Chasing coral

[Hans-Werner]

74 F to 84 F is not much. As far as I know temperatures beyond 86 F cause coral bleaching in reefs.
Does this Wikipedia article and this graph answer some of your questions? Please also see links to related articles at the end of the article. CO2 emissions/concentrations and global warming are not such simple, both are very complex processes which are not completely understood yet, for example the role of the oceans and the deep sea. Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are relatively small but they cause a large deviation from the steady state of the closed atmospheric carbon cycle. If this emission would stop at least a new steady state instead of an permanent increase could form. Further global warming could initiate an avalanche of positive feedback reactions like thawing permafrost, more release of CH4 and CO2 further fueling the warming and so on.

 

[Charterreefer]

Have less kids, tey to drive a fuel efficient car, live closer to where you work. Eat less meat
Lots of things add up to minimizing your impact

The earth is 4 billion years old. Industrial man has only been here ~120 years. Geologically speaking humans are devastating to this planet - given what we have done to it in such a short time. Look at all the damage that has occurred because of us. We're not off to a very good start. Having less children is probably the single most important factor in reducing the stress on this planet of ours. It is also the easiest goal to attain. The food requirements, energy consumption and waste produced by each and everyone of us in a lifetime is staggering.

 

[jason g]

Sad to say us reefers will be the only ones able to house corals. It's up to us hobbyists to help keep the reefs alive.

 

[SWSteve]

Intresting information about methane gas....I still love me some steak!
http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2

 

[SWSteve]

Another note about articles we read about corals, (I've read a few in the past week on google)...One article stated, coral reefs aren't supposed to be colorful, corals are supposed to be tan in color. The article said, colorful corals are the ones dying, because of too much uv rays. Whomever backs these researcher has an agenda, just like all the political campaigns. Someone's hand is always in someone else's back pocket looking for the all mighty dollar.

 

[Henryt]

Agreed, but remember all species in mass quantities impact earth. Locusts will decimate crops making dust bowls, large herds of grazing animals if left unchecked do the same. I do agree there are too many people having too many kids.
What I don't understand is why America has a fascination of multiple children in this day. Child mortality is at an all time low, yet people have more than two kids all the time.

Bill gates is trying to help educate women in underdeveloped countries with birth control.

 

[RamsReef]

And this is exactly why the oceans are the state they are in.

all people want to do is argue and place blame on why it is happening, instead of doing their part to help.

Simple steps to take: go clean up trash from the beaches/waterways, don't dump oil and crap in the water, recycle, etc.

Common sense goes a longggg way....

What can I do to help???

Clean your own dang room for starters!

Good post.

 

[Tahoe61]

So far so good on the discussion. Let's try to keep it free from politics. Thanks everyone.

..

 

[Donovan Joannes]

I have seen a lot devastated reefs when I was young and they all recovered or recovering. Chemical and industrial waste, explosion, inland fertiliser run off etc contribute to coral reefs damages in my state. You won't see massive bleaching event due to raising temperature right here in the equator as they used to temperature swing by the hour. Ever heard of crown of thorn?. This star fishes eats stony corals fast enough to trigger panic as well. I do agree that human is slowly killing mother earth in the name of development and greed.

 

[RamsReef]

Have less kids, tey to drive a fuel efficient car, live closer to where you work. Eat less meat
Lots of things add up to minimizing your impact

Have less kids so they can flood the land with someone else?

 

[RamsReef]

I've posted this before but since the topic is so hot right now here watch this if you are interested in physiology behind saving our oceans.


Next we like to do what is fast and cheap without thinking about it. The latest thing that erks me is this huge push for battery and solar. These panels and batteries are made of lithium, have you ever researched how lithium is mined and disposed of before you've pushed others to buy solar/battery rah rah rah? There is nothing for free in this world, which brings me to my next point.

Nuclear, we have had the technology for a long time and it is safe. The incidents we are seeing are from reactors built in the 60's and are of one type of reactor that goes into meltdown if water / cooling is lost. Many of the new modern reactors, although smaller, go into shutdown / retardation if cooling is lost. However this is still a huge taboo and no one wants to look at it. We can safely store the waste and contain it, which is huge. I'm not saying its perfect, far from, but it would be a nice step in the right direction, at-least from my observations.

Lastly this have less kids stuff in here. I used to think like that, until I realized it's usually people who have no children or have no intention to have children spouting it off. You are 1/3 of your life, your partner is another 1/3, and your children are the remaining 1/3, who am I to tell people what to do? I can barely keep my own house clean. Also, now there are many sources, United Nations, Individual Western Governments, publications like National Geographic, telling us that only immigrants from backward cultures can save western countries because of lack of birth rates, really activates those almonds don't it.
http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/migration/migration.htm

 

[Charterreefer]

Agreed, but remember all species in mass quantities impact earth. Locusts will decimate crops making dust bowls, large herds of grazing animals if left unchecked do the same. I do agree there are too many people having too many kids.
What I don't understand is why America has a fascination of multiple children in this day. Child mortality is at an all time low, yet people have more than two kids all the time.

Bill gates is trying to help educate women in underdeveloped countries with birth control.

