[Coral-List] a very useful report

[Douglas Fenner]

I noticed a few things that I think this report could usefully add.  In
"Reduce global climate change threats" it doesn't mention HFC's and
methane.  HFC's (Hydroflurocarbons) are air conditioner and refrigerator
"freon" which don't damage the ozone layer, but on the other hand are very
powerful greenhouse gases.  If the world commits to change to a chemical
that neither neither damages ozone NOR is a strong greenhouse gas, this can
jump start reducing greenhouse gases because HFC's are both powerful
greenhouse gases, AND they have short half lives so they will
disappear from the atmosphere quickly.  Methane (natural gas) is similar,
though not quite as powerful, and with a bit longer halflife.
     These two are low hanging fruit which can make great progress quickly
and relatively easily compared to CO2 emission reductions which we have to
do as well.  These two should be pushed, more bang for the buck and a quick
jump start.
      Another small omission is that when it is talking about the big
monitoring programs, Reef Check should be included, it is global and
several papers have been published based on its data.
      Cheers, Doug

On Wed, Oct 13, 2021 at 5:56 PM Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I can't remember if someone posted about this before or not.  Apologies if
> someone has posted on it before, but it is so good it bears repeating.
>
> Knowlton N, Grottoli AG, Kleypas J, Obura D, Corcoran E, de Goeij JM,
> Felis T, Harding S, Mayfield A, Miller M, et al. 2021.  Rebuilding Coral
> Reefs: A Decadal Grand Challenge.
>
>  International Coral Reef Society and Future Earth Coasts. 56 pp.
>
>
> http://coralreefs.org/publications/rebuilding_coral_reefs/
>
>
> Open-access.
>
> Nice popular page on it:
> https://www.icriforum.org/rebuilding-coral-reefs-a-decadal-grand-challenge/
>
> LOADS of great, up to date references!!!
>
> A few quotes:
>
> "3 pillars for keeping reefs alive: reduce climate change, improve local
> conditions, invest in restoration."
>
> "coral reef restoration cannot work if global climate and local
> conditions remain unsuitable for corals."
>
> "Neglecting to address climate change would undermine, and ultimately make
> useless, most attempts to mitigate or otherwise address local threats."
>
>
> I agree with the statement in the popular page that 'we must work on ALL
> of these problems.'
>
>
> Cheeers, Doug
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Coral Reef Consulting
> PO Box 997390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
> None of the world’s major economies, including those in the G20 group,
> have a sufficient plan to meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement
> on climate change.
>
> Humans are driving one million species to extinction
> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01448-4
>
> Slashing emissions by 2050 isn't enough.  We can bring down temperature
> now.
>
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/climate-deadlines-super-pollutants-hfcs-methane/2021/04/15/acb8c612-9d7d-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html
>
>