[Coral-List] Reassessing Coral Reefs

[Steve Mussman]

   Dear Judy, Julian and Listers,

   I believe all of us realize that even if we could put together a coalition
   comprised of coral scientists and diving industry leaders dedicated to
   saving  coral  reefs  at all costs, we would still be facing an uphill
   battle against those who view these issues through an antithetical prism.
   Still  there  is a  recognition  of some level of moral responsibility
   which speaks  to many coral  scientists  and divers as a result of our
   connatural and inherent connection to the underwater world. So although I
   have become somewhat cynical in formulating my opinion as to how all this
   will ultimately play out, in the end I agree that we need to keep trying.
   As Judy said, every bit helps and there is plenty of work to be done. Coral
   scientists should be shearching for creative ways to get their findings out
   beyond the shielded confines of scientific journals and into the wider
   public domain. Diving industry leaders ([1]http://www.dema.org/?page=About)
   should be reexamining their own mission statement while working to realign
   themselves with an ethical and transparent commitment to promote sustainable
   growth in safe recreational diving and snorkeling while protecting the
   underwater environment. There is ample evidence that the industry's stated
   goal  of  conserving and protecting natural aquatic resources is being
   dishonored by their refusal to acknowledge the impacts of climate change.
   Julian  and  I  are  separated  by a vast geographical divide, yet our
   experiences and frustrations are indistinguishable.There is much that needs
   to be done. Not the least of which is to make it perfectly clear as to what
   the future holds for the world's coral reefs if we continue to do business
   as usual ignoring the unmitigated effects of anthropogenic stressors, both
   local and global.

   Steve

     -----Original Message-----
     From: Judith Lang
     Sent: Mar 27, 2015 1:20 PM
     To: Steve Mussman , "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov list"
     Subject: [Coral-List] Reassessing Coral Reefs

   Hi again Steve,

   Acting alone, coral scientists can't resolve the issue of our excessive
   human consumption of fossil fuels. If you and your allies can convince the
   dive industry to take climate change seriously, that would be splendid
   because every bit helps; so I echo Peter Sale's comment that, "People might
   even listen to dive industry spokespeople who argue for action to save coral
   reefs. Go for it."

   For those interested in mitigation,

   We  can also add our voices to groups that are trying to reach a wider
   audience. For that reason, I'll share my experiences with one of them, and
   perhaps others can do the same with additional examples.

   Noting that, "Politicians don't create political will, they respond to it,"
   the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) is a grassroots advocacy organization. CCL
   is  focused  on  generating the political will to pass legislation for
   revenue-neutral  carbon  taxes (which is also called a "carbon fee and
   dividend"). Members lobby politicians, plus their staffers, and engage with
   the public via letters or op-eds in newspapers and in person at community
   events.   It   is   growing   rapidly,   both  in  North  America  and
   internationally, from 42 chapters in 2011 to 257 today. Countries with CCL
   chapters currently include some with reefs, some with overseas territories
   containing reefs, and some with foreign aid projects in tropical countries
   that have reefs
   (see [2]https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/#Chapters).

   In  the  US, this approach for starting the process of reducing carbon
   emissions has been endorsed by some prominent scientists, corporations and
   Republicans.  It's  also mentioned with increasing frequency in the US
   national media, but doesn't yet have a sufficiently large ground swell of
   public support that the US Congress feels any need to respondâso there's
   still plenty of work to be done.

   Judy

References

   1. http://www.dema.org/?page=About
   2. https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/#Chapters