Science Daily - Cod Collapse, Warming Bring "Large, Rapid Changes" To N. Atlantic Ecosystems

[hatrack]

Ecosystems along the continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, from the Labrador Sea south of Greenland all the way to North Carolina, are experiencing large, rapid changes, reports a Cornell oceanographer in the Feb. 23 issue of Science. While some scientists have pointed to the decline of cod from overfishing as the main reason for the shifting ecosystems, the article emphasizes that climate changes are also playing a big role.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems are being tested by climate forcing from the bottom up and overfishing from the top down," said Charles Greene, director of the Ocean Resources and Ecosystems Program in Cornell's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "Predicting the fate of these ecosystems will be one of oceanography's grand challenges for the 21st century."

Most scientists believe the planet is being warmed by greenhouse gases emitted in the burning of fossil fuels, and by changing land surfaces. Early signs of this warming have appeared in the Arctic: Since the late 1980s, scientists have noticed that pulses of fresh water from increased precipitation and melting of ice on land and sea in the Arctic have flowed into the North Atlantic Ocean and made the water less salty.

At the same time, climate-driven shifts in Arctic wind patterns have redirected ocean currents. The combination of these processes has led to a freshening of seawater along most of the Northwest Atlantic shelf. In the past, during summer months, a wind-mixed layer of warmer, less salty water (which is less dense and lighter) floated on the ocean surface. When the air temperature cooled during autumn, temperature and density differences lessened between the surface mixed layer and the cooler, saltier waters below. Similar to the flow of heating and cooling wax in a lava lamp, as the density differences became smaller, mixing between the layers typically increased and the surface mixed layer deepened.

EDIT

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070222155140.htm

[bighughdiehl]

1. What is the point?

Sometimes I think that Oxyrush et al. are mostly right about "wacko" environmentalists. I've seen story after story after story after story after story after story after story after story after story like this all my life....and guess what? We're still here. Doomsday just keeps getting puched back. Erlich was wrong, the peak oil people are starting to look wrong, etc. Manhattan has not been flooded. Can't we just focus on health care, economy, etc? Makes us look less wacky.

[jpak]

2. LOL!!!111

We are so screwn...

[phantom power]

3. I don't feel wacky, myself. Hey anybody else out there feel wacky?

[hatrack]

4. Well, I don't think my Wacky-Meter is registering TOO high today . . .

Heaven knows I've pegged it a time or two . . .

[jpak]

7. I feel an Inconvenient Wackiness today

What a Rush!!111

[hatrack]

6. Well I guess you don't have to read these news stories, now do you?

Buh-bye.

[GliderGuider]

8. Uh huh. You bet. No problems here, just a lot of doom-mongering.

Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive than some to these oceanic stories due to my work, but let me remind you that the northern Cod stock collapsed by 99% in the quarter century leading up to the 1999 moratorium, and has failed to recover since.

Three of the four biggest oil fields in the world (Cantarell, Burgan and Da Qing) are known to be in decline. The fourth, Ghawar, currently has between a 30% and 55% water cut, and as a result is thought by many analysts to be in decline as well. 56 of the world's 73 oil producing nations are experiencing declining production. England has had an average 9% pa decline in oil production since 1999. The world output of Crude + Condensate (the basic definition of "oil") has been flat for almost two years, and the trend line has been declining for the last 18 months. Cantarell's output crashed by 25% last year, threatening their exports to the US as well as their federal budget. Sorry, Peak Oil is here.

Worrying about the kind of world our children will inherit isn't "wacky", it's "responsible".

[phantom power]

9. I take that back, sometimes I feel wacky, like this:

No doubt you're right -- if I just stopped reading the E/E news, it will all stop happening. Just like when my 2-year-old daughter covers her eyes, I suddenly can't see her.

[Morgana LaFey]

11. Maybe a little MORE knowledge -- rather than less --

would serve you well. A little LESS Rush, rather than more, as well.

Just a thought.

[redqueen]

12. What's the point of what? Science?

:shrug:

[OneBlueSky]

14. what we're seeing today is a whole different level of magnitude than in the past . . .

broader, deeper, more pervasive . . . the current environmental crisis is, in fact, a culmination of the warnings from past years (which refused to heed) coming home to roost . . . things like . . .

"Overpopulation, destruction of the ozone layer, global warming, extinction of species, loss of genetic diversity, acid rain, nuclear contamination, tropical deforestation, the elimination of climax forests, wetland destruction, soil erosion, desertification, floods, famine, the despoliation of lakes, streams, and rivers, the drawing down and contamination of ground water, the pollution of coastal waters and estuaries, the destruction of coral reefs, oil spills, overfishing, expanding landfills, toxic wastes, the poisonous effects of insecticides and herbicides, exposure to hazards on the job, urban congestion, and the depletion of nonrenewable resources."

The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment
by James Bellamy Foster

http://monthlyreview.org/vulnplnt.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Vulnerable-Planet-Economic-Environment-Cornerstone/dp/158367019X/sr=1-1/qid=1171877636/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6405060-2683341?ie=UTF8&s=books

[AnOhioan]

15. A serious queston...what is the view like

with your head hidden in a bodily orifice?

[kestrel91316]

16. Hm. You must be young. I used to NEVER hear this sort of thing,

and now it's all I hear.

I can't grow my own veggies worth a damn anymore. Used to be able to.
Must be my imagination.

[bighughdiehl]

17. Hmmm.....Yes I am young.

28. It's just that my elementary school teachers told me all sorts of bad things would be happening now......more visible than this story, food would be scarce , which it sure as hell isn't overall. It's kind of like my fundy parents with the rapture...it just never happens even though it's been supposedly imminent since I could tie my shoes or so. I guess my perspective could be skewed in any number of ways, though.

[kestrel91316]

18. Believe me, none of this was on the radar when I was a kid,

30, 40 years ago. We thought the world was our oyster, that there could be no limits to our futures. We really thought the party could go on forever.

Now, the sad truth has become apparent. THAT'S why you hear about it all the time. Every little measure we take to mitigate delays the inevitable. Also, the more we do to mitigate, the less likely we are to fall off a cliff rather than do a slow slide into the pit. But there can no longer be any denying the pit is there, and we are headed straight for it.

[Javaman]

dupe nt

[Javaman]

dupe nt

[Javaman]

21. Actually it was, that's why earth day was started. There were people back then

telling the public things are going to get bad in a few decades, but no one listened. They were looked at as being nuts.

And here we are.

[Dead_Parrot]

19. Perhaps it's time...

...you stopped being told what to believe, and tried doing some thinking?

It's hard work, but you'll get the hang of it.

[Javaman]

20. You expect things to happen now and not long term.

So climate change isn't happening fast enough for you? Oh boo hoo.

Check back with me in 30 years when your vacation home along the coast that you left your kids has to be put up on stilts due to the rising waters.

Also, check on the cantrell fields in Mexico, not looking to good these days with output dropping by half a million barrels yearly. (sorry to report this to you, but Mexico is one of our main suppliers of oil)

Yes, I agree we should focus on health care but sadly as the climates change and all sorts of heavy metals get released into the atmosphere via fossil fuels, all sorts of fun things are beginning to spike regarding environmentally based health issues. So sorry to burst your bubble but C02 and mercury being released into the air but they are very much tied to the health care issue.

And yes, I also agree with you regarding