World's oceans facing biggest coral die-off in history, scientists warn

[GliderGuider]

World's oceans facing biggest coral die-off in history, scientists warn

Since 2014, a massive underwater heatwave, driven by climate change, has caused corals to lose their brilliance and die in every ocean. By the end of this year 38% of the world’s reefs will have been affected. About 5% will have died forever.

But with a very strong El Niño driving record global temperatures and a huge patch of hot water, known as “the Blob”, hanging obstinately in the north-western Pacific, things look far worse again for 2016.

For coral scientists such as Dr Mark Eakin, the coordinator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coral Reef Watch programme, this is the cataclysm that has been feared since the first global bleaching occurred in 1998.

“The fact that 2016’s bleaching will be added on top of the bleaching that has occurred since June 2014 makes me really worried about what the cumulative impact may be. It very well may be the worst period of coral bleaching we’ve seen,” he told the Guardian.

I have to wonder how electric cars, windmills, solar panels, nuclear reactors and recycled shopping bags are going to help this?

[RiverLover]

1. Ummm, less carbon into the atmosphere = lessened global warming = cooler oceans.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/coralreefs/coral-reefs-coral-bleaching-what-you-need-to-know.xml

.....Is there anything I can do?

Even those who live far from the coasts can help protect coral reefs.

The things you do to reduce your carbon footprint not only save energy — they keep greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, which helps combat climate change and maintain appropriately cool ocean temperatures.

Try walking, biking or taking public transportation instead of driving.
Plant a tree and support forest conservation! Trees store carbon and reduce agricultural run-off, which may ultimately end up in the ocean.
Contact your local legislators, and tell them you support comprehensive climate legislation.

[GliderGuider]

2. 100,000 years from now when we're long gone - maybe.

As long as we keep emitting any carbon into the atmosphere, this problem will keep getting worse. And we can't have electric cars, windmills , solar panels, recyclable shopping bags - or any of the other appurtances of civilization - without emitting carbon.

Do what you think is right, of course. Sign petitions, write letters, put in LED light bulbs, walk a bit more, chain yourself to a redwood. It will make you feel much better, physically and morally. But don't expect that to stop the juggernaut.

[RiverLover]

3. I'd rather listen to an expert than an online fatalist.

As Oceans Heat Up, a Race to Save World's Coral Reefs

By Laura Parker, National Geographic

PUBLISHED January 15, 2015



MIAMI—Early one December morning, Chris Langdon, a biological oceanographer at the University of Miami, zipped up his wet suit and dropped overboard just off Key Largo to inspect a section of Florida's ailing coral reef. His living "laboratory," 15 feet down, is the size of several football fields. Last summer a large bleaching event turned much of the coral white.

...Langdon's morning dive was part of his continuing work to understand the effects of climate change in the oceans, such as rising water temperatures and rising levels of acidity. He has focused on coral reefs because of their critical role in feeding the world's populations. (Can Miami Be Saved? Read the February issue of National Geographic magazine.)

.......This winter, Langdon and doctoral student Erica Towle will publish new findings showing that corals that adapt, survive and grow despite increasing ocean acidification—as long as the polyps are able to feed. Earlier researchers had focused primarily on the zooxanthellae that live inside coral polyps; Langdon and Towle looked at the polyp itself.

"We're finding resilience in a critically endangered species," Towle says. "There is a glimmer of hope that this species, with exposure to natural food abundance, can continue to grow."

That may not sound like much given the coming catastrophic change caused by warmer seas, but it could have huge implications for current reef recovery efforts. For example, coral nurseries could be established in areas where more food is available for coral polyps. That in turn could help coral grow faster to the size needed to reach sexual maturity.

