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Subscribe to RSSSeaview Survey, in partnership with Google, has been capturing 360-degree views of famous coral reefs. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
In its most sweeping use of the Endangered Species Act, the nation's oceans agency on Friday proposed listing 66 species of coral as endangered or threatened -- and cited climate change as driving three key threats: disease, warmer seas and more acidic seas.
NOAA
Pillar coral are seen in the Florida Keys. The species was one of 12 proposed for listing as endangered by the U.S.
"Climate change and other activities are putting these corals at risk," Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in announcing the proposal. "This is an important, sensible next step toward preserving the benefits provided by these species."
Lubchenco argued that the benefits extend to fishermen -- some of whom are worried that any coral protection could mean less fishing.
"Corals provide habitat to support fisheries that feed millions of people," she said, as well as generating jobs through recreation and tourism, and protecting coastlines from storms and erosion.
In its press release, NOAA emphasized that since President Barack Obama had directed agencies to minimize regulatory burdens it would strive to "adopt the least burdensome means" of compliance should it create protected habitat. "A full analysis of economic impact, including impact on jobs," will also be undertaken, it stated.
The proposal is the result of a court settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned to have 83 coral species listed. NOAA agreed to review 82 of those species.
Dave Gilliam and Liz Larson Nova Southeastern University and James Byrne, The Nature Conservancy discuss the large scale environmental program that is underway in Florida's coral reefs.
"While the government decided that 16 of the corals we proposed do not warrant listing, the fact that dozens are moving forward with protections is good news," the group's oceans director, Miyoko Sakashita, told NBC News.
"Our coral reefs are dying and need federal protection," she added.
Last April, NOAA scientists reported that more than half of those 82 species were "more likely than not" to face extinction by 2100.
Corals are very sensitive to disease and temperature change, and the fact that seas have warmed and become more acidic as carbon dioxide emissions have risen led to NOAA's proposal and focus on climate change. The acidity weakens the skeletal structure of coral.
The polar bear is the only other species listed under the Endangered Species Act because of climate change, and that's because of shrinking sea ice.
Since climate change is global in nature, NOAA can't do much to protect coral from that threat, but Sakashita said actions that the U.S. could eventually take include protecting corals from overfishing.
"For example, in the Caribbean we have a lawsuit pending that challenges overfishing of parrotfish, which are important grazers for coral reefs to keep them free of algae," she said. "Other local threats that need attention include water pollution, dredging, or coastal construction that impacts coral habitat."
See dozens of wonders from coral reefs and other exotic seascapes, courtesy of the Catlin Seaview Survey.
To date, just two species of coral -- staghorn and elkhorn -- are on the Endangered Species Act, and both are in Florida and the Caribbean. Now listed as threatened, they would be reclassified as endangered under the proposal.
Of the 66 species now proposed for listing, 12 would be listed as endangered -- seven in the Pacific and five in the Caribbean; 54 would be listed as threatened -- 52 in the Pacific and two in the Caribbean.
NOAA aims to finalize the listings in late 2013, after public meetings and a comment period. Comments can be made via NOAA's listing proposal site.
NOAA had never before analyzed so many species over such a wide geographic range. The closest in scope was a review of 30 West Coast salmon and steelhead species in 1994.
Friday's proposal came as nations met in Qatar to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol with a new framework for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Little progress has been made, and the talks continue next week.
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This is the best news I have heard all day.
what is everybody worried about... there is only 21 days left till the December 21, 2012 .. then we go the way the Mayans , Egyptians and dont forget the dinosaurs and disappear forever !
Hey, Mike, can I have your car and bank account?
Got any daughters who don't want to die virgins?
gee god , you trying for emperor package at Caesars palace in Vegas , virgins, sex, money and fast cars...well if god wants to live it up, the end must really be near !!!!!
when they put cockroaches on the endanger list...maybe there's a problem...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lv8pq77Qas
not as good as last nights announcement that they issued 5,000 deer hunting permits here in Iowa.
The "Endangered Species Act" was a good idea until it got out of hand. There is no one in the world who can identify all of the species "endangered" on the Endangered Species List but you can get fined $10,000.00 for having the wrong salamander in your terrarium. A N.J. woman got hit for using feathers collected at her bird feeder in art work. Let's get real, do I or any other diver know what the 66 varieties of coral look like?
