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MARINE Life 1 Features and Creatures Our Goal To educate, inform, have fun and share our Climate Treaty in Paris 3 enjoyment of the marine world with likeminded CO2 can be beaten 5 people. Coal and Coral do not mix 8 Sea snails clobber cancer cells/ White Rock Shell 9 The Crew Darwin’s wrecks in 3D 11 Michael Jacques, Editor Amphipods, freaky jelly raiders 13 SA Advisor – Peter Day Media Monitor – Alison Triffett Twilight of Sail, “Aldebaran”, “Fairy Rock”, “Wild Wave” 14 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not Undersea Vents/ Vent mining 21 necessarily the views of the editorial staff or associates of this Dumb Sharks 26 publication. We make no promise that any of this will make sense. Blue-Eye Trevally 27 “James Craig” back from the Dead 28 Cover photo, Mike Jacques, Sea Daisies Solomons Inundation, lost islands 29 Christmas Island naturally, coral bleaching 30 Wanted, - Dead birds for research 35 Jellies, new books and photos 36 \ We are now part of the wonderful world of Facebook! Check us out, stalk our updates, and ‘like’ our page to fuel our insatiable egos. Contact us: [email protected] 2 A Triumph of Diplomacy in Paris . Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission reduction, but the amount will be In case you missed it, the world has agreed to roll back voluntary CO2 emissions, the sceptics said it could never happen. Who made it happen? “Inevitably, the compromises of the Paris Agreement make it both a huge achievement and an imperfect We did, by giving support to the idea, and showing in polls that solution to the problem of global climate change.” we would accept compromises. “The post-Paris regime implies a significant role for civil society organizations. However, in many Summary countries the ‘safe operating space’ both for these organizations . The Paris Agreement was adopted by all 196 parties and is and for the media is shrinking.” Meaning, we need to support therefore the first truly global climate deal. the deal to give our politicians the political capital to make it work. This newborn can easily die in our arms unless we shift off . It’s a “messy” deal, to satisfy all the countries the system is our backsides and take hold of the new opportunities. unstandardized and the contributions do not currently deliver the agreement’s stated long-term goal of keeping the rise in Others who helped get the Paris deal working were, global average temperature to ‘well below 2˚C’ ENGOs for keeping the issue in the media when we forgot to . It gets better over time. The deal has a ratchet mechanism care, even though many of the slogans and proposed that requires bigger contributions every five years. solutions were unachievable. World leaders who put their credibility on the line, . The next five years are critical for keeping the below 2˚C particularly in the USA and China. “As long as policy makers goal within reach. in Washington and Beijing didn't put all their political capital . The agreement will become legally binding only if joined by behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55 targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments often percent of global greenhouse emissions. Such parties will remained in the realm of pious wishes.” Since 1990, China’s need to sign the agreement in New York between 22 April CO2 emission tonnages have been skyrocketing, way more 2016 (Earth Day) and 21 April 2017, and also adopt it within than India or the United States, many other countries have their own legal systems had stable emissions or only slight increases in terms of tonnage, although emissions in most countries have been . the parties will also "pursue efforts to" limit the temperature growing dramatically in percentage terms (EU Edgar increase to 1.5 °C database). On 12 November 2014 when President Obama . The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse and General Secretary Xi Jinping agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the gases emissions.” The Paris ‘talkfest’ was no longer a 21st century. talkfest. Leaders of faith, Pope Francis published an encyclical . It would reduce global warming from an estimated 4–5 °C called Laudato si' intended, in part, to influence the Paris (by 2100) to 2.7 °C, and reduce emissions per capita by 9% conference. The encyclical called for action against climate by 2030. Scientists are hopeful for more. change. 3 Civic leaders - Al Gore, insisting that "no agreement is What Didn’t help perfect, and this one must be strengthened over time, but Ranty bloggers and hard dry right commentators with groups across every sector of society will now begin to paranoia problems, or some other issue with civil society. reduce dangerous carbon pollution through the framework of Thousands of anarchist demonstrators who had violent this agreement." clashes with police,10 policemen were injured and 317 Politically influential groups. The International Trade Union people arrested. Confederation has called for "zero carbon, zero poverty", and its general secretary said there are "no jobs on a dead planet". On the Wrong Side of History Awards 2016 Industry – The Conference cost $200M and 5 major French companies tipped in 20% of the cost. They also came looking And the award goes to…Tony Abbott. Now to list his for the opportunities it created for long-term investment. achievements, take it away Peter Hartcher of the Sydney Countries showing the way. France was the perfect host. It is Morning Herald, one of the few developed countries in the world to decarbonize electricity production and showing that you can “Australia had a bipartisan consensus on climate change under still have a high standard of living. As of 2012, France John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull. generated over 90% of its electricity from nuclear (granted- not for us), hydroelectric, and wind. The consensus was that climate change was real and that pricing carbon through an emissions trading scheme was the best way Challenges – We have to stick to it for Australia to respond. Abbott shattered the consensus. He The Paris Agreement is “predicated upon an assumption – rode to power on a conservative reaction against climate change that member states of the United Nations, including high action. He used it to destroy Turnbull's leadership and then polluters such as China, the US, India, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Rudd's and, finally, Julia Gillard's.” Indonesia and Australia, which generate more than half the In accepting this award world’s greenhouse gas emissions, will somehow drive down Tony Abbott will repeat their carbon pollution voluntarily and assiduously without any his earlier statement, binding enforcement mechanism to measure and control CO2 “Let’s be under no emissions at any level from factory to state, and without any illusions the carbon tax specific penalty gradation or fiscal pressure (for example a was socialism carbon tax) to discourage bad behaviour.” masquerading as environmentalism” . Runner Up – Kevin Rudd for failing in the “greatest moral, economic and social challenge of our time”, then destabilising the only alternative government on the altar of his own ambition. Only pipped thanks to a readiness to apologise, never an Abbott affliction. 4 Climate Change – Resistance is futile? largely ignored the extremists shouting about conspiracies, they were just a loud minority with no qualifications or credibility. Changing the world’s atmosphere for the better is not impossible, we have done it before The main source of these halogen atoms in the stratosphere were innocent and much beloved fridges, hairspray cans and Even I sometimes go ‘yeah, yeah’ when another prediction of other wholesome household items charged with CFCs, a chemical doom comes out on the TV about climate change. It seems so far that had helped make these products affordable. How could we off, and even if we do worry about it, what good does it really survive without cans of fly spray, this is Australia after all! do? Not only do we have to get our own politicians to take notice and get serious about it, we need consensus across the world. CFC effects Even harder, when you drive up to people in developing on the countries in a new car shouting about restraint, when most of atmosphere their citizens don’t even have were linked enough to eat. to increases in cancer, The amazing thing is that this cataracts, isn’t a new problem, we have damage to already tackled and defeated plants, and one global atmospheric reduction of catastrophe. Because we plankton have beaten it so quickly and populations decisively, it has rapidly causing huge faded from our memories. ecosystem Remember the hole in the effects. ozone layer? The scientific warnings generated worldwide concern, as well as In the late 1970s we started storms of protest that industries would shut down, to notice a steady decline of unemployment would rise (it was high in the 70s already), goods about 4% in the total amount would go up in price, and none of the developing countries in SE ozone in the atmosphere and Asia would have the sense to buy into a solution anyway. a much larger springtime However, if anything, it was the developed world industry decrease in ozone around the leaders that were the keenest to protect the ‘old way’ of doing polar regions. business. We didn’t really understand it, couldn’t see it, but believed our The science was just as confounding and even less well explained scientists when they told us about “catalytic destruction of ozone than it is today.