Langdon compares his research efforts to providing first aid to accident victims. "Can you keep the patient alive until the EMTs get there?" he says. "So a lot of our efforts are to give first aid to buy time until we can fix the big problem, like CO₂ [levels]. We can make a difference. It's not that hard."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/151015/coral-reef-death-climate-change-science-animals/

[GliderGuider]

4. Suit yourself. It makes no difference to me. nt.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. It’s true, less carbon in the atmosphere would lead to cooler oceans

Unfortunately, if we stopped all carbon emissions today, we still have a good deal of warming “in the pipeline.”

That means, to cool things off, we need to rapidly decrease the carbon in the atmosphere today, or resort to some sort of “dimming” scheme by which we decrease the amount of sunlight striking the planet.

[RiverLover]

7. So do you believe the Climate Summit coming up in Paris is a big old waste of time?

And maybe it doesn't matter to you that people deny climate change, because we can't/won't do RIGHT NOW what's been deemed by some as necessary to save us from our collective murder/suicide anyways?

Maybe its us lefties who are the real science deniers thinking renewables will make a bit of difference?

.........If so, we just disagree.

[GliderGuider]

8. Paris is the 21st Conference of the Parties.

The first 20, going back to 1995, accomplished nothing substantive in terms of actual CO2 emissions reductions.

Why should we expect this one to be different?

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Because this time, China, India & the US seem to be on board

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/climate-change-bad-us-china-agree/

[font face=Serif] Nick Stockton | Science | 09.28.15 4:22 pm
[font size=5]Climate Change Is So Bad That the US and China Agree on It[/font]

[font size=3]For years, China and the US have kept each other locked in a regulatory stalemate over climate change. As political rivals, neither one of the world’s biggest carbon emitters was going to budge unless it was sure any action it took to curb carbon dioxide emissions wouldn’t let the other run away with the world’s economy. Then, within 60 days of each other, Presidents Obama and Xi Jinping each released detailed plans to curb coal power plants. Has the world gone completely sane?

President Xi Jinping announced his country’s commitment to cutting emissions from the White House on September 24, the same day Pope Francis lectured Congress on how climate change is affecting the world’s poor. None of this is accidental. These two superpowers likely hope their combined barking will herd the rest of the world into a global emissions agreement at the upcoming United Nations climate talks, to be held in Paris starting at the end of November.

It’s been a long time coming. Past attempts at global emissions agreements have failed because neither the US or China (or any other emitters) wants to be left holding a bag full of economy-wilting regulations. But the effects of climate change are beginning to overshadow the benefits of ignoring it, so last year the pair bilaterally announced that they would curb emissions.

Obama followed through in August with the Clean Power Plan, an EPA regulation that limits how much carbon each state can emit, but lets those states figure out their own ways to reach emissions targets. In an ironic turn that nobody missed, China went with a market-based cap and trade system. This lets dirtier power plants buy credits earned by those that emit less carbon. “In cap and trade, the government provides a means by which companies can find lowest cost ways to reduce their emissions,” says Jake Schmidt, international program director for the National Resources Defense Council.

…[/font][/font]

http://theworldweekly.com/magazine/reader/india-joins-the-charge-for-a-global-climate-deal-in-paris/5125/11

[font face=Serif]08 October 2015
[font size=5]India joins the charge for a global climate deal in Paris[/font]

[font size=4]A week after China announced plans for a carbon emissions cap-and-trade system, India has pledged to cut pollution by up to 35% and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, but only if the world shares the eye-watering cost.[/font]

[font size=3]The stakes for India’s contribution in fighting climate change are high. As the fourth largest producer of greenhouse gases, assuming the European Union’s emissions are counted collectively, what India is willing — and able — to do to curb its emissions will have a major impact on whether the international community can avoid runaway global warming. Under most business-as-usual scenarios — if it doesn’t change its behavior — the country is on the hook for some of the most significant emissions growth in the coming decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, India, along with China, will be responsible for nearly half of the growth in global energy demand. And as the world has readied itself for December’s summit in Paris, which will outline how the global community will deal with the increasingly pressing issue of how to deal with climate change, India’s plan has been a looming question mark.

