[Coral-List] Re Thank you ISRS!

[Matt Nolan]

I'm having trouble following this line of reasoning.

If the scientists attending the ICRS event all decided not to attend,
would any flight be canceled?
and thus fuel that otherwise used be saved and CO2 footprint reduced?

Is there any evidence airlines added flights to meet the needs of the
ICRS event?

Its a resource that has already been allocated and one train of thought would be
to get the most value out of that resource instead of letting it go to waste.
Optimize the use of that resource.

I'm more likely believe they haven't.  But I remain open minded.
I've rarely attended a conference even though my employer typical would
have funded an attendance once per year.

If you want to argue the $$ spent supporting the airlines industry by attending
could be better put to use I understand that.

If you're looking for the development of future leaders, I'm probably
on the side
direct face-to-face human interaction all five senses being most
likely to achieve
success with the goal being inspiration of people to be leaders and advocates
for policies less damaging to the health of the earth.

Its nice to think decisions on a personal level can make a difference,
many do, however I feel I struggle with many emotionally valid choices
I've made that just don't make economic sense.

I'll never forget seeing a neighbor using their car to crush aluminum cans that
their kids were going to bring into the school recycling drive.  The irony....

On Wed, Jan 6, 2016 at 5:48 AM, Maoz Fine <Maoz.Fine at biu.ac.il> wrote:
> I tend to agree with Christian re ICRS.
> We tend to blame national economies and large industries for the outrageous greenhouse gas emissions but basically we may have a culture conflict. The “carbon-hungry” culture to which most of us belong to has an irresponsible demand for carbon. As carriers of the anti-climate change flag, we teach our students, try to educate the public through outreach, advise stakeholders, and spread the word about the hazards of continued emission trends.
> As scientists we should be the first to serve as an example and reduce our own carbon footprint. Yet we fly thousands of km to preach to the converted in conferences and meetings. So maybe scientists don’t fully believe in the consequences?
> Personally, I feel it is immoral being responsible for 5 tons of carbon emissions for an event such as the ICRS, while lecturing to students and the public that we will probably have to reduce such emissions globally to 2 tons per person per year. I felt so in the previous ICRS and didn’t attend and more so today. I just cannot go for a dive on beautiful reefs, think of their future and then hop on a transatlantic/Pacific flight the next day.
> Most of us already travel for research trips and family holidays and this  adds to a significant emission contribution. So as much as I would have liked to attend in person, meet friends and learn what’s new, I think we just cannot afford it in terms of our credibility.  I’m sure the ICRS is going to be an amazing event but it is time to consider a cultural and behavioral change even within our coral reef science community. To save reefs, we must take serious measures such as removing local disturbances and pushing hard to reduce emissions.
> I call for a discussion at the ICRS about this issue and means of maintaining scientist’s credibility while networking and communicating.  At a minimum, we should promote the use of teleconferencing and related internet technologies. Encouraging such means of communication will also generate a market for improved and advanced capabilities.
>
>
> Regards
> Maoz
>
> Maoz Fine PhD
> Professor of Marine Ecology
> The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University
> The Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science in Eilat, P.O.B 469 Eilat 88103, Israel
>
>
>   * regarding the ICRS13: are there studies that prove that these
>     massive CO2 emitting events are necessary for our science? and even
>     if yes, is it morally acceptable to put our science over the lives
>     of humans? If somebody asks us in 30 years why we did not pause our
>     global meetings to contribute to emission reductions and set a sign
>     for alternatives, will our answer be that we had to finish more
>     papers? we knew all the facts, but preferred to stick to our habits?!
>
>   * volunteers are needed? let's start calling them! let's use the
>     remaining time before ICRS and every sessions to contribute to
>     solutions. Let's ask for money to prepare these solutions. We can
>     start now.
>
> Cheers
>
> Christian
>
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