IA Scooter'Tramp: There is no limit on deer hunting permits here in PA and believe me I can take down 5 or 6 a year from my back window and I live in the suburbs. They are worse than ground hogs -- you can't grow a garden, etc., etc.
Gil, you dive and you don't bother to educate yourself about the environment you're going to be in? Why bother?
Recognizing that climate change is happening and accepting that the use of fossil fuels is contributing to it, is huge. Now if greedy oil companies would invest in alternative energy research, which is ultimately in their best interests also, then we could transition over to less polluting energy sources and everyone, humans and otherwise, would benefit. These groups who make it their business to protect the environment are heroes, especially considering the pressures they're up against.
Alternative energies will never get the job done. Best to leave nature alone to heal itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw
Rex-1306908
In order for nature to heal itself it must have the forests and vegetation to remove greenhouse gases from the air and we need to stop pumping pollutants into the atmosphere and water. You can not heal what you have killed.
"These groups who make it their business to protect the environment are heroes, especially considering the pressures they're up against"
Therse groups are far from heros-some,including the center for biologic diversity are nothing more than activists who generate lawsuits-nothing more-they file an endless stream of lawsuits,over everything and anything-the one thing all of this groups lawsuits have in common is that they putr humans last.
examples-
denying residential drinking water to a half million people,who were already drawing their water from an EXISTING reservior-due to the presence of a 3" fish (the Santa Ana sucker) that is of no vaule to any animal in the local food chain,has no commercial or rdecreational value,and has viable populations in several other local streams and rivers.
The delta smelt-after multiple CBD lawsuits-the lower San Joaquin valley is no longer an agricultural center-farmers are out of buisness,migrant workers are out of work,and the local economy is ruined.
On top of all this-the lawsuit managed to close the area to recreational fishing-creating more economic damage as fishermen no longer travel to the area,buy food,fuel,bait,or stay in hotels/motels.
Species have been going extinct long before man arrived on the planet-they will continue to do so-with or without human intervention-all the CBD is doing is creating an income source for the lawyers who make up the majority of the center staff.
The "greedy" oil companies make far less off of a gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel than your federal and state governments do-the oil companies make a few cents a gallon-federal gov't makes a little over 18 cents per gallon,average state gasoline tax is 22 cents per gallon.
If gas is at $3.35 a gallon-this is what the oil companies make-
The rest of the cost of gasoline goes to turning crude oil into fuel, moving it to gas stations and retail markup. Get this number by subtracting the amounts in steps 2 and 3 from the average price in step 1. In this case, that's $3.35 minus $1.99 and minus 49 cents, which comes out to 87 cents for refining, transportation and retailing -- or about 26%.
http://money.msn.com/shopping-deals/what-makes-up-the-cost-of-gas-bankrate.aspx
By the way-the "greedy" oil companies do invest in alternate sources of energy,and have been for years.
larry1959 -- You're obviously entirely pro-business, pro-status-quo and can't imagine doing anything any differently, ever, and it doesn't matter how many thousands of species are killed off. Oh, the poor oil companies!!! Actually, they make tons of profit, not to mention the government oil subsidies coming from you and I and everyone else. The oil companies will go the way of the dinosaurs if they don't learn to adapt. With over 7 billion people, the oil reserves won't last forever.
In Agreement - Between gasoline taxes, federal excise taxes, and various other taxes, the federal government makes more off of a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do. Would you say that the oil companies are subsidizing the government? Of course not, because everything is one way, isn't it?
I have been listening to people talk about alternative fuels for fifty years. Government subsidies of solar fuel technology started in the Carter administration. So, where are the alternative fuels? In 2012, there is no practical alternative to fossil fuels, and government efforts to block our access to fossil fuels is a significant contributor to many of the economic problems that we now face. Obama talks a good game when it comes to energy independence, while he blocks the Keystone pipeline and harasses every coal fired power plant in America.
At least when we give oil companies tax breaks like the oil depletion allowance, we get oil. What have we gotten from direct cash subsidies to companies like Solyndra. We've gotten a lot of excuses and not much else.