I'd like to add to your post if I may. It is a fact that by educating women in general; by letting them go to school i.e Africa and parts of the Middle East for example where women aren't currently allowed to go to school (at least 10 countries) can lower the birth rate!

 

[Charterreefer]

Intresting information about methane gas....I still love me some steak!
http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2

I love a good bloody steak once and awhile although, eating lower on the food chain (i.e veggies and grain) is healthy for us and the planet.

 

[Maacc]

I'd like to add to your post if I may. It is a fact that by educating women in general; by letting them go to school i.e Africa and parts of the Middle East for example where women aren't currently allowed to go to school (at least 10 countries) can lower the birth rate!

I would like to add as well that often birthrates lower not just with education but with wealth. People are willing to forgo the safety net of children to care for them in their elder years when either they possess the means to care for themselves or they believe society has created that security for them (whether that belief is accurate or not is a completely different conversation)

 

[Maacc]

Agreed, but remember all species in mass quantities impact earth. Locusts will decimate crops making dust bowls, large herds of grazing animals if left unchecked do the same. I do agree there are too many people having too many kids.
What I don't understand is why America has a fascination of multiple children in this day. Child mortality is at an all time low, yet people have more than two kids all the time.

Bill gates is trying to help educate women in underdeveloped countries with birth control.

Who gets to decide how many kids are too many? If someone can afford to rear and raise them, is it really the business or government's place through coercion to limit population? Also, let's, for the sake of argument, say a couple has only 1 or 2 children. What happens to that genetic line if there is an accident or cancer or any one of 100 problems that happen and the parents are past child bearing age?
Remember we are animals with evolutionary instincts hundreds of thousands of years old. The best way to ensure smaller populations in to encourage a society to become wealthy enough that they feel secure enough to produce fewer offspring and to make the ones they do produce more expensive to raise. Poverty and uncertainty increases the imperative to breed; safety, stability, wealth reduces that imperative.

 

[spieszak]

Sad to say us reefers will be the only ones able to house corals. It's up to us hobbyists to help keep the reefs alive.

This is a ridiculous notion.
Really, think about the future ahead as the planet warms. How long do you really think your reef tank is going to last as energy prices spike, and water becomes less plentiful? I mean, try thinking beyond your living room. Reef tanks will NOT continue as we struggle to keep crops watered and growing... if we cannot keep the oceans within an acceptable temperature range, why do you think your house will be?

 

[spieszak]

Who gets to decide how many kids are too many? If someone can afford to rear and raise them, is it really the business or government's place through coercion to limit population? Also, let's, for the sake of argument, say a couple has only 1 or 2 children. What happens to that genetic line if there is an accident or cancer or any one of 100 problems that happen and the parents are past child bearing age?
Remember we are animals with evolutionary instincts hundreds of thousands of years old. The best way to ensure smaller populations in to encourage a society to become wealthy enough that they feel secure enough to produce fewer offspring and to make the ones they do produce more expensive to raise. Poverty and uncertainty increases the imperative to breed; safety, stability, wealth reduces that imperative.

Yes, a voluntary call for people to stop producing so many more people should really dredge up THAT whole argument.

 

[Gil03]

So I ask all of you. What the heck are we going to do to stop the next ice age? Put huge Eiheim heaters in the water? Earth will get warmer and low areas will flood before it gets colder again. I live in south Florida. 25 miles inland if you dig 3 feet you hit shell rock. We were underwater. With fish and scallops. Last I checked we didn't have factories and man made heat 20,0000 years ago.

To say that the earth will never warm up on its own is ludicrous.

who is saying the earth doesn't go through it's OWN phases? I think you're completely missing the point, that being we CAN do something about the negative WE are contributing to the problem. I find it ironic that you can adopt that the earth is billions of years old which the very estimate is afforded to you by data that scientists compiled but then you dismiss those very same scientists that claim we indeed do play a role in climate change. Again, we're not talking about the natural occurrences that the planet goes through with or without us, the topic is on what it is our species is doing on a mass scale that has a negative impact on the planet.

 

[TRNANCE]

this morning I turned on Netflix and found a new documentary called CHASING CORAL. It's about a guy maping out the bottom of the ocean like how Google maps out the road way system. But he realized that over 50 percent of the oceans coral are all dead. The under water footage you see is sad when it's just fields of dead acros. Just thought I would share this with the reefing community. I think everyone should check it out to see how bad our oceans are being affected with global warming.

I came across that documentary this morning and watched it. I is sad to see all the coral bleached, it was a real eye opener.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

This is a ridiculous notion.
Really, think about the future ahead as the planet warms. How long do you really think your reef tank is going to last as energy prices spike, and water becomes less plentiful? I mean, try thinking beyond your living room. Reef tanks will NOT continue as we struggle to keep crops watered and growing... if we cannot keep the oceans within an acceptable temperature range, why do you think your house will be?

To briefly answer your closing question; you fail to recognize human ingenuity.

If you take the given statistic of 'all reefs will be bleached in the next 60 years due to global warming' (paraphrasing from the documentary) his notion is far from ridiculous unless you believe that extreme scarcity will take place right after the death of the reefs (if that even happens). Do you really think that in 60 years the common reefkeeper won't exist?

For those of you not directly involved, this is debating the comment "It's up to us hobbyists to help keep the reefs alive" made By @jason g