Bread and CircusesApr 23, 2025

You know about that canary in the coal mine, right?

When a canary kept inside a cage dies, the miners need to get out immediately. They are in extreme danger.

For us, the canary is coral reefs. They are dying now, at a rate never seen in human history. We are in extreme danger.

Capitalist commerce and industry are wrecking the planet's biosphere, tampering with the food chain that keeps us and millions of other species alive.

➡️ https://apnews.com/article/coral-reef-bleaching-climate-change-fdbeddf7ae3ccc9d7cf85d1c3267e581

#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

84% of the world's coral reefs hit by worst bleaching event on record

Harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has now grown to include 84% of the ocean’s reefs in the most intense event of its kind in recorded history. That's according to the International Coral Reef Initiative. Warming oceans cause corals to expel the colorful algae living inside of them, putting the coral at risk of death. Healthy corals are essential for seafood production, jobs and coastline protection worldwide. Scientists say it's essential to reduce greenhouse gases that are the main driver of atmospheric warming. Last year was the warmest on record, and much of that heat is going into oceans.

AP News
Show threadKent PitmanApr 23, 2025

@breadandcircuses

«That’s deadly to corals, which are key to seafood production, tourism and protecting coastlines from erosion and storms. Coral reefs are sometimes dubbed “rainforests of the sea” because they support high levels of biodiversity — approximately 25% of all marine species can be found in, on and around coral reefs.»

I'm convinced that these are things that are poorly communicated. Like the polar bears, which people see as a cuteness thing, I think people see tourism here and figure they have their own problems that are more important.

I imagine the person writing the story is trying to enumerate a lot of different effects and imagining that people will be alarmed about some or all these, but I wonder if enumerating a bunch of things obscures the thing(s) that would really catch people's attention.

For example if this just spoke only of seafood production ... And to be honest I wonder if it should say "seafood", not "seafood production" because in my head I'm calculating how many people do not propagate effects and don't realize, as stupid as it sounds, that if seafood production is affected, available seafood will be. In other words it sounds when you put production in there like you're saying it's going to affect the jobs of people doing seafood as opposed to affecting what's on the dinner table.

Maybe I'm being overly pessimistic, but given the small degree of climate action that we've seen it's hard to believe that that could possibly be true, or maybe I'm just focusing my concern in the wrong place, but I feel like people don't think through the cascade effects in their minds.

So I wonder if you don't just say that the death of corals could very well mean the end to some are all seafood, or whatever the thing is you wish people were inferring, in super blunt plain form, whether anyone gets it at all.

Just thinking aloud. But I feel like people are not responding to things like this. Pictures are of coral turning white and again sound like some tourism far away is not going to work. We speak of ecosystems and I'm sure people understand that in a vague sense, but I'm not even sure people know that they are in the ecosystem. Many might think they visit it on weekends.

I'm not sure there's a bigger point here, so I'll just stop. Maybe others have thoughts.

#climate

Show threaddasgrueneblatt

@kentpitman "Many might think they visit it on weekends." is a good way of putting it, yes, that's how it is.

@breadandcircuses

Apr 23, 2025 at 2:36pmWeb