New pristine reef discovery a miracle for most, an opportunity to promote unwarranted climate alarmism for CNN – Interested in that?

From Climate Realism

A news search on Google for the term “climate change” today revolves around a series of stories that discuss the recent discovery of a previously unknown and pristine reef off the coast of South China Sea. Tahitian Sea. Most newspapers covered the story, like CBC, France 24, and New York Post, referring only to climate change in transit, noting that the reef appears to be unaffected by the myriad of factors that affect neighboring reefs. CNN, perhaps predictably, has managed to turn a story of wonder and hope, into a tale of horror, warning the reef must be protected from climate change.

CBC story, titled “This huge reef has only just been discovered and it has not been damaged by climate change.” is typical of most news about the newly discovered, diverse and healthy reef. CBC wrote:

The discovery of the reef, deeper than most, suggests that there may be many great unknown reefs in the oceans.

Scientists have discovered a pristine 3km-long, rose-shaped reef off the coast of Tahiti, in the southern Pacific Ocean that is thought to be deep enough to protect it from the bleaching effects of the oceans. warm up.

…

The reef off Tahiti lies in the “twilight zone” between 30 and 120 meters above the surface, where there is still enough light for corals to grow and reproduce. According to UNESCO scientists, the discovery off the coast of Tahiti shows that there may be many great unknown reefs in our ocean, as only about 20% of the entire seafloor is formed. map.

UNESCO’s head of marine policy, Julian Barbiere, said: “It also raises questions about how coral reefs can become more resilient to climate change. Reuters.

The CBC and others say very little about reef-related climate change because there is little to say, other than to suggest that warming waters have affected other nearby reefs. Most reef coverage has a uniform, hopeful hue that implies the fact that reefs are healthy, diverse, evidence-based reefs are resilient to climate change, and show , there may be countless coral reefs like it in the 80s 80 percent of the world’s oceans and seas remain unexplored

CNN leans to discovery, in contrast, gave a definite warning tone.

Deep in the ocean off the coast of Tahiti, in November, scientists made an astonishing discovery: giant, pristine, rose-shaped samples of coral bloom from the seabed, CNN writes. in what is known as the ‘twilight zone’.” A few moments later it turns a hopeful story of discovery into a horror story about climate change.

“The fact that a reef so large and so beautiful has yet to be discovered underscores how little we know about the world’s oceans,” CNN said. “And its perfect condition – there is no evidence that the reef has not been damaged by the climate crisis – suggests the need for urgent action to protect the ocean’s remaining healthy coral reefs. ” (emphasis mine).

Instead of welcoming the obvious resilience of coral reefs in the face of myriad threats to coral health, the evidence suggests, the least of which is warming oceans. humbly, CNN immediately presented the discovery as a cautionary tale about the dangers of climate change.

CNN continued: “The warming and acidification of the oceans caused by the climate crisis have led to widespread coral bleaching. “Last year, scientists found that global levels of living corals have halved since 1950 due to climate change, overfishing and pollution.”

Thankfully, almost everything CNN says about the threats and abundance of coral reefs is untrue.

As discovered in previous Climate Realism reports, here, here, and here, for example, corals evolved when the oceans were much warmer than they are now and needed warm water to grow. As a result, corals have are expanding their reach to cope with modest sea-level warming. Most corals bleached in recent years have recovered. In places where corals have not recovered, their bleaching and dying have been linked to coastal pollution, including from chemicals contained in sunshades, silt from development and agricultural production. Karma.

Indeed, research reported on Phys.org shows that coral reefs are far from threatened.

According to the Phys.org story, titled “Half a trillion corals: World’s first coral count spurs a rethink of extinction” The number of corals in the Pacific Ocean alone exceeds half a trillion. There are probably trillions of other people around the globe.

Scientists involved in the study say the absolute number of corals and coral species means The risk of extinction due to climate change is much lower than previously claimed.

“In the Pacific Ocean, we estimate there are about half a trillion corals,” said lead author of the study, Dr Andy Dietzel from the ARC Center for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. Phys.org writes.

“This is the equivalent number of trees in the Amazon, or birds in the world.”

“Dr. Dietzel said eight species of coral are most common in the region, each with a population size greater than 7.8 billion people on Earth.” Phys.org says, continue, “The findings suggest that although local coral loss can be devastating to coral reefs, the global risk of extinction for most coral species is lower than previously estimated.”

This study points to the fact that although the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 80 coral species as highly endangered, 12 of them have population sizes estimated at more than 80. one billion colonies.

When the unexpected discovery of this huge, pristine, reef in Tahiti’s waters was announced, the corporate media had the choice, the high path of truth or the low path of alarm. wrong climate. Most of the mass media is supportive, presenting facts about the reef, its location, range and uniqueness, and discussing the wonders this reef has to offer. and the good news it can be about the abundance of corals in uncharted waters. They limit their speculations about climate change.

CNN, as usual, went the low-key, briefly describing the Tahitian reef discovery and its wonders, then pitching the story on climate change. Along the way, CNN presented half-truths, misinformation, and raw speculation about the threat that climate change poses to coral reefs worldwide, in order to say that the reef This newly discovered pristine area is under threat, although there is no evidence that this is true, from human emissions of greenhouse gases. Shame on CNN.

H. Sterling Burnett Ph.D. is managing editor of Environment & Climate News and a research fellow in environmental and energy policy at the Heartland Institute. Burnett has worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis for 18 years, most recently as a senior fellow in charge of the NCPA’s environmental policy program. He has held various positions in public and professional policy organizations, including serving as a member of the Environmental and Natural Resources Task Force on the Texas e-Texas committee. Comptroller.