I certainly don't mind if people want to debate issues, but pretending that all of our problems would be solved if only those bad old oil companies would go away, is juvenile. We still live pretty well in this country, and fossil fuels are a big part of the reason why. The oil companies didn't invent greed. In fact, it does not appear to me that your average oil company executive is any more greedy than your average congressman or bureaucrat over at the General Services Administration. The difference is that when we pay money to the oil companies, we get oil, and when we pay money to the government, we get a lot of hot air.
when were living under water.. you can sell boats and rent them out .. lol time for the gov. to start showing clips from ' water world ' because THAT probably sums up whats going to happen...
So completely wrong. But why bother? Anyone who cites youtube as a source doesn't want a clue, let alone have one.
The federal government taxes on fuel is why every freeway entrance doesn't have a toll gate and why local governments receive federal dollars for road, flood, and erosion work.
Well, that's just not true. Bio-diesel and bio Jet-A are realities that you can buy retail or wholesale. They are available, low tech, with ample opportunity for expanded production.
Every coal fired electrical generator in the US can be replaced with nuke, solar and wind. Every. Single. One. Some of these generating stations are over 60 years old and highly inefficient.
We can conserve ourselves out of 20 coal fired plants - next year if we want to.
There is no problem with practicality. There is a problem with cost. The tradeoff is simple. Higher energy costs and we might get to keep the southern 1/3 of Florida.
wait till fly's, ant's and cockroaches make the list and you get fined for spraying your home !!!!!
Do it now. no reef no fishy, no reef big waves.
I'm all for coral reefs, but what do they think they are going to do to cool the ocean? If you can't fix the cause how are you supposed to stop it? You can maybe, maybe prevent catastrophes like the BP oil platform in the Gulf, but slowing down ocean warming and getting it cooling now would take radical change that would be rather hard for most people to stomach, and even if we did it tomorrow, it would take awhile, decades, for it to take effect.
I think we should take it on, but will the nation and the world? I'm not optimistic about that.
Hey Mark, I say we all take on our own areas and do the very best we can, then again, what do i know? :D BTW-I THINK I have the best recipe for "almost authentic" skyline chili...I'm addicted! ;)
WHY, don't we save our children first??? I love nature as much as anyone and live in an area where my own back yard is of grave concern. Still, I feel if we all spoke up (NO, SCREAMED...WE'VE HAD IT!!!) maybe our congress would finally listen? There is NO MAGIC PILL to cure convicted child molestors and until there is, they should be put to sleep...PERIOD!!! OK, I've had my rant now back to saving the planet. :)
Not sure how many of you have heard of GEOCACHING? Anyhow, It's a GPS adventure/sport/etc...
Best way to learn about it would be to google it. I live in NW Indiana and very close to the In. Dunes State Park. The Dunes and my beloved Mount baldy are in need of constant care and rescue...so as a local I made Mount Baldy an (Earth Cache)...folks have come from many states and countries to relish the views here that they otherwise would likely have missed ! They answer questions and post their pics on my cache page, it's uber cool!!!! I've been busy lately w/ family matters and haven't been able to cache much, but hoping to get back out soon...a lot of geocachers take care of cemeteries, parks, lakes, rivers and so much more! A GREAT FAMILY ACTIVITY!!!! :D I posted a link to my big back yard below, it'd Mount Baldy in Michigan City, In.
guess I can't post a link? oops :(
"For example, in the Caribbean we have a lawsuit pending that challenges overfishing of parrotfish, which are important grazers for coral reefs to keep them free of algae," she said. "Other local threats that need attention include water pollution, dredging, or coastal construction that impacts coral habitat."
Oh to be so educated as the annointed one! This Dike Lubchenco is definitely playing all of the tree huggers heart strings.. Parrot fish are the only cause of Ciguataria (SP) groupers and Amberjack eat these coral(carpet)munchers and absorb the toxins and then pass ciguataria on to the unfortunate peeps that catch and eat said Grps and AJ's.. This @!$%# must be concentrating on Haiti.. Those poor mother @!$%#ers will eat @!$%# if thats all thats available.. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against poor people and do anything I can to help them but political @!$%#s! Well my weapons are clean and ready....................
Yeah! Get out there and shoot ya some lesbians, heRO!!
Until the USA can control it's sewage, chemical, and sediment run-offs into the Oceans the US Corals are DOOMED...
The Gulf of Thailand and Australian Barrier Reef are experiencing declining growth rates and coral bleaching due to these about 90%, while the AGW is attributed to less than 10% of the damage...
