by Nancy Corson Carter
Retired oceanographer Dr. C. Mark Eakin has spent over 30 years
with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. His presentation, “Climate
and Oceans,” reminded me of the powerful film he helped create as its Chief
Science Advisor. The Sundance and Emmy
award-winning 2017 movie Chasing
Coral documents one of the first repeated coral
bleachings that occurred between June 2014 to May 2017. During that time,
nearly all world coral bleached, sometimes for two years running, as the Earth’s oceanic waters
have continued to warm beyond safe levels for the coral. An area near Guam was
hit excessively. Now, almost every year brings bleaching events.
When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as
temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in
their tissues, causing them to turn completely white. Corals can survive a
bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.
Chasing Coral helped alert the world to what is only a
10-year-old field of study, one which is racing against time to rescue a
beautiful and once abundant source of life. Nearly a billion people rely on
coral reefs directly and indirectly. Thanks to its availability on Netflix and
YouTube, Chasing Coral is available to more people and encourages action
in caring for the oceans and advocating for their protection.
The corals depend upon a symbiotic relationship with algae, which
exudes nutrients for the coral and protects them. Those who study the coral
have been shocked to find that in places like the Great Barrier Reef and
especially in the tropical waters around Florida, 60% of the coral are in
jeopardy.
The situation has become critical and scientists are conducting
research in coral nurseries to keep them alive and find strains that can
survive warming water. One of the corals wiped out in the wild now only survives
in a nursery. But we must do more to reduce CO2 now to save one of the ocean’s
most valuable resources.
There is some good news on the climate change front. France has
officially pledged to shut down all coal-fired power plants in three years.
California will put five million electric cars on the road by 2030. Individuals
can help reduce dependency on fossil fuels by changing lifestyles, for example,
by using mass transit and electric cars, and by supporting electric work
vehicles like pickups, buses, and delivery trucks.
Reducing local stressors also helps. 50-85% of the coral loss in
Kiribati in 2016 is now bouncing back; after a ban on most fishing. Shade helps
and anything that cools the water—even ships spraying salt water up to make
clouds.
Dr. Eakin’s
report emphasized a great need to provide mental health support for
scientist-researchers who must observe, year after year, the death of once
healthy and utterly magical coral reef ecosystems.
In 1994, I went on an eco-tour of the Brazilian flooded forests
of the Amazon, sponsored by the PC(USA) and led by Rev. Bill Somplatsky-Jarman.
Our preparation packets included a stunning essay,“The Ecology of Grief,”
by Phyllis Windle.
Windle explores, with a wonderful cast of scientists and
especially ecologists, “the benefits of grieving well,” of avoiding the
temptation to turn and walk away when what we love is threatened. In the final
words of her essay, she writes, “We shall need passion, commitment, creativity, energy,
and concentration. We shall have none of these if we fail to grieve (alone and
with each other) for the magnificent trees, the lovely animals, and the
beautiful places that we are losing.“
As Dr. Eakin and others like Dr. Faith Harris in our empowering
2023 Earth Care Conference remind us, “Our hope is to create community together wherever we
are.”
Nancy Corson Carter, professor emerita of humanities at Eckerd College, has published two
poetry books, Dragon Poems and The Sourdough Dream Kit, and three poetry chapbooks.
Some of her poems, drawings, and photos appear in her nonfiction book, Martha,
Mary, and Jesus: Weaving Action and Contemplation in Daily Life and in her
memoir, The Never-Quite-Ending War: a WWII GI Daughter's Stories.
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