[Coral-List] Alert Diver Article on proposed coral listing

[mtupper]

Hi All,

Different sectors in society have different ideas of what the current
"scientific snake oil" is. If you follow the FishFolk listserv, there are are
several fisheries "experts" on that list stridently proclaiming that there is no
such thing as overfishing, and that global warming, pollution and habitat
destruction are the cause of all the world's fishery declines. No doubt if you
joined an agricultural listserv, you might hear that runoff is harmless and
nutrients only help the growth of seaweed and fish, etc.

On a global scale, billions of dollars ARE being invested into combating the
destructive activities that Jay listed, but the statement that "you wouldn't see
doubt from anyone" is naive. All of those destructive activities provide
livelihood for someone, and those people will fight tooth and nail to protect
their livelihood. Moreover, they often have a strong belief that their
livelihood does not really have a negative impact, and they will be quick to
blame any and all other activities for any tangible environmental damage. For
example, commercial fishermen are among the strongest proponents of
anthropogenic global warming. Is that because they really understand and accept
the science behind AGW? In most cases, probably not. It is simply in their best
(short-term) economic interest to point fingers at global warming and pollution
and divert attention away from the overfishing issue.

Resource managers need a reliable analysis of the relative impacts of global
warming, overfishing, pollution, sedimentation, habitat destruction, invasive
species, etc. on marine ecosystems, so that limited resources can be allocated
where they will provide the greatest benefit. There are lots of research groups
studying two or three of the above at a time, but I'm not sure if anyone is
looking at the whole picture. Perhaps it's simply too complex and
interconnected.

Cheers,
Mark Tupper



On May 14, 2013 at 5:26 AM Jay Burkos <jayburkos at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> Nice to see a number of great responses. Some of us are very
> skeptical of "man-made" global warming. We're not morons, Republican
> stooges, etc. we are the same people who shook our heads at the
> global cooling ruckus of the 1970's.
>
> Should we treat our planet with more care? Yes. But is the solution
> launching a micro-mirror shield to block sunlight as some warming
> fanatics proclaimed, or dumbing tons of iron into the ocean as another
> already did? No. That's insane...and dangerous.
>
> Can we start with solutions that address the problems in our nation?
> I spoke about exhaust issues earlier and received an assortment of
> answers - some sarcastic because I have the gall to question man-made
> warming. Others very informative. Thanks! But warming, though
> the modern scientific snake oil, doesn't address many other problems.
> Biodiversity, violations of CITES, agricultural run-off, invasive
> species (crown of thorns, zebra mussels, lion-fish), over fishing,
> destructive shrimp fishing practices, and drift nets all contribute
> massively to the decimation of species, reefs and our oceans. Those
> problems have directly identifiable solutions. Their effects are
> directly correlated to a specific human action.
>
> Rather than investing billions into taxation and GW work, I'd love to
> see coalitions of serious scientists attacking these all too
> destructive practices. You won't see doubt from anyone, and there
> will be measurable success.