[Coral-List] Save the date - Intl. Scuba Diving Sustainability Workshop - 19-21 October

Steve Mussman sealab at earthlink.net
Fri Sep 21 18:34:03 UTC 2018



Hi Doug,  

The Reef Tourism Climate Declaration adopted by the Far North Queensland marine park tour operators is an encouraging development to be sure. Now the question begs, is there anything that can be done to encourage the broader U.S. (and international) scuba diving industries to put forth a similar position statement?  As you said, what can be done to get them to recognize the costs associated with inaction?  At times I tend to agree with Alex that it will take a new regime of leadership within the industry for things to change. After all, people tend to be dug in and immovable on the subject of climate change.   On the other hand, those Australian tour operators were no different than their American counterparts in that they initially attacked the science (and scientists) before reversing course and ultimately acknowledging that the problem was in fact anthropogenic climate change and not some anti-business conspiracy conjured up by a group of subversive, anti-establishment scientists.  From the articles I’ve read, it seems that the deciding factor in those marine park tour operators’ metamorphosis was the fact that they came face to face with the inevitable results of the bleaching event and didn’t like what they saw. (Maybe some listers closer to the situation can shine some light on the dynamics if I’m mistaken). One would hope that each and every coral reef tour operator around the world (as well as dive industry insiders) would recognize the implications, but then again, often people learn hard lessons only by experiencing things first hand.  

Regards,  
Steve  




Sent from my iPad  

On Sep 18, 2018, at 5:40 PM, Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:  

Steve,  
It is fantastic to read that the tourism operators in Australia have made this change in attitude. The previous attitude was so short sighted. Should we lie to the public that everything is OK? Granted, we need to make very clear the difference between bleaching, which is not a good thing, and coral mortality, which is the really bad thing. Corals can bleach and recover, and that is vastly better than bleaching and dying. The majority of corals on the GBR survived and are alive and you can still dive at places that look fantastic, though some areas had high mortality. The mortality is "simply awful" as Charlie Veron said. But the GBR is FAR from all dead. Tourists need to hear the truth, the full truth, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was much worse at places like Chagos (which has now had 90% mortality twice (!) and recovered once and perhaps mortality has been as bad in some others (not all at the same time). The rest of csociety needs to know the truth even more, and that truth includes the fact that this is all going to get much, much worse if society, led by government, doesn't take strong action. Because governments and societies have dawdled and not taken action for decades, we now have to take much stronger action to meet the goals of limiting the damage. The lead time we had to fix the problem was squandered. The deniers have delayed action, they've been super successful in their disinformation campaigns sowing doubt in the US and Australia (see: Losing the earth: The decade we almost stopped climate change. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html). Australia has a particular problem that the leading newspaper in each of their largest cities is owned by Rupert Murdock, who orders his newspapers to print denier propaganda frequently. (Correct me if I'm wrong. I lived 6 yrs in Australia and absolutely love the country, in many ways they are brilliant leaders, but not on climate change so far. And of course many in Australia want to take action, including probably almost all the coral reef researchers. A recent survey of non-scientists in Australia found 68% supported the Paris targets, and the business community wants action, see reference below) The USA and Australia are the most outstanding resisters to facing up to the reality. Australia is important for it's ability to lead, for having 16% of the world's reefs, and the fact that it is the world's largest exporter of coal. The US is having worse and worse forest fires each year, with smoke polluting the air so bad that this summer Seattle had more polluted air than Beijing or probably Dehli. Hurricane damage is up. Australia is hotter than ever with terrible drought. The future includes heat waves that will kill huge numbers of people. Australia and the western US will have worse and worse droughts that kill vast numbers of livestock and really hurts farmers, and dries up water sources like the Colorado river that makes the existence of cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas possible. And the big fossil fuel company executives and the stockholders are counting their money as the denier campaigns keep the governments fiddling while Rome burns. This is a solvable problem, we know the solution, but we have got to get going in a serious way. For our own good as well as the reefs. It will cost a tiny fraction of the amount inaction will cost.  
Cheers, Doug  

"If by some miracle we are able to limit warming to two degrees, we will only have to negotiate the extinction of the world's tropical reefs, sea-level rise of several meters and the abandonment of the Persian Gulf." "The prospect of a five-degree warming has prompted some of the world's leading climate scientists to warn of the end of human civilization." (Rich, N., 2018. NY Times: Losing the Earth) (If we continue business as usual, there will be about six degrees C warming.)  

