[Coral-List] new "business as usual" projections for climate change

Fri Feb 7 16:48:49 UTC 2020

This morning I read cover to cover the latest edition of the Defenders of Wildlife newsletter in which it details what is happening with current attempts to open up for drilling the Arctic National Refuge, the continuing deforestation to plant more palm oil plantations to increase the production of palm oil for luxury foods and cosmetics, burning the Amazon for more beef production, and other types of attacks to the terrestrial and marine environments. Coral reefs will not be saved in isolation of all the other ecosystems on Earth and in the oceans. Coral reef afficionados need a more holistic and realistic program if there is any hope to save or restore what remains of today's coral reefs.

Why the pressure to explore and drill for more fossil fuels (in addition to corporate greed)? To supply the increasing needs of the growing economies around the world. Some of this is because of increasing standards of living of less developed nations, but some of it is driven because EVERY DAY there are more humans on Earth than there were the day before, and each of them want a share of these resources.

Why plant more palm plantations? To supply MORE palm oil that is now produced for the increasing human population on Earth. If we replace palm oil with some other plant oil, we will still need more of the alternative oil to meet the needs of more mouths to feed.

Why burn and deforest the Amazon? To grow MORE beef and fodder for beef for the burgeoning human population. Yes, meat consumption has increased with affluence and the stupid notion that H. sapiens has to eat meat to survive (greatly debunked by the huge number of vegans who live a healthy long life; I've never read of anyone who died because of being vegan and matter of fact world class weight lifting champions are among the vegans... but I digress), but also because there are every day more mouths to feed. And animal agriculture is responsible for about 1/3 of fossil fuel use and thus CO2 emissions.

Etc, etc. 

While some growth in consumption is due to an increasing standard of living of the many existing human beings, it is also being driven by the increasing numbers of humans to feed, clothe, house, educate, entertain, etc. And yes, we should all consume less especially those of us in the more developed countries who consume 5-10 times more per capita than people is less affluent countries. But it's more than excess consumption! If the goal is for every human alive to have a reasonable, healthy, modern life style (i.e. not going back to cave days and stone age), we need for there to be fewer of us, and for it not to be an infinite catch-up game.

Until the banner of HUMAN POPULATION CONTROL is at the top of every agenda, we are not only losing the battle but also the whole war.

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Dr. Alina M. Szmant, CEO
CISME Instruments LLC
210 Braxlo Lane,
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AAUS Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Awardee
cell: 910-200-3913
Website:  www.cisme-instruments.com

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-----Original Message-----
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> On Behalf Of Steve via Coral-List
Sent: Thursday, February 6, 2020 8:47 PM
To: Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] new "business as usual" projections for climate change

Interesting article Doug, especially as it applies to previous discussions. If we knew we were preparing for a mid-range (or below) scenario warming many coral restoration projects would seem more viable and that just underscores the need to link their prospects for ultimate success to requisite mitigation efforts. For without them it’s more likely we are all headed for that “disaster” you mentioned.

Regards,

Steve

Sent from EarthLink Mobile mail

On 2/4/20, 5:42 PM, Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

As we all know, global warming and acidification are huge threats to the

future of corals. Here are a discussion of some new insights into what is

probable, if we don't take action. Not quite as bad as had been projected,

but still a "disaster" if we don't act.

Cheers, Doug

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00177-3?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=ee09f96136-briefing-dy-20200130&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-ee09f96136-43423877

--

Douglas Fenner

Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor

NOAA Fisheries Service

Pacific Islands Regional Office

Honolulu

and:

Consultant

PO Box 7390

Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA

"Already, more people die from

heat-related causes in the U.S. than from all other extreme weather events."

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/09/624643780/phoenix-tries-to-reverse-its-silent-storm-of-heat-deaths

Even 50-year old climate models correctly predicted global warmng

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/even-50-year-old-climate-models-correctly-predicted-global-warming?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2019-12-06&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=3113276

"Global warming is manifestly the foremost current threat to coral reefs,

and must be addressed by the global community if reefs as we know them will

have any chance to persist." Williams et al, 2019, Frontiers in Marine

Science

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