PLUS: Join the conversation!

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences Not yet a subscriber? By Sam Spengler | 10.21.23 Canaries in the Coal Mine of Climate Change Welcome back to WIRED Classics! My name is Sam, and I'm one of WIRED's fact-checkers—those behind-the-scenes reporters who make sure that everything you read on WIRED is accurate and fair. I'm taking the helm of Classics this week while Eve is away. This year, Florida had one of its worst summers yet for coral reefs, as astronomically warm waters—as high as 97 degrees Fahrenheit in some places—caused mass bleaching events. As we know, environmental scientists and journalists have for years been warning us about the precarious future of the world's corals and their role as canaries in the coal mine of climate change. In an April 2022 piece about coral-growing efforts, WIRED contributor Rowan Moore Gerety joined the chorus, suggesting that "by the end of this century, we may be speaking about healthy coral reefs in the past tense." When I was assigned to fact-check Gerety's piece, I dove headfirst into a terror-induced research spiral akin to doomscrolling, discovering such terrifying statistics as the fact that the globe has lost half of its coral reefs since the 1950s and that reef biodiversity has fallen by nearly two thirds. Thankfully, promising coral restoration projects are working to salvage our reefs, and several were the focus of Gerety's ultimately optimistic piece. Gerety also notes that, depending on your point of view, "coral restoration is either a profoundly pessimistic or optimistic undertaking. To some, it suggests we're past hoping humans will act forcefully enough to curb water pollution or slash emissions to help natural reef systems withstand global warming. To others, restoration serves as penance for the damage we've already done, and a way to maximize our chances of shepherding corals through the Anthropocene." Where do you land? Are efforts to restore coral reefs in Florida and the rest of the global tropics futile? Would those resources be better spent tackling the issue of our warming waters? Or should we give up on the possibility of climate change reversal and regard coral restoration as one of the hundreds of necessary efforts to protect global biodiversity from the inevitable? Write me a note or leave a comment beneath Gerety's story. See you next week! Sam Sam Spengler, Research Editor Read the Full Story Originally published in April 2022. SUBSCRIBE TO READ THIS STORY  The Race to Rebuild the World's Coral Reefs Nearly half of these ocean ecosystems have been wiped out since 1950. One man is on a mission to reverse that—by speed-growing coral in hyperefficient nurseries. You Might Also Like Humans Have Broken a Fundamental Law of the Ocean The size of undersea creatures seemed to follow a strange but stable pattern—until industrial fishing came along. Scientists Accidentally Discover Strange Creatures Under a Half Mile of Ice Researchers only drilled through an Antarctic ice shelf to sample sediment. Instead, they found animals that weren't supposed to be there. Got an Invasive Army of Crayfish Clones? Try Eating Them The marbled crayfish is a threat to the native species, but the "Berlin lobster" may also offer a sustainable food source and help stop the spread of parasites. When a Houseplant Obsession Becomes a Nightmare Some of us just can't resist the allure of the carnivorous Nepenthes. They're beautiful, rare, and in every way life-consuming. The Double Life of an American Lake Monster In the Great Lakes, sea lampreys are a scourge. In Europe, they're an endangered cultural treasure. Can biologists suppress—and save—the species? ADVERTISEMENT The Tip of the AI Iceberg In last week's Classics, Eve wrote about Steven Johnson's 2014 piece, Why Inventors Misjudge How We'll Abuse Their Creations, a meditation on the blind spots in tech history and what they might illuminate for us today. Johnson notes that we failed to see the social media age coming because we falsely assumed the focal point of the internet would be information, rather than, well, us. When Eve asked readers to think about current innovations and how they might revolutionize society, we (predictably) received responses focused on AI. Jeff Barrie believes that "we are just at the tip of the iceberg with AI/ChatGPT." Andrew Graylin wrote that "quantum computing that has an AI within reach of everyone, down to the device in your pocket" will likely have major ramifications, especially in a future when we have devices in our ears or even our glasses.   Tell me about your favorite WIRED stories and magazine-related memories, and each week I'll feature one of you here. Write to me at samantha_spengler@wired.com, and include "CLASSICS" in the subject line. Or, simply join the conversation by posting a comment below the article. GET WIRED Our Fall Sale is Officially live! Subscribe to WIRED for only $29.99 $5. That includes subscriber-only content like Steven Levy's Plaintext column, plus FREE WIRED stickers as a special bonus! ADVERTISEMENT Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions   Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.