[Coral-List] coral reefs in 5th (U.S.) National Climate Assessment
DeeVon Quirolo
dquirolo at gmail.com
Mon Nov 20 17:50:20 UTC 2023
This coral restoration is greenwashing at its best. Sorry---real
restoration begins by addressing the sources of the decline.
On Mon, Nov 20, 2023 at 11:13 AM Risk, Michael via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> There are some old-timers who are well aware the world lost half its
> reefs before 1980.
>
> There is at least one old-timer who thinks all the current reef
> rehabilitation efforts will be wasted until the water is cleaned up.
>
> There is also at least one old-timer who thinks the coral reef biology
> community has been far too reluctant to challenge the vested interests
> responsible for most reef death.
>
> But at least I don't think the Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley
> Cup this year.
> __________________________________________________________________
>
> From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of
> Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2023 4:45 PM
> To: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
> Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] coral reefs in 5th (U.S.) National Climate
> Assessment
>
> Caution: External email.
> Thanks Doug- at last, the truth is revealed- LOL!
> Of course most of us old timers already knew this. But sadly coral
> bleaching is not only the biggest cause of coral reef decline, but it
> is
> the one cause of coral reef decline that virtually nothing is being
> done to
> prevent it from killing corals in the field.
> The global thermostat clearly "broke" in March, with an off-scale surge
> of
> 0.7C which is 5 s.d. above the 1982-2011 mean, and with this occurring
> even
> before El Nino kicked in,
> [1]https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/
> Have we now entered the "great dying" for coral reefs? Sadly we still
> have no comprehensive or widely recognized strategy to save the corals.
> Many in our community have been traumatized by the recent die offs in
> Florida and the Caribbean. I wonder if we have been so stunned by the
> hit
> in the face of losing all these precious corals, and being too involved
> with grieving our loss to react or to reach out to help raise the
> global
> alarm- that a massive Lahaina-level firestorm in the ocean is now
> potentially spreading to the coral reefs of the Southern Hemisphere?
> Yes
> it is already warming up down here, yes it is not the best time to
> break
> corals and to move corals, just like it was too dangerous to move the
> children in Lahaina, far too smoky and dangerous to move them - so many
> decided to shelter in place. We can not make that mistake.
> Where is the publicity and where are the reports on the mass coral
> die-offs
> that just happened throughout the Caribbean? Will this horrific event
> be
> widely published in the public media- or will the various nations
> suppress
> the facts, protecting their tourism economies from the negative impacts
> that happened to GBR tourism after in 2015-16 coral bleaching and
> die-offs
> there. We need strong and clear leadership, and that is not yet coming
> forth.
> Past thermal stress on the GBR has historically paralleled what the
> Caribbean has experienced, which does not bode well. What will happen
> to
> the GBR when we experience >20 DHW stress levels, which most Caribbean
> nations just went through? The NOAA models, while they look quite bad,
> may
> be under-predicting due to the new off scale thermal baseline, noone in
> the
> Caribbean was prepared for the scale of what happened. But we must now
> open our eyes, and we see that Kiribati is already experiencing record
> heat
> stress- and that is the South Pacific and Australia's front door! The
> next few weeks and months could be our last chance to rescue our most
> heat-adapted corals from our hottest reef areas, areas similar to what
> just
> experienced hot-tub-like temperatures in the Caribbean. This could be
> our
> last opportunity to translocate diverse species and genotypes from such
> hot
> areas out to cooler waters, as insurance against losing our most heat
> adapted corals and symbiont genetics from our surviving coral
> populations.
> Our goal now should be to secure enough heat adapted coral diversity to
> be
> able to work on resilience-based restoration, focused on cooler reef
> areas,
> which could soon become dominated by dead corals.
> Regards to all,
> Austin
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
> [2]https://www.corals4conservation.org
> Publication on C4C's coral-focused climate change adaptation
> strategies:
> [3]https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf
> Film on our "Reefs of Hope" coral restoration for climate change
> adaptation
> strategies: [4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0lqKciXAA
> TEDx talk [5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U
> [6]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-
> coral-bleaching/
> <[7]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive
> -coral-bleaching/>
> Teitei Livelihoods Centre
> Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
> (679) 938-6437
> http:/www.
> <[8]http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environment
> al-livelihoods-farm-Fiji>
> teiteifiji.org
> [9]http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmenta
> l-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
> [10]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/happy-chickens-for-food-secur
> ity-and-environment-1/
> On Mon, Nov 20, 2023 at 12:45AM 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:
> >
> > [11]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/
> >
> > To quote from the report:
> >
> > "Even short-term extreme events such as heatwaves78
> > <[12]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:78>,79
> > <[13]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:79>,80
> > <[14]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn: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
> > <[15]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fig-8-10>, b
> > <[16]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fig-8-10>; Box 10.1
> > <[17]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/10#box-10_1>; KMs 9.2
> > <[18]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/9#key-message-2>, 10.1
> > <[19]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/10#key-message-1>).81
> > <[20]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:81>,82
> > <[21]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:82>,83
> > <[22]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:83>,84
> > <[23]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:84>,85
> > <[24]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:85>,86
> > <[25]https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:86>" (quote from
> chapter
> > 8 [26]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.
> >
> >
> >
> [27]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
> >
> >
> [28]https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/insanity-petros
> tates-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???
> >
> >
> [29]https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-sounding-alarm-dangerous-prob
> lem-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.
> >
> >
> >
> [30]https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fossil-fuel-subsi
> dies-must-end/
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > [31]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [32]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> References
>
> 1. https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/
> 2. https://www.corals4conservation.org/
> 3. https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf
> 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0lqKciXAA
> 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U
> 6.
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
> 7.
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
> 8.
> http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
> 9.
> http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
> 10.
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/happy-chickens-for-food-security-and-environment-1/
> 11. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/
> 12. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:78
> 13. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:79
> 14. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:80
> 15. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fig-8-10
> 16. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fig-8-10
> 17. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/10#box-10_1
> 18. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/9#key-message-2
> 19. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/10#key-message-1
> 20. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:81
> 21. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:82
> 22. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:83
> 23. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:84
> 24. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:85
> 25. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/#fn:86
> 26. https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/8/
> 27.
> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03523-3?WT.ec_id=NATURE-202311&sap-outbound-id=B2FD55754B1E18A2FF3F0FDFC89C7D069C43BF7F
> 28.
> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/insanity-petrostates-planning-huge-expansion-of-fossil-fuels-says-un-report
> 29.
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-sounding-alarm-dangerous-problem-123000792.html
> 30.
> https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fossil-fuel-subsidies-must-end/
> 31. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> 32. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
--
DeeVon Quirolo
352 277-3330
www.naturecoastconservation.org
*Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That's
why they call it the present.* Eleanor Roosevelt
*First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then
you win.* Mahatma Gandhi
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