[Coral-List] coral reefs in 5th (U.S.) National Climate Assessment

[Steve Mussman]

Hi Doug,

I thought there was a touch of irony when Vassil’s post followed yours.

Considering some of the facts brought out in the report you referenced ( https://nca2023.globalchange.gov ) I’m going to have to question the viability of that marine-biologist turned entrepreneur’s venture, but I wish her luck.

Maybe someone can help me understand how corals anchored to those terracotta tiles are going to flourish as multiple stressors continue to rise. Guess I’ll have to settle for the comforting feeling that comes from knowing that major oil producing countries and hotel chains are among those dedicated to conserving marine ecosystems.

I guess what we need is more coastal development that is driven by visions like theirs “ . . . we have a role to educate our customers and stakeholders of the importance of preserving the ocean so that we can all see and view this beautiful ocean together.”

There, I’m beginning to feel better already!

Regards,

Steve

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On 11/18/23, 5:13 PM, Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

Mass coral bleaching due to heatwaves which are increasingly caused by

global warming is widely considered to be the greatest future threat to

coral reefs, and has probably already killed more coral colonies than

anything else that humans do.

The report can be accessed at:

https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/

To quote from the report:

"Even short-term extreme events such as heatwaves78

,79

,80

can generate

significant species impacts. For example, coral reefs are threatened by

cumulative impacts of ocean warming and acidification, marine heatwaves

resulting in bleaching and higher susceptibility to diseases, increasingly

powerful tropical cyclones causing loss of structural complexity, hypoxia

(low oxygen) events, overfishing, and pollution (Figure 8.10a

, b

; Box 10.1

; KMs 9.2

, 10.1

).81

,82

,83

,84

,85

,86

" (quote from chapter

8 https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/ )

Reference 81: Carlson, R.R., S.A. Foo, and G.P. Asner. 2019. Land use

impacts on coral reef health: a ridge-to-reef perspective. Frontiers in

Marine Science 6: 562.

Reference 82: Evensen, N.R., Y.-M. Bozec, P.J. Edmunds, and P.J. Mumby.

2021. Scaling the effects of ocean acidification on coral growth and

coral-coral competition on coral community recovery. PeerJ 9: e11608/

Reference 83: Johnson, M.D. et al. 2021. Rapid ecosystem-scale consequences

of acute deoxygenation on a Caribbean coral reef. Nature Communications 12

(1) 4522.

Reference 84: Magel et al, 2019. Effects of bleaching-associated mass coral

mortality on reef structural complexity across a gradient of local

disturbance. Scientific Reports 9(1) 2512

Reference 85: Sampaio, E.C., et al 2021. Impacts of hypoxic events surpass

those of future ocean warming and acidification. Nature Ecology & Evolution

5(3) 311-321.

Reference 86: Smale, D. A. et al. 2019. Marine heatwaves threaten global

biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. Nature Climate Change

9(4) 306-312.

The report has loads of information on the climate change that threatens

coral reefs, including things like:

Present-day levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are higher than at

any time in at least the last 800,000 years

The rate of sea level rise in the 20th Century was faster than in any other

century in at least 3000 years.

Global temperature has increased faster in the last 50 years than at any

time in at least the past 2000 years.

The current drought in the western US is now the most severe drought in at

least 1200 years and has persisted for decades.

Wind and solar energy costs dropped 70% and 90% respectively over the last

decade, while 80% of new electricity generating capacity in 2020 came from

renewable sources.

Between 2018 and 2022 the US experienced 89 weather events that each

cost a billion dollars or more. Extreme weather events cost the US over

$150 billion dollars a year. Florida alone had $90 billion in costs

between 2018 and 2022.

Land areas are warming faster than oceans, and polar areas (particularly

the Arctic) are warming faster than tropical areas.

In other news, the last 12 months were the hottest 12 months in recorded

history, and 2023 is likely to be the hottest calendar year in

recorded history.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03523-3?WT.ec_id=NATURE-202311&sap-outbound-id=B2FD55754B1E18A2FF3F0FDFC89C7D069C43BF7F

Cheers, 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

Huge expansion of fossil fuels planned, will be very destructive

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/insanity-petrostates-planning-huge-expansion-of-fossil-fuels-says-un-report

"without policy changes, the world will heat up enough by the end of the

century that more than 2 billion people will live in life-threatening hot

climates" Will you be in that area???

https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-sounding-alarm-dangerous-problem-123000792.html

World subsidies for fossil fuels reached an all-time high of over $1

TRILLION in 2022, the last year for which data is available. The subsidies

MUST end.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fossil-fuel-subsidies-must-end/

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