6068/593.full#ref-4>,
>*7*<http://www.sciencemag.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/content/335/6068/593.full#ref-7>).
>However, we conclude that the rate of change in the thermal environment of
>coral reefs is currently the primary driver of change in coral
>calcification rates. Warming SSTs are resulting in (i) increased
>calcification rates reported here in the southeast Indian Ocean, where
>marginal reefs have taken advantage of warmer conditions, and (ii) recent
>declines reported elsewhere for more typical reef environments where
>thermal optima for calcification have been exceeded or resulted in setbacks
>in growth as a result of thermally induced bleaching. Whether the former is
>sustainable as oceans continue to warm is another question."
>
>On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 3:53 AM, GlennPatton <glenn at glennpatton.com> wrote:
>
>> FYI, A peer-reviewed study that I have not seen referenced on this list.
>>
>> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6068/593.abstract
>>
>> Growth of Western Australian Corals in the Anthropocene
>> Timothy F. Cooper, Rebecca A. O’Leary, Janice M. Lough
>>
>> Abstract
>> Anthropogenic increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide lead to warmer sea
>> surface temperatures and altered ocean chemistry. Experimental evidence
>> suggests that coral calcification decreases as aragonite saturation drops
>> but increases as temperatures rise toward thresholds optimal for coral
>> growth. In situ studies have documented alarming recent declines in
>> calcification rates on several tropical coral reef ecosystems. We show
>> there
>> is no widespread pattern of consistent decline in calcification rates of
>> massive Porites during the 20th century on reefs spanning an 11°
>> latitudinal
>> range in the southeast Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Increasing
>> calcification rates on the high-latitude reefs contrast with the downward
>> trajectory reported for corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and
>> provide
>> additional evidence that recent changes in coral calcification are
>> responses
>> to temperature rather than ocean acidification.
>>
>> Other info about the study.
>>
>>
>> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2012/02/01/335.6068.593.DC1/Cooper.S
>> OM.pdf
>>
>>
>> http://data.aims.gov.au/metadataviewer/faces/view.xhtml?uuid=4f39c641-8450-4
>> ea0-b2b6-4f3d582645f8
>>
>> Other references to this study.
>>
>> http://www.australianclimatemadness.com/2012/02/warmer-waters-good-for-coral
>> -growth/
>>
>>
>> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=corals-more-threatened-by-t
>> emperature-than-acidifying-ocean
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Glenn Patton
>> www.glennpatton.com
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
>
>-- 
>________________________________
>Is this how science illuminates "reality"? - "the meaning of an episode was
>not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the talk which brought it
>out only as a glow brings out a haze."
>- narrator's comment about Marlow's tale-telling, in Heart of Darkness
>(Conrad)
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