I was diving in PR during 1982, the Bahamas during 1983 and now Thailand. Down-stream of human discharges, the corals were and are bleached and dying. Off Viegues Island and other areas with little or NO human encroachment, the water was clear (100+feet visibility) and the corals were/are thriving. Off the Chief's beach at the Naval Station Air Station PR and the coastal waters of NC, the visibility was normally 5 to 10+feet, even during the 1980s...
Nice thing about the rising levels of nitrates (fertilizer & sewage). It both - inhibits the coral growth and promotes the crown-of-thorns starfish populations that eat corals.
Four researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science report that "coral cover increased in six sub-regions and decreased in seven sub-regions," with some of the changes "being very dynamic and others changing little." But with respect to the entire reef system, they report that "overall regional coral cover was stable (averaging 29% and ranging from 23% to 33% across years) with no net decline between 1995 and 2009." And to emphasize this fact, they forthrightly state that they found "no evidence of consistent, system-wide decline in coral cover since 1995."" [Kate Osborne, Andrew M. Dolman, Scott C. Burgess, Kerryn A. Johns 2011: PLoS ONE]
Additional coral reef and peer-reviewed postings...
What if they're wrong about 12-21-12? And he will bring ruin to those ruining the earth.
ok...long as he brings some cheetos...for the rest of us...
....and beer of course....after all it is a friday....
Coral cores were collected in May of 1997 and June of 1998 from seven Montastraea faveolata colonies located in the upper Florida Keys...for these cores, annual extension, density and calcification rates were obtained and analyzed, to see how they varied over this period of intensifying warming and acidification of the global ocean...they demonstrate that "the measured corals have historically been able to maintain rates of extension and calcification over the 60-year period from 1937 to 1996 under the combination of local environmental and climatic changes." They also note that calcification rates were positively related to sea surface temperature, "similar to results for Porites corals from Tahiti (Bessat and Buigues, 2001) and the Great Barrier Reef (Lough and Barnes, 1997),""
According to NOAA & NASA - Currently the Sea Surface temperature for much of the US East Coast and the Carribbean is almost 2+degrees Centergrade (-4 F) BELOW the average of the last 40+years... see http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/data/sst/anomaly/2012/anoma.11.29.2012.gif and http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/ocean/sst/anomaly.html
You are looking at one day out of 365 days. Weather vs Climate.
I raise coral in my fish tank that is kept at 79 degrees any my corals not only thrive they reproduce. I cannot see how the 1/2 to 1 degree increase in water temp is causing all these coral die offs. All the pollution is what I think is causing the problems. Corals away from civilization concentrations are doing great it is just the reefs near pollution sources that are bleaching and dying off. We need to stop using the rivers and oceans as our toilets. If the humans of this planet kill of the plankton in the oceans there goes a huge amount of out oxygen producers.
Another excuse to shut down our economy. Congratulations all of you Obama fans. This is what you voted for. Obama is off to Hawaii while the rest of us go over the fiscal cliff, but remember everyone, none of this is his fault. He's only the guy in charge.
Waah
hooo...Honolulu...
OK, Doug. When Sandy hit the east coast and those thousands of people had no power, what do you think the reaction would have been if you had suggested that FEMA fix them up with a nice solar panel?
But don't worry about it. It's much easier to complain about how someone else has caused all of our problems because they are greedy.
Waah yourself. By the time Obama's second term is over, everyone is going to be crying.
bob...doug...was mess'n with ya...both parties sold out to corporate america ...a long time ago...we're screwed...money will keep being printed to control the masses and food stamps will be included with your paycheck...
and when we hit 20 trillin in debt and china owns us.. all the people here that screwed us over and the people who spent too much $$$ will whine.. lol
and half of you buy the exepensive cars, and resources that support the country... dummys...if everyone just stopped working in 1 day.. then there would be wide spread panic.. but hey...thats why they got a nat. guard, army, police, swat, cia, and fbi. to make sure we dont try anything that could be " revolting " like the french did 200 years ago....
when were out of gas and most world wide costal cities are flooded and useless.. then there wont be a economy...humans are @!$%#ting on the ground and walking in it.. then questioning why its there and how it got there...LOL.. this is typical of 95% of the human population... as a human race on " average " we just dont have the brains to exist as a speices....were too focused on other non-importnant crap... like how much money we make, what car we drive, and how many kids the gov. will pay for...time to go back to small cars that run on different fuels.. build small 500 SQ foot houses.. and limit child birth to 2-3 children per family.. if you disagree then please offer me another soluntion.. because i dont see any other ones... unless you still think oil will last forever and so will gas and other resources.. hey 1/3 of the rain forrest is gone.. and thats no biggy...isnt the amazon like 33% of the entire air of the world...now you wonder why we got acid rain and warmer seas with less salt...screw up the planet some more so you can all whine later on...
