[Coral-List] Could foreign coral save dying reefs?

[Steve Mussman]

Hi Doug,

Can foreign corals save a dying reef?

I would suggest that the simple answer to that question is an emphatic “NO”.

One of the scientists in the Nature article is quoted as lamenting “How far do you go? When do we just give up?” she says. “I don’t know.”

All this angst leads me to pose a responsive question.

When will the coral sciences stop focusing on trying to find or develop corals that can survive in increasingly adverse conditions and finally realize that the only real solution is to address causation?

Stop wringing your hands and focus on what we all know are the central issues at play; water quality, over-fishing and climate change.

Such an approach might not create as many exciting opportunities to experiment with the manipulation the natural world, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is the last best chance we have to save it.

Regards,

Steve Mussman

Sent from EarthLink Mobile mail

On 1/15/24, 8:16 PM, Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

"Scientists are considering a desperate attempt to use non-native coral to

restore long-struggling reefs in the Caribbean that were devastated by last

year’s heatwave. It’s a controversial proposal

that

comes after efforts to rescue reefs with native corals have failed. Certain

Indo-Pacific coral species easily colonize reefs, and might be able to

survive pollution, heat extremes and diseases. But they could also disturb

the local ecology in unpredictable ways. “It’s an 11th-hour solution,” says

coral geneticist Mikhail Matz, who presented the idea at a conference. “And

it is now 11:45.”" Nature Briefing

Radical idea sparks debate

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00102-y

open-access

Cheers, Doug

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

Costanza, R. 2023. To build a better world, stop chasing economic growth.

Nature 624: 519-521. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-04029-8

Fossil fuel air pollution kills 5 million people world-wide per year

https://www.yahoo.com/news/research-shows-disturbing-between-millions-200000257.html

World's richest 1% emit as much as 5 billion people

https://makerichpolluterspay.org/climate-equality-report/

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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