[Coral-List] Impressions of the Great Barrier Reef

[Peter Sale]

Hi,
Perhaps because it's a rainy, cold, Autumn day, perhaps because I'm old, I've been thinking back to my time with the Great Barrier Reef.  Over the past fifty years the GBR has changed, and Australians' attitudes to the GBR have also changed.  That history is not the history of all coral reefs - I'm sure the collective interactions of Caribbean communities with their reefs have been different, for example, but how Australians have interacted with their reef might have lessons for other places.  Thinking about it, I came up with seven different perspectives on this amazing product of time and evolution, some positive, some negative.  Others may or may not share these and some Aussies may violently disagree with me.  Right now their country seems to be going in precisely the wrong direction on climate while its political leaders continue to profess a desire to look after this iconic natural wonder but without doing much to address the critical issues the GBR faces.  My hope is that as the world climbs out of whatever we've been going through in 2020, there will be another change in perspective and Australia will grapple with an effective response to climate change, and a realistic appraisal of how best to manage the GBR.  My perspectives are at http://www.petersalebooks.com/?p=2904

Peter Sale
sale at uwindsor.ca<mailto:sale at uwindsor.ca>
www.petersalebooks.com<http://www.petersalebooks.com>