Hey, you. Get away from that coral. Like that kind of protection?
Steve: That's probably what it would take. Counting on people to act as if they had a keen inclination toward self-preservation is always a dicy proposition.
ya missed his point. "cagey"......
well i think we all know the problem here... too many people and too many people wasting resources.. so keep on pumping out 5 - 10 kids each and driving gas guzzlers and we'll see 10000's of species extinct within the next 100-150 years....then you can all whine
well lets see if we keep on pumping out 5-10 kids each while wasting food, gas, electricity, and other resources.. then gee i think species would be extinct...lol i laugh at people who go to church with large families to " pray " and say that god exists and we need to help the earth but there driving suv's living in huge houses.. yeah thats really helpful to the planet.. hey when gas, and most of our resources are exhausted in the next 100 years are you gona build your churches and gov. buildings out of straw and baboo like gilligans island?
How long until people realize coral cannot stand the onslaught of herbicides and other chemicals coming from runoff supplied by every river?
gee what a surprise.... the every weekend.....BOO !!!!....global warming article......
20 years from now it will be replaced with the monthly tally of abandoned communities around the world.
Great, get each species, put them in Congress, fill it with salt water , add a few fish and there will be more happening there than has happened for about 50 years.
Don't forget or FYI , there is a HUGE reserve of nearly every coral species out there.....right in Reef Aquarium hobbyists homes. That's correct, the number of people in the world that have corals growing in their personal aquariums is staggering. Not only are these hobbyists skilled enough to maintain all these species of corals they actually grow and propagate them. The technology and skill is all there and they use it to the point now where WE, because i am one of the hobbyists, don't need ANY harvesting of corals from the ocean any longer. All we do is "frag", a piece of coral from our mother colonies and give, trade or sell them away to others. Yes, we are that good at growing them. What does this mean? It means that IF the natural reefs become that threatened or IF certain coral species become extinct in the wild, there is a HUGE bank of healthy, growing and non-threatened reserve right in our living rooms or dens. If you don't believe me i'll give you a link to just one of the many Reef hobbyists web sites. Find and look at all the past TOTM,(Tank of the month), pictures. You can then read all about it and you'll be stunned at how beautiful and healthy these corals are. If coral reefs become extinct due to global warming, people like ME can repopulate them. Here ya go: www.reefcentral.com
More inaccurate information.
You can't properly (scientifically) use the words acid or acidic when the pH is alkaline. Pure water has a pH of 7.0 which is neutral. If you buy Minute Maid reduced acid orange juice it says reduced acid. It doesn't say more alkaline orange juice.
You have to say that the pH of the oceans have become less alkaline.
And did you know that warmer water holds LESS dissolved gases than cold water? Shake up a warm soda and a cold soda. The warm soda will spew more since it is not able to hold the carbon dioxide like the cold soda. So warmer oceans can not hold as much CO2 as cold oceans. Warm oceans can't get more "acidic" like this poorly written article claims.
It is actually the oceans that help regulate the CO2 level in the atmosphere than the other way around. Warm oceans = more atmospheric CO2. Cold oceans = less atmospheric CO2.
And cold water bleaches coral just as much as hot water. In fact NBC has this story about sea turtles suffering from the cold. I would not be surprised to see the coral in the area bleach from the cold water.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/01/15596628-dozens-of-stranded-sea-turtles-suffering-from-hypothermia-rescued-in-cape-cod?lite
When "news" articles become factual and use proper terminology instead of trying to push doom and gloom they will get more respect.
The two biggest dangers to coral is overfishing of the types of fish that live around coral like parrot fish and actual pollution ( of which CO2 is not a pollutant).
There are some species that need protection and then there are others... who would not be in favor of exterminationg mosqyuitoes or houseflies or cockroaches?
There is an extremely virulent subspecies of the cockroach that does not possess the intelligence of the common cockroach, but it multiplies all across the 50 states. It has seized power in Washington Dc and goes by the name "Democrat".