A 4-page summary of outcomes of the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium is now online at:
http://www.icrs2012.com/Downloads/ICRS2012_Outcomes_Report.PDF.

The Symposium website will remain operational indefinitely. Here are some useful direct links:

http://www.icrs2012.com/Proceedings.htm

http://www.icrs2012.com/Downloads/ICRS2012_Book_of_Abstracts.pdf, 1500 talk and poster abstracts

http://www.icrs2012.com/ePosters.htm, uploaded posters

http://www.icrs2012.com/Default.htm, videos of all the 12ICRS Plenary talks and the Darwin Medal address

http://www.icrs2012.com/Program/PhotographicCompetition.html, a collection of beautiful images

http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/programs/future-forum/, an hour-long panel discussion on the Future of Coral Reefs

http://www.icrs2012.com/Consensus_Statement.htm, where you can still join more than 3,100 coral reef scientists by endorsing the Consensus Statement on the future of coral reefs.

It has been a great privilege to host 12ICRS, and we hope everyone enjoyed contributing to it, either onsite in Cairns or online. A special thanks to Eliza Glasson, for an amazing job.

Cheers, Terry
————————
Prof. Terry Hughes FAA
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University
Townsville, QLD 4811, AUSTRALIA
Fax: 61 (0) 4781-6722
tel: 61 (0)7-4781-4000
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

“Scientists can help by undertaking solution-focused research, by participating more vigorously in policy debates to improve coral reef legislation and implementation, and by sending the clear message that reefs can still be saved if we try harder.” Hughes et al. 2010. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25: 619-680.

Special thanks to Terry Hughes via the Coral-list @noaa.gov

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/16/climate-change-coral-reefs_n_1888288.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Reuters | Posted: 09/16/2012 1:00 pm Updated: 09/16/2012 8:34 pm

* 70 pct of corals will suffer degradation by 2030

* To protect half of reefs, temperature rise must be under 1.5C

By Nina Chestney

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – The chance to save the world’s coral reefs from damage caused by climate change is dwindling as man-made greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, scientists said in a study released on Sunday.

Around 70 percent of corals are expected to suffer from long-term degradation by 2030, even if strict emission cuts are enforced, according to the study.

“The window of opportunity to preserve the majority of coral reefs, part of the world’s natural heritage, is small,” said Malte Meinshausen, co-author of the report published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

“We close this window if we follow another decade of ballooning global greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Coral reefs are home to almost a quarter of the world’s ocean species, they provide coastal protection and can support tourism and fishing industries for millions of people worldwide.

The rise of global average temperatures, warmer seas and the spread of ocean acidification due to greenhouse gas emissions, however, pose major threats to coral ecosystems.

The scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the University of British Columbia and the universities of Melbourne and Queensland in Australia used climate models to calculate the effects of different emissions levels on 2,160 reefs worldwide.

World carbon dioxide emissions increased by more than 3 percent last year and global average temperatures have risen by about 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past century.

Coral reefs face serious threats even if global warming is restricted to a 2 degrees Celsius limit, which is widely viewed as a safe threshold to avert the most devastating effects of climate change, such as drought, sea level rise or crop failure.

Warmer sea surface temperatures are likely to trigger more frequent and more intense mass coral bleaching, which is when reefs turn pale, the study said.

Although corals can survive bleaching, if the heat persists they can die. This happened in 1998 when 16 percent of corals were lost in a single, prolonged period of warmth worldwide.

Ocean acidification can put even more stress on corals.

As more and more carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere, sea water turns more acidic which can hinder calcification which is crucial for corals’ growth.

“Thus, the threshold to protect at least half of the coral reefs worldwide is estimated to be below 1.5 degrees Celsius mean temperature increase,” the study said.

A separate report last week said Caribbean corals were under immediate threat and urgent action was needed to limit pollution and aggressive fishing practices.

Average live coral cover on Caribbean reefs has declined to just 8 percent today compared to more than 50 percent in the 1970s, according to the report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Special thanks to Desiree Barbazon

http://www.iucn.org/?10903/Crunch-time-for-Caribbean-corals

07 September 2012 | International news release

Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, 7 September 2012 (IUCN) – Time is running out for corals on Caribbean reefs. Urgent measures must be taken to limit pollution and regulate aggressive fishing practices that threaten the existence of Caribbean coral reef ecosystems, according to a new IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) report.

Average live coral cover on Caribbean reefs has declined to just 8% of the reef today, compared with more than 50% in the 1970s according to the report’s findings. Furthermore, rates of decline on most reefs show no signs of slowing, although the deterioration of live coral cover on more remote reefs in the Netherlands Antilles, Cayman Islands and elsewhere is less marked—with up to 30% cover still surviving. These areas are less exposed to human impact as well as to natural disasters such as hurricanes.

Special thanks to Paul Hoetjes Paul.Hoetjes@rijksdienstcn.com via Coral-list

Dear All,
We proudly announce that our first volume of Journal of Indonesian Coral Reefs is finally available on line
(http://www.coastal-unhas.com/ incres). It is free download for full-text pdf format. More numbers and Volumes coming on line soon. Please distribute this information and link to our friends and colleagues who might be interested to know more various issues about Indonesian Coral Reefs. We also encourage you all to share your information by submitting your manuscript (please refer to Guide for Author on the above link).

We also welcome any suggestions to improve the quality of this journal. Thanks for your kind attention and cooperation,

Best Regards,
Jamal Jompa
Editor in Chief
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list

From: Hughes, Terry
Sent: Friday, 11 May 2012 3:37 PM

Two months in advance of the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS 2012) in Cairns, Australia from 9-13 July, the draft Scientific Program is now available online, at http://www.icrs2012.com/MiniSymposia.htm#1.

Close to 2,000 people from 75 countries have registered to attend so far, and over 1,500 oral and poster presentations have been scheduled.

Prior to the Symposium, we will also place the finalized Book of Abstracts online to help delegates plan their trip, and to make this information available more broadly. Immediately after ICRS 2012, the Symposium Proceedings, uploaded posters, and videos of the Plenary talks will be freely available online.

We look forward to providing broad internet access to the Symposium’s outputs to the coral reef research community. You can still register to attend, and we very much look forward to welcoming those of you who coming to Cairns in just a few week’s time.

Terry Hughes
ICRS 2012 Convenor

Special thanks to Coral-list