John and others,

Per concerns about ocean acidification: The reefs have survived other threats:
recall how we HAD to kill as many Acathaster (Crown-of-thorns starfish) as
possible "to save the reefs?" That wasn't the solution at all since they weren't
the problem. The problem was that some people THOUGHT that these echinoderms
WOULD destroy the reefs so the perceived problem required action. In the end, it
was merely as natural variation taken out of context. When ignorance takes
action, all of nature suffers. (I recall a "bloom" of Fantail filefish in the
late 1980s when they were EVERYWHERE and wanted to eat EVERYTHING, including my
ears, skin, snorkel,... I could see tens of thousands below me while snorkelling
in 30 feet of water. In the end, all but a few were food for other things.)

Carbon dioxide is not the bug-a-boo it is made to seem. As a 'greenhouse gas,'
it is a non-starter. Have a look at the science of carbon dioxide as a
"transporter" of surface heat to the upper atmosphere -
http://www.biocab.org/Heat_Stored.html
The bottom line there is that NO atmospheric gas can even come close to water
vapor for heat transfer but do you hear the politcos calling for control of
water vapor? No, because even they know it would be plain to all that it was a
crazy idea. "We need to put pool covers on the oceans to control water vapor,
Citizens!"

As pointed out in the following reply to an article on CO2 increase, things
change; it has been higher and lower, temperature has been colder and warmer,...
and we humans had nothing to do with it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119880525309554481.html?mod=djemITP

Let's keep an eye on things, yes. However, it's hard to be objective when you're
in a panic. That's a fundamental rule taught in SCUBA diving and it goes for
lots of other situations, too. Are humans to blame for ALL global warming? 50%
of it? 25% of it? Where's the evidence that WE are driving it?

Happy shelling!


Bob Dayle


_____________________________________
Quoting John Varner <[log in to unmask]>:

>
> Mike, Bob and John, this prevarication is odd stuff.
>
> First:  There is a lot of "non-controversial" information in the report on
> rising CO2 that might be of interest regarding the geography, weather
> patterns, faunal distribution, etc. of the Indo Pacific.  Dismissing it en
> toto because of  doubts about global warming and its impact seems a bit
> unfortunate.......
>
> Second:  Temperature fluctuation was not the major thrust of the report on
> CO2, it was acidification of the oceans and the impact it and other
> development activities (clearing of mangroves, discharge of sewage,
> over-fishing etc.) are having on the health of coral & sea grass habitats
> world wide and especially in the Coral Triangle.  The data on CO2
> concentrations over time spans a much longer time frame and is much more
> reliable than temperature data, and it shows a dramatic, decidedly unnatural
> rise since the dawn of the industrial age.  Whether or not one believes in
> the notion that this will result in warming (and those who doubt this are a
> small and shrinking minority) the chemistry of the situation is that
> increased CO2 is rapidly acidifying the oceans to a degree that organisms
> that rely on calcium carbonate deposition will not survive.
>
> John Varner
>
>
>
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