Australia has no climate-change policy - again. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06675-9?utm_source=briefing-dy&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=briefing&utm_content=20180917  


On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 7:27 AM Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net> wrote:  
Alex  

“I think what will change attitudes in the leadership of the diving industry is mortality. “  

Perhaps it is the mounting evidence of the mortality of coral reefs themselves that will ultimately change the American dive industry’s attitudes.  

You know we’ve talked about Asian and European scuba industries being ahead of their American peers, but let’s not forget Australia. It seems to me that many high-profile scientists and conservation groups there have shown a heroic willingness to step up and challenge the status quo.  

From what I have read, the tourist industry in Australia (including scuba) was initially quite hostile to the attention drawn to the plight of the GBR. (I remember hearing about particularly hateful reactions leveled at Terry Hughes for example).  
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/13/great-barrier-reef-tourism-spokesman-attacks-scientist-over-slump-in-visitors  

Now, it appears that attitudes may be changing.  

The Reef tourism industry in Far North Queensland has since issued a formal declaration demanding strong action be taken to protect the GBR from the impacts of climate change.  
Here’s the full statement from The Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO):  

REEF TOURISM CLIMATE DECLARATION  
We love the Great Barrier Reef.  

As Reef tourism businesses operating in the World Heritage area, we take seriously our responsibility to look after one of the world’s most beautiful and biologically rich ecosystems.  

Together we’re calling for bold action to protect this natural icon.  

We cannot understate the economic contribution of Reef tourism. The Reef is a magnet for people from Australia and around the world and generates $6 billion each year and sustains 64,000 jobs.  

Despite the negative press, the Reef is a dynamic, vibrant, awesome place. But, like coral reefs around the world, it is under serious threat.  

Climate change, mainly driven by burning coal and other fossil fuels, is the single biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. The carbon pollution from coal, oil and gas is heating the air and the oceans to dangerous levels. Coral reefs around the world were damaged during an unprecedented marine heatwave in 2016 and 2017.  

It’s not too late to save our Reef but time is critical.  

The federal government has a responsibility to honour the Paris Agreement and protect the Reef on behalf of all Australians, all humanity and future generations. Yet our representatives continue to support the expansion of coal and gas, including Adani’s mega coal mine.  

To give our Reef the best chance for the future, Australia must join the rest of the world to rapidly phase out coal and other fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.  

We call on all our political leaders to stand up for Far North QLD businesses and jobs and fight for the future of our Reef.  



It seems to me that this signed position statement indicates that instead of killing the messenger, the dive/tourism industry (at least in this part of Australia) has come to understand that it is in their best interest to embrace the science and work together in a concerted effort to save both the GBR and their economic future. It’s too bad that it took a long, hard look at catastrophic bleaching events to bring this on, but maybe, (just maybe), the American scuba diving industry can learn something from developments down under.  

Warm regards,  

Steve  


--  
Douglas Fenner  
Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant  
PO Box 7390  
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA  

The world is losing the war against climate change  
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/08/02/the-world-is-losing-the-war-against-climate-change  

How Did the Climate Apocalypse Become Old News?  
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/07/climate-change-wildfires-heatwave-media-old-news-end-of-the-world.html  

By getting serious about limiting global warming, the world could save itself more than $20 trillion. (action would cost only a half trillion over 30 years, a third the cost of the Iraq war, benefits would be 40 times costs, that's a huge return on investment) http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-global-warming-costs-20180523-story.html  
Large pot



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