Last Thursday, the world received its answer. After months of speculation, India finally released its formal greenhouse gas emissions plan for the COP 21 conference. And the answer is promising.

Fossil fuels will still make up a large percentage of the global energy mix until at least 2040 — even with robust growth of renewables. This is particularly true of India. The Indian INDC partially acknowledges this, to the extent that, while promising action on climate change, it also asks the developed world for “equitable carbon and development space” — in essence, arguing that since India has been responsible for a historically low proportion of emissions activity, it cannot be asked to make drastic emissions cuts at a time when it needs as much effort as possible directed at fighting endemic poverty. If developed nations wish India to be a responsible player on climate change, this plan argues, the country needs assistance, especially financial, in aggressively adopting new low- and zero-carbon technologies.

…[/font][/font]

It’s a signed document!

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. No, I don’t believe it is a waste of time

Last edited Thu Oct 8, 2015, 08:11 PM - Edit history (1)

We need agreements.

Yes, by all means, let's roll out wind, solar, geothermal. Let's pursue fusion!

However, we need to keep in mind that cutting and even eliminating carbon emissions altogether is not sufficient for us to avoid a really nasty outcome. We need to do more.

Memorize this paper: http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2008/2008_Hansen_etal_1.pdf

Paleoclimate data show that climate sensitivity is ~3°C for doubled CO₂, including only fast feedback processes. Equilibrium sensitivity, including slower surface albedo feedbacks, is ~6°C for doubled CO₂ for the range of climate states between glacial conditions and ice-free Antarctica. Decreasing CO₂ was the main cause of a cooling trend that began 50 million years ago, the planet being nearly ice-free until CO₂ fell to 450±100 ppm; barring prompt policy changes, that critical level will be passed, in the opposite direction, within decades. If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO₂ will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm, but likely less that. The largest uncertainty in the target arises from possible changes of non-CO₂ forcings. An initial 350 ppm CO₂ target may be achievable by phasing out coal use except where CO₂ is captured and adopting agricultural and forestry practices that sequester carbon. If the present overshoot of this target CO₂ is not brief, there is a possibility of seeding irreversible catastrophic effects.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. NOAA declares third ever global coral bleaching event

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/100815-noaa-declares-third-ever-global-coral-bleaching-event.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]NOAA declares third ever global coral bleaching event[/font]

[font size=4]Bleaching intensifies in Hawaii, high ocean temperatures threaten Caribbean corals[/font]

October 8, 2015

[font size=3]As record ocean temperatures cause widespread coral bleaching across Hawaii, NOAA scientists confirm the same stressful conditions are expanding to the Caribbean and may last into the new year, prompting the declaration of the third global coral bleaching event ever on record.

Waters are warming in the Caribbean, threatening coral in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, NOAA scientists said. Coral bleaching began in the Florida Keys and South Florida in August, but now scientists expect bleaching conditions there to diminish.

“The coral bleaching and disease, brought on by climate change and coupled with events like the current El Niño, are the largest and most pervasive threats to coral reefs around the world,” said Mark Eakin, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch coordinator. “As a result, we are losing huge areas of coral across the U.S., as well as internationally. What really has us concerned is this event has been going on for more than a year and our preliminary model projections indicate it’s likely to last well into 2016.”

While corals can recover from mild bleaching, severe or long-term bleaching is often lethal. After corals die, reefs quickly degrade and the structures corals build erode. This provides less shoreline protection from storms and fewer habitats for fish and other marine life, including ecologically and economically important species.

…[/font]

October 2015-January 2016: NOAA's standard 4-month bleaching outlook shows a threat of bleaching continuing in the Caribbean, Hawaii and Kiribati, and potentially expanding into the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (Credit: NOAA)


February-May 2016: An extended bleaching outlook showing the threat of bleaching expected in Kiribati, Galapagos Islands, the South Pacific, especially east of the dateline and perhaps affecting Polynesia, and most coral reef regions in the Indian Ocean. (Credit: NOAA)

…


[/font]