[Coral-List] Reef scientists benefit from global change?

Douglas Fenner douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
Sat May 14 04:15:24 EDT 2016


Gene,
   Where did I write "money and ego drives just about everything humans
do."  Those are your words and ideas, not mine.

     Are you saying that firemen are greedy and egotistical because they
are paid to protect society from damaging fires? Are police greedy and
egotistical because they get paid to protect society from crime?  Are reef
scientists greedy and egotistical if they are paid by society to try to
protect reefs that provide ecosystem services to people?  Are you saying
that since they get paid, that makes them greedy and egotistical and that's
why they do their jobs?  Would it be fair to ask them to do it all for
free?  I assume you’ve been paid for your scientific work, isn't that fair?

     Actually, I'm old enough I can remember when there were a variety of
things that were known to threaten coral reefs, but climate change or
global warming was not yet recognized to threaten coral reefs.  I think
coral reef scientists were drawn to those things because of an interest in
how the threats work and what we could do about them.  That was well before
climate change became a big issue.  There are still many reef scientists
and managers working on threats to reefs other than climate change or
global warming, and most of their work is funded.  There are many things
that threaten reefs other than climate change, including African dust and
sunscreens.  You're well known for contributing to the knowledge of the
threat of  African dust, and deservedly so.  I don't put that down to
greed, I put it down to good science, which you are well known for.

    Cheers,  Doug

On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 5:01 AM, Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
wrote:

> Thanks David. I had no idea what this organization was about. I do not
> surf these things up.  I just read stuff people send me and make my own
> decision about their substance. In this case  I have been seeing
> retractions in SCIENCE on a regular basis for several years. And yes
> they are usually in the sociology and medical fields. The names of the
> authors of rejected articles also tells you a lot. Nevertheless I think
> everyone can agree that the whole climate thing has led to an abundance
> of funding for coral reef scientists (mainly biologists). Before climate
> became an issue (as any reef researcher over 50 can remember) funding
> was scarce.  As Doug Fenner has pointed out,(in many words) money and
> ego drives just about everything humans do. Its always good to remember:
> "its often difficult to separate good motives from bad motives" Gene
>
> --
>
>
> No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
> ------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
> E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
> University of South Florida
> College of Marine Science Room 221A
> 140 Seventh Avenue South
> St. Petersburg, FL 33701
> <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
> Tel 727 553-1158
> ---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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-- 
Douglas Fenner
Contractor for NOAA NMFS, and consultant
"have regulator, will travel"
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

phone 1 684 622-7084

Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
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"Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim Beever.
  "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts."-
Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The political hurdles facing a carbon tax- and how to overcome them.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/26/11470804/carbon-tax-political-constraints

Earth's hot streak continues for a record 11 months.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/earths-hot-streak-continues-record-152700358.html

Solar can power more than 100 times America's current electricity needs, a
new report finds

http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs/solar-can-power-more-than-100-times-americas-current-electricity-needs-new-report-finds

website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner

blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope


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