[Coral-List] Rau, McLeod and Hoegh-Guldberg outline strategies to brace for impact in the face

Steve Mussman sealab at earthlink.net
Sat Sep 1 11:25:56 EDT 2012


Jessica, 
 As a PADI Dive Master and concerned citizen you can certainly
make a difference through effectively communicating your concerns 
with other divers. It has been my experience that the recreational 
diving industry does not believe that taking a direct approach to
addressing rising atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change is in 
it’s best interest regardless of the threats these factors hold for
our coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. You can certainly 
encourage divers to help in evaluating even unconventional marine 
management strategies to deal with these issues, but I don’t believe
the authors of the article were necessarily advocating that we abandon 
all hope in dealing with the core problem of stabilizing and/or reducing 
atmospheric CO2 levels. In truth, there are still too many divers and  
non-divers (and geologists?) that just don’t accept the fact 
that a problem exists.

Regards,
 Steve 



-----Original Message-----
>From: "Reese, Jessica" <Jessica.Reese at CZS.org>
>Sent: Aug 30, 2012 12:41 PM
>To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>Subject: [Coral-List] Rau,	McLeod and Hoegh-Guldberg outline strategies to brace for impact in	the face
>
>Coral Listers,
>
> 
>
>Mother Jones ran an article, today, about a recently published
>open-access paper by Rau, McLeod, and Hoegh-Guldberg (2012) entitled The
>need for new ocean conservation strategies in a high-carbon dioxide
>world. The popular press article can be accessed here:
>http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/08/crazy-ideas-coral-reefs
>
> 
>
>The Mother Jones article, unwisely, presents the ideas as "crazy", and
>even goes so far as to picture tube sponges being sheltered from thermal
>stress by beach umbrellas.  The open access article, however does not
>strike me as crazy at all. It's a call to action for the scientific
>community to look to new management and conservation strategies, for the
>evaluation of their success, followed by policies to support those
>silver bullets when and if they become identified. The open-access paper
>can be accessed here:
>http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1555.h
>tml
>
> 
>
>As zoo educator who is well-versed in the science of climate change and
>coral reefs, and a passionate PADI Dive Master, I worry constantly about
>how these ecosystems will survive. Since December 2009, it has become
>abundantly clear to me that we are pitifully off-course to stabilize or
>adequately mitigate our global CO2 concentrations. Yet, divers, all over
>the world continue to enjoy these resources, often without any education
>about what stressors they are facing. Do you, the coral scientific
>community see a role for the recreational diver to engage in citizen
>science action to help these ecosystems brace for impact and support
>their resilience? The strategies that are recommended in the paper
>suggest possibilities such as using shade cloths to reduce thermal
>stress, electrical currents to reduce bleaching and encourage growth,
>selective breeding for heat tolerance, and managing chemistry by adding
>carbonates, silicates, and dissolved bicarbonates sound like exciting
>possibilities and inspire me to join in to help in any way that I can.
>While many of these experiments will be done in a lab, there may be
>cause to try some in the field, which sounds very labor intensive.
>Please let me know if you need any assistance in following Rau, McLeod,
>and Hoegh-Gulberg's recommendations. I would love to get recreational
>divers involved in the process of building resilience.
>
> 
>
>Best Fishes, <))))><
>
> 
>
>Jess Reese
>
>Interpretive Programs Coordinator
>
>Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo
>
>3300 Golf Rd. 
>
>Brookfield, IL 60513
>
>Direct Phone (708) 688-8861
>
> 
>
>_______________________________________________
>Coral-List mailing list
>Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list



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