
Another Blow for the Future of Corals - Yossi_Frenkel
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/09/great-spawning-corals-becoming-undone/597466/
======
diveanon
I have the good fortune to work on an island surrounded by "super corals". The
spawning this year seemed to be synchronized and right on schedule.

Life is adaptable, and while that does not excuse our behavior it does give me
hope for the future of our reefs.

Reefs are the oldest ecosystems on the planet, they will survive the damage we
are doing to the planet. Our species however may not.

If you are at all interested in coral conservation there are several
organizations that organize reef cleanup, ghost net removal, and coral farming
projects. I highly encourage you to consider volunteering some of your time
during your next vacation. It's a rewarding activity that will also have you
working in some of the most beautiful locations in the world.

~~~
bscphil
> Reefs are the oldest ecosystems on the planet, they will survive the damage
> we are doing to the planet. Our species however may not.

My understanding is that this is very much in doubt. According to the IPCC
Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C [1],

> The risks of climate-induced impacts are projected to be higher at 2°C than
> those at global warming of 1.5°C (high confidence). Coral reefs, for
> example, are projected to decline by a further 70–90% at 1.5°C (high
> confidence) with larger losses (>99%) at 2°C (very high confidence). The
> risk of irreversible loss of many marine and coastal ecosystems increases
> with global warming, especially at 2°C or more (high confidence).

Coral reefs are so old, and have survived so many changes, because they are
adaptable to many different environmental conditions, including temperature.
The threat to them, as I understand it, is that global warming will happen so
quickly that they will be unable to adapt by migrating in latitude or evolving
defenses.

[1]
[https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15...](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_SPM_version_report_LR.pdf)

~~~
diveanon
They survived meteor impacts that lit the atmosphere on fire and blocked out
the sun for years, life finds a way.

What we are doing to the environment is catastrophic, but it is not the
hardest thing it has had to endure.

Just as an example, despite nearly world wide bleaching my house reef is
expanding by over 2 meters a year and the pace is accelerating.

Some species thrive as others die, those that can adapt will take the place of
the ones that can't. That doesn't mean that we should stop trying to undo the
damage we have already done, but I try to avoid the defeatist attitude that
many environmentalists seem to pushing these days.

------
dragonsh
Nature is wonderful it always gives us signs of distress. But we as species
who have transformed earth due to our behaviour are too late to take action on
these signs.

Majority will trade distant future for today's comfort. We only have hopes on
minority warriors and scientists who see this sign and force us to take action
before it's too late.

Hopefully we do a better scientific study and take action as quickly as
possible to first understand the signs and mitigate the effects to make our
earth more balanced.

We as a society should have a stronger scientific temperament which will help
us to take action. We should give up selfish behaviour and skeptics like the
popular leaders in some countries denying climate changes by human for the
sake of power, politics and votes.

We should denounce it, before we become extinct due to irreversible damage.

~~~
kiba
_Majority will trade distant future for today 's comfort. We only have hopes
on minority warriors and scientists who see this sign and force us to take
action before it's too late._

There are probably a series of decisions that we could have make as a
worldwide civilization that does not involves the notion of sacrifice
whatsoever.

~~~
inimino
I really don't think so. The cheap and easy thing has always been to burn the
fossil fuels, cut down the forests, fish until there are no more fish, and
hunt until there are no more prey. The only hope for the future is if we care
for it.

~~~
EGreg
What about emerging countries increasing women’s education and having fewer
children much later?

~~~
inimino
What about it?

~~~
ds0hhz
Instead of beating around the bush and choose easy targets such as fossil
fuels and forests, do something about it.

~~~
inimino
Ah, so... you think more people should be working on this? I'm under the
impression everyone in those poor countries with high birth rates is already
working to move themselves or their country into a better economic position,
and when they do, birth rates will fall and resource consumption will still go
up, because rich people consume more resources, even when there are fewer of
them. How does that solve the problem of the so-called "easy targets" like
fossil fuels and forests?

------
adrianN
The reefs are already lost. We've already emitted enough GHG to raise
temperatures sufficiently to kill most of them and there are no signs that
we'll stay below 2° of warming. At 2° all coral reefs will die.

~~~
mythrwy
Then how do we explain the huge number of fossil reefs in the geological
record from times when temperatures were much warmer and C02 levels were
around 10 times as high as they are today?

Besides if the temperature warms 2 degrees won't corals adapted to tropical
waters colonize currently colder waters that are at that point perfectly
suited?

~~~
mikestew
_won 't corals adapted to tropical waters colonize currently colder waters
that are at that point perfectly suited?_

What, they just call up American Vanlines to come pack their shit and move
them 10 degrees north? No, temperature change will happen quickly enough that
the coral will die before they migrate.

~~~
mythrwy
Corals produce polyps that are mobile early in life and wash all over. They
won't have any trouble moving if temperatures change. In fact it's already
been observed to happen.

[https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110121/full/news.2011.33.ht...](https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110121/full/news.2011.33.html)

Corals are not going to die out in 30 years, 50 years, probably not before
humans die out. Corals have been around for a long time and are highly
adaptable.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Coral_Reef](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Coral_Reef)

For fun you can look at temps and C02 levels during Devonian period. No
glaciers, much warmer than today. Very high C02 because carbon we are burning
today had not been sequestered yet. Yet a coral reef was formed, a big one.

~~~
adrianN
You'd better call up the IPCC and tell them of your findings, because they
believe that 99% of the coral will be dead in a 2° world with high confidence.
Currently our emissions are on a path for much stronger warming that even
that.

~~~
mythrwy
Appeal to authority isn't really an argument though.

I've laid the fact I know of out, you are free to believe what you want.

~~~
adrianN
I'm not an expert on coral reef ecology, and probably neither are you.
Believing the scientists who are is the natural choice.

------
mirimir
Stuff changing too quickly is what makes an extinction event.

