[Coral-List] Consensus statements in general

Pedro M Alcolado gmalcolado at gmail.com
Tue Oct 27 18:44:28 EDT 2015


I support the consensus statement recently put out by the ISRS.
Best wishes for all,
Pedro M. Alcolado

On 10/27/15, Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Dear Listers,
>
> As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recognize that coral scientists are not
> of one mind, but I need to be able to gauge the level of support that exists
> for the consensus statement recently put out by the ISRS. (It can be found
> here):
> https://www.openchannels.org/sites/default/files/ISRS%20Consensus%20Statement%20on%20Coral%20Bleaching%20%26%20Climate%20Change.pdf
>
> It differs somewhat from an earlier (2012) ICRS consensus statement found
> here: http://www.icrs2012.com/Consensus_Statement.htm
>
> I understand that there are differences between these two declarations, but
> I want to focus on their similarities.
>
> They both emphasize the fact that climate change presents perhaps the
> ultimate threat to coral reefs. As I see it, the ISRS statement focuses only
> on CO2 emissions whereas the ICRS statement goes on to mention more about
> the role of local stressors.
>
> Rather than debate every minutia, is it accurate to assume that the coral
> science community generally supports the spirit and intent of both
> statements?  I think that it does, but quietude is difficult to interpret. I
> need feedback and getting scientists to commit is apparently like herding
> cats. I don't expect 8,000 responses, but can someone just step up and
> publicly confirm or reject my basic supposition?
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net>
>>Sent: Oct 23, 2015 11:49 AM
>>To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>>Subject: [Coral-List] Consensus statement and sunscreens
>>
>>I recognize that coral scientists are not of one mind, but can I say
>> categorically that the consensus statement recently put out by the ISRS
>> (International Society for Reef Studies) has as close to universal backing
>> as is possible considering the divergent nature of independent thought?  I
>> want to promote it within the diving industry, but don't want to portray
>> it as having a unifying level of support if that turns out to be a
>> distortion of the facts.
>>
>>As for sunscreen toxicity, I am concerned that statements like "any small
>> effort to reduce oxybenzone pollution could mean that a coral reef
>> survives a long, hot summer, or that a degraded area recovers" could be
>> misleading in that it may be taken to suggest that we can offset the
>> impacts of other local and global stressors if we can just manage to
>> eliminate sunblock. PADI's website now contains a cautionary message about
>> sunscreens and their effect on corals and even goes further to mention
>> that other threats such as coastal pollution, overfishing, and marine
>> debris are a greater threat to marine life . . . but still there remains
>> no mention of climate change.
>>
>>Steve Mussman
>>Sea Lab Diving
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>
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