Aforementioned: aphorisms and questions for 2015

No human technology compares to the magical living technology of the Great Barrier Reef. Soon now It will be dead The first two pictures give some idea of the extent of the living Great Barrier Reef (Visible from space, it is 2300 kilometres long). The next two speak for themselves, although the green peace ad could be misleading. It is not coal per se that is killing the reef, it is the global warming brought about by burning fossil fuel. Coral can survive only within very limited temperature boundaries (ours are nowhere nearly as limited). Our addiction to fossil fuels means that the ph level of the oceans is changing drastically and very fast. Again, the corals have very limited tolerances to changing ph level and we are forcing them so fast that the corals have no chance to adapt.

These are the worst threats to coral reefs, but there are many more, all brought about by outrageous human stupidity: garbage, overfishing, over-exploitation for human recreation, poison, over fishing. We don't actually harvest coral, but we do harvest the fish that depend on them and that help to maintain a healthy balance in the reefs. Without fish predation, sponge (last picture)  smoother the reefs.

So, yes, all the living reefs will be gone soon.