[Coral-List] "A Glimmer of Hope for Coral Reefs"
Stephen Palumbi
spalumbi at stanford.edu
Wed Jan 9 11:32:15 EST 2013
Some coverage of the paper describing the way some corals in American
Samoa resist bleaching temperatures, and a downloadable pdf are
available at
http://OceanScienceNow.com
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/01/coral-fights-back-against-climate-change
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-some-corals-are-always-prepared-to-take-the-heat-20130107,0,2216409.story
Whether these abilities in corals are good news for humans sort of
depends on us, not them.
Steve
On 1/8/13 2:12 PM, Steve Mussman wrote:
> Alina,
> The front page of today's Atlanta newspaper contained an encouraging
> headline proclaiming that Georgia Power will shut down 15 coal and oil-fired
> units in order to comply with federal rules aimed at reducing air pollution.
> A glimmer of hope? Not so fast.
> Even after these 15 facilities are taken offline Georgia Power will still
> operate more than 8,000 megawatts of coal-fueled generating units including
> Plant Scherer â the number one producer of greenhouse gases in the country.
> In addition, GP is still pushing for the development of a new plant which is
> expected to use between 3.65 and 4.27 million tons of coal per year and emit
> more than a thousand tons of hazardous particulate matter annually. The
> utility company promotes the development of the new coal plant by
> emphasizing the economic benefits:
> * Almost 1600 construction jobs
> * Over 44,000 person months of construction work
> * Almost double the countyâs tax base
> * Create over 120 new full-time direct jobs
> * Create over $7 million in new wages and benefits
> * Create over 200 new spin off jobs in the Washington County area
> * Require $1 to $4 million in long term support services
> * Generate up to $1 million in new business growth
> * Become a catalyst for new industry.
>
> So all we have to do to save the reefs and perhaps ourselves is to convince
> governments, industries and the general public to shift their priorities
> from immediate economic interests to the seemingly highly contested
> proposition that the long-term threats posed by anthropogenic climate change
> should be the greater concern.
> While trying to remain optimistic, I find myself relating more and more to
> Mike's characterization of a passenger on the Titanic.
> Please don't give up, just recognize that we have lots to do before we can
> say that we've sighted our version of the Carpathia on the horizon.
> Regards,
> Steve
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: "Szmant, Alina"
> >Sent: Jan 8, 2013 11:14 AM
> >To: Michael Risk , Douglas Fenner
> >Cc: coral list
> >Subject: Re: [Coral-List] "A Glimmer of Hope for Coral Reefs"
> >
> >Article in today's business section of our newspaper: investment in clean
> energy sources is down this past year. Some businesses have failed. Venture
> capitalists don't want to take the risk. Government subsidies are down. I
> don't see much glimmer out there....
> >
> >*************************************************************************
> >Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> >Professor of Marine Biology
> >Center for Marine Science and Dept of Biology and Marine Biology
> >University of North Carolina Wilmington
> >5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> >Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> >tel: 910-962-2362 fax: 910-962-2410 cell: 910-200-3913
> >http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> >*******************************************************
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Michael Risk
> >Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 9:09 AM
> >To: Douglas Fenner
> >Cc: coral list
> >Subject: Re: [Coral-List] "A Glimmer of Hope for Coral Reefs"
> >
> >Hi Doug.
> >
> >Some of the recent postings put me in mind of passengers on the Titanic
> saying to each other, "It's OK, the Carpathian will pick us up."
> >
> >Rather than see so much excellent work devoted to finding corals that can
> survive hot oceans, or dredging remnants up from deep reefs to fill the
> gaps, I would rather see more effort given to trying to initiate change in
> those governments and industries that have put reefs on their present
> downward trajectory. And the cynic in me thinks that some of those same
> governments and industries are delighted to see us clutching at straws.
> >
> >Mike
> >
> >On 2013-01-07, at 4:00 PM, Douglas Fenner wrote:
> >
> >> Research by Standford University researchers on coral tolerance for
> >> high temperatures in some reef pools in American Samoa, just
> >> published.. Popular article in "Science Now" (open access) with a link to
> the original paper:
> >>
> >> http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/01/a-glimmer-of-hope-for-co
> >> ral-reef.html
> >>
> >> --
> >> Dept. Marine& Wildlife Resources, American Samoan Government PO Box
> >> 7390 Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> >Michael Risk
> >riskmj at mcmaster.ca
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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