[Coral-List] Summary of Goals from Other Listers/Science Not Politics will Save our Ecosystems

[Nathan Mccall]

Dear Listers,



I am new to this email listing, but I am very moved by the emails that you
have sent regarding the situation regarding ecosystems, specifically ones
involving coral reefs, are changing around the world.

Here is a paper about the changing ocean temperatures…

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00376-021-0447-x.pdf

Even if we stopped emissions today, the climate has irreversibly changed
across the world. Positive feedback loops are already starting for the
worse.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4608041/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2632717/

I am not trying to be all doom and gloom, but as an undergraduate who has
watched forest fires almost consume my University last year due to climate
change, I think as scientists, we should approach this problem
realistically.

Here are some of the goals that were presented by some of the listers:

Let’s tackle the root of every goal and how to achieve them.

1. Lower Carbon Emissions

If you want to change 7 billion people’s lifestyles, please let me know how
you are going to do that, I cannot think of ways besides improving
technology surrounding replacing carbon emitting machines. As countries
around the world develop towards looking like the “western countries” like
the United States, why would they approach development differently than us
if they cannot afford to be sustainable.

Proposition: Improve cheaper engines that are non-carbon emitting (cars,
electricity, transportation) and sustainable

2. Address Climate Change, Learn to value nature and more sustainable
lifestyles,

If we stopped emitting carbon dioxide today, there would still be great
change across the world’s ecosystems. Addressing climate change is already
something that everyone on this listing probably does. To put the weight of
sustainability on the common people of this world without looking at those
that produce the most carbon emissions, the capitalistic organizations
without any sort of regulation is outright ignorant. 100 companies produce
71% of GHG emissions around the world. When people are presented without a
choice to be sustainable because they cannot live due to being in poverty,
why should they be the ones to be responsible for this planet? Many people
never had a choice to begin with.

3. Clean up the water(and the air,land/soil)

Usually, this sounds like a great idea. However, we need to address the
root problem about clean environments. How will we reduce runoff from
precipitation, agriculture, fertilizers, and everything that spills into
the ocean and our land without proper mitigation efforts? Research has been
done to figure out how to eliminate nitrogen, fertilizers, oil runoff, etc.
from our waterways, land, and air, but if you are interested, people
reading this should find how scientists today are taking that next step.

4. Reduce overfishing, Eat lower on the food chain

This can be completely reduced if we find ways to engineer lab grown fish
and meat to replace fishing in the oceans. There are already current ways
but not cheap enough to replace food in the marketplace. If this is
achieved, we can reach this goal.

5. Support politicians that support conservation

Preaching to the choir is not going to change anything. Let us not waste
time on this forum discussing what we already know when we already are
running out of time. If you care this much, please provide papers or if
there is relevant research that you are conducting, I invite you to share.
Science is the one way out of climate change regardless of whether people
act in a way that would value nature and sustainable lifestyles as climate
is already irrevocably changed. Although we already have seen through this
pandemic how many people there are, I do not know if it is worth our time
trying to change the minds of the Donald Trumps, Marjorie Taylors, or
whatever equivalent politician figure in your country. Also most if not all
politicians are driven solely by money from lobbying companies. Please
understand that sometimes politics' best interest is not in people, it's in
the lining of their pockets.

If I missed any, please let me know. I can probably go deeper in every
single goal that was presented by some of the listers. Please. Share
papers, share your research, share what you are doing rather than just
preaching. Science and innovation will be the one way out of this
horrendous mess. However, we are also running out of time.

I am personally interested in Symbiodinium as they are a prime factor in
corals’ survival. Here are some papers that I am currently reading.

Local adaptation constrains the distribution potential of heat-tolerant
*Symbiodinium* from the Persian/Arabian Gulf

https://www.nature.com/articles/ismej201580
Symbiont community stability through severe coral bleaching in a thermally
extreme lagoon*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5445074/
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5445074/> *

Clade D *Symbiodinium* in Scleractinian Corals: A “Nugget” of Hope, a
Selfish Opportunist, an Ominous Sign, or All of the Above?

*https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmb/2011/730715/
<https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmb/2011/730715/> *

Regarding Dendrogyra cylindrus, I do not know what the best course of
action is. What can I say is that if we cannot mitigate, we must prepare
for the impacts once species like D. cylindrus go extinct permanently. What
are the impacts on the larger ecosystem if the species fails? What could
perhaps replace them if all else fails and we have no choice. What niche
opens up when these species stop existing?

I am new to this field; I am only a second-year undergraduate. Please take
my opinion with a grain of salt but also understand this is how a
20-year-old undergraduate in science sees the current situation. I am
trying my hardest. If my opinions are baseless, please let me know, I do
not want to continue forward being blind and ignorant if I am being
foolish.


Best Regards,

Nathan



Nathan McCall
UCSC Undergraduate, BMEB Declared Major

namccall at ucsc.edu