[Coral-List] The core challenge of coral reef conservation, restoration, and stewardship at the dawn of the Anthropogenic Climate Hiatus (ACH!!!) in coral reef growth.

Dennis Hubbard dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu
Mon Jun 21 17:36:04 UTC 2021


We seem to be back to the local versus global argument again. I think the
reality is "both of the above". It seems likely that, if we allow local
stresses to increase beyond carrying capacity, those reefs will die
regardless of climate. Conversely, we can  have "pristine" local conditions
and corals will still bleach if temperatures are too high. So, the best
solution is to fix both.... the worst is to do neither effectively while we
advocate for our personal opinions. Would it really be that terrible if we
did both, the reefs came back..... and all we had to worry about was that
we still didn't really know which "solution" was the real one? Granted, we
may have spent money on the option that we didn't really need to do, but I
think it would be money VERY well spent if it got us past this thing? Lord
knows we've spent muuuuuuch more on worse things.

Denny

On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:40 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>
> A question inspired by your question.
>
> If we ever get to low carbon emissions and have taken steps to
> reconstitute favorable conditions for corals to once again flourish in our
> oceans, isn’t it likely and doesn’t the geological record show that coral
> reef ecosystems can reassemble on their own?
>
> After all, even if we do what it takes to ensure survival of enough
> pieces, coral reef ecosystems still require the right conditions in order
> to survive. Without the right conditions, aren’t we still left with nothing?
>
> On 6/18/21, 3:26 PM, Kaufman, Leslie S via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> A question inspired by Dendrogyra:
>
> Can we ensure the survival of enough of the pieces of what it takes to be
> a coral reef, in enough places, that coral reef ecosystems can reassemble
> in a more benign, post-greenhouse gas future? Because if not, we have
> nothing.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
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-- 
Dennis Hubbard - Emeritus Professor: Dept of Geology-Oberlin College
Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 935-4014

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"


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