[Coral-List] A plan to save coral reefs

[Steve Mussman]

Hi Phil,

That’s pretty much how I see it, but let me ask you if my greater fears have any validity. 

It appears to me that the legislation under consideration (The Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2019) exemplifies a calculated strategy which is being applied by some governments (e.g. USA/Australia) in an attempt to further delay having to deal directly with the “wicked problems” as you call them. The most insidious aspect of this approach is that it can serve to entrap the coral science community by making them appear to be complicit. By investing in monitoring and restoration, governments can offer much needed resources to coral researchers who in turn give something of an implied (although perhaps unwitting) endorsement to the government’s policy positions through their acceptance and participation. 

 All the while, major stressors are being diminished by characterizations like this one attributed to the (USA)NSC in another article about the proposed legislation (https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article233580062.html).   “National Security Council officials issued a challenge to the scientific consensus that warming oceans pose an intensifying mortal threat to coral reef systems”, "There is no evidence that coral bleaching is intensifying now or will in the future, coral reefs have bleached and usually recovered throughout their evolutionary history." 

You said “We should all stop pontificating and get serious . . . .”  I would add stop pandering as well. . . either that, or get on with the cryofreezing!

Regards,

Steve

P.S. Let me add that I draw these conclusions reluctantly. I hold the coral science community in the highest regard. To me you are superheroes and I hope that my somewhat cynical depiction proves to be blatantly unfounded.




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On 8/12/19, 9:44 AM, Phillip Dustan <phil.dustan at gmail.com> wrote:





 Please, y'all

    Give me a break-

Monitoring and restoration can't fix what's broken.

Nor will putting all the corals in an aquarium zoo..... 

As much as the Coral Reef Task Force did for NOAA's budget, it did not stop the reefs from dying.

It's throwing good money after bad until we take the bull by the horns and solve the wicked problems.

We should all stop pontificating and get serious....

Maybe we should cryofreeze everything with an automatic release back into the biosphere after humans have gone extinct!











On Mon, Aug 12, 2019 at 9:38 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

Headline reads: Florida’s coral reefs are in trouble. Here’s a new $160 million plan to save them.







The Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2019 “will ensure future generations will be able to enjoy this natural wonder,”  



The bill does not explicitly mention climate change, but it does mention that reefs face a challenge of “human-accelerated changes, including increasing ocean temperatures, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, coral diseases, and invasive species.”



“The bill would funnel more money than before into management of reefs through matching state grants, with a focus on restoring reefs where natural disasters and human activities have hurt them.”



Read more here: 



https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article233412922.html







Maybe someone can explain how we can “save” coral reefs through restoration (apparently) without addressing climate change and other major stressors.







Regards,



Steve 























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Phillip Dustan PhD

Charleston SC  29424

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"When we try to pick out anything by itself 

we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords 

that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "

                                         John Muir 1869



Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo

TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4

Google Scholar Citations:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