[Coral-List] Not flying, not attending, why doesn't ICRS do it differently...

Wed Mar 18 16:15:22 UTC 2020

I concur with Paul:  Thank you, Peter.  We are all struggling with how to
balance personal responsibility with maximizing impact of what we do.
Your comments convey that with both gravity and empathy.

On Wed, Mar 18, 2020 at 10:02 AM Paul Hearty via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Thank you Peter Sale.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 16, 2020 at 3:04 PM Peter Sale via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> > I had vowed to myself that I would not enter into this discussion, but I
> > find myself having to say a few things - call it a senior scientist
> > prerogative.  First, I decided months ago that I would not be going to
> > Brehmen - too far, too expensive, and especially for me, too old.  Its
> time
> > for the next generation to step forward.  Still I have amazing memories
> > from past ICRS's, of experiences that would never occur with live
> > streaming, face time or any other technical replacement for getting
> > together.  Everything from sharing a cabin with Yossi Loya and a
> sheltered
> > space near a funnel with Ross Robertson on the Marco Polo, to dancing
> till
> > I dropped in Tahiti, to giving a plenary in Townsville, and to hearing
> some
> > amazing talks at all the ICRS's I've managed to attend.  Do not dismiss
> the
> > importance of direct person-to-person interaction in progressing the
> > science.  (In fact, with Covid-19 leading many universities around the
> > world to move towards exclusively online instruction, we may f
> >  inally convince ourselves that there is something seriously missing when
> > the mentor and students are not in the same physical space.)
> >
> > The suggestion that we must curtail flying because of the CO2 emissions
> is
> > valid.  The world is going to have to move towards slower, less
> > carbon-intensive forms of travel than we currently enjoy.  It will move
> > that way either by retaining flying, but pricing it only for the 1%,
> > leaving the rest of us far less mobile than we now are, or the change
> will
> > be achieved by widespread recognition that flying damages the environment
> > and should be reserved for only the most necessary travel by all of us.
> A
> > world in which groups of scientists (there are many groups beyond coral
> > reef scientists) meet regularly, in their thousands, in large conferences
> > that attract a global constituency is probably passing.  The future will
> be
> > different and ICRS needs to grapple with that fact.  We scientists need
> to
> > begin thinking of the global gathering as a once-in-two-decades
> experience,
> > not something that occurs routinely, and we need to make full use of the
> > few such gatherings that occur.  And, yes, there
> >   are many ways available to most of us to reduce our footprints.
> >
> > The complaints about costs of ICRS come up every four years (and, yes, it
> > has got pretty pricy over the years).  I don't think many people who have
> > actually organized and run a large meeting protest at the costs - they
> > recognize this is an expensive undertaking.  To their credit, most
> > organizers of ICRS meetings have put major effort into subsidizing the
> > attendance of students, junior professionals and scientists from less
> > wealthy countries, and to a degree, other participants cover part of that
> > cost.  I have no solutions except to say, 'volunteer to help run a
> meeting'
> > and 'think of a global meeting as the luxury it should be, not as an
> event
> > you are entitled to attend'.
> >
> > Now that I've pissed lots of you off, allow me two more comments.  First,
> > Covid-19 has appeared unexpectedly and is throwing all sorts of plans
> into
> > chaos.  I honestly do not know if it will be safe or permitted to be
> flying
> > internationally and aggregating at large meetings in just 4 months from
> > now.  This has nothing to do with climate change, and everything to do
> with
> > the global environmental crisis.  Second, my sympathy to those
> individuals
> > who have been working hard to make Brehmen ICRS a success.  They must now
> > be agonizing over whether they will have to pull the plug on the
> > conference, at what economic cost, whether they can go forward but with
> > greatly reduced attendance, or whether, through some miracle, the world
> > will be back to normal and the conference can be the success they hope to
> > produce.  I hope for the latter, for their sake, and for the sake of the
> > coral reef community.  Those of us not engaged in bringing this
> conference
> > into being should perhaps temper our criticis
> >  ms and look for ways to help cope with a very difficult situation.
> >
> > Peter Sale
> > University of Windsor, Canada
> > www.petersalebooks.com<http://www.petersalebooks.com>
> > sale at uwindsor.ca
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
>
>
> --
> Dr. Paul J. Hearty  (on Research Gate & Google Scholar)
>
> Adjunct, Geol. Sci., Jackson School, U TX Austin
>
> *Veritas temporis filia*
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>

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Joanie Kleypas
Climate & Global Dynamics
National Center for Atmospheric Research
PO Box 3000
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