Here's a bit from a science news report from Physorg.com:
Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive teams looking for "bleaching" that is a telltale indicator of temperature stress in sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak. The impact could extend from Key Largo through the Dry Tortugas west of Key West, a vast expanse that covers some of the prettiest and healthiest reefs in North America.There's more detail of the killing effect of the cold if you go read the whole science report.
Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a patch reef 2.5 miles off Harry Harris Park in Key Largo.
Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom.
"Corals didn't even have a chance to bleach. They just went straight to dead," said Johnson, who joined teams of divers last week surveying reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "It's really ecosystem-wide mortality."
The record chill that gripped South Florida for two weeks has taken a heavy toll on wildlife -- particularly marine life.
I guess if you are consistent "global warming" fanatic you will chalk this kill up to "global warming". Everybody knows that as the earth heats up you get more extreme weather, and what's more extreme than a really severe cold snap in the middle of runaway heating?
By the way... this cold snap isn't the only thing where temperatures are headed the wrong way. Here we are in the midst of runaway global warming and the oceans -- which absorb and carry most of the environmental heat on planet Earth -- are in fact cooling. See this blog posting on Watts Up With That?
3 comments:
"We've told so many lies, young scientists are totally confused"
http://climaterealists.com/?id=4960
Thanks for the pointer Mr. Xyz. The humour is good. And it is important to keep poking away at the ideologues selling "global warming".
But... my bottom line is that humans are playing a role in the climate. I'm more with the camp of Roger Pielke Sr (see his blog) where he admits that humans are changing the climate, but the factors are many and the science is too immature to focus in on CO2 or even the whole panoply of greenhouse gases. The biggest human impact is probably from land use change and not CO2. The problem with the "global warming" crowd is that they are ideologues not open to debate (e.g. "the science is settled").
My problem with the Climate Realists web site is that they make statements that sound blindly ideological to me. From their "about Climate Realists" page:
Climate Realists will actively promote the proposition that there is no such thing as Man Made Climate Change, until the World's Governments recognize that Climate Change and Man Made Pollution are two separate issues and not part of the same problem as currently promoted by Climate Change Journalists from the AGW Media. Government funded scientists who make up and exaggerate climate research for the sole purpose of obtaining large grants will undoubtedly come unstuck as the world becomes cooler and CO2 continues to rise.
Promoting a falsehood to confront another falsehood is not a way forward. Truth discovered through diligent science is the only way out of this morass. AGW (Anthropgentric Global Warming) is a fact. What is at issue is how big it is and whether it is big enough to be a matter of concern. My position is that it is relatively small and that the money spent on "fixing" such an irrelevant problem is wasted because it could be spent on more pressing issues. (Read Bjorn Lomborg's Cool It to get an overview of environmental issues and better uses of the money & effort.)
RY,
Thanks for the thoughtful response. I point the link there instead of to Youtube so that the quote on the thumbnail can be seen.
I too like Pielke Sr. If he posts the clip I'll link to that instead!
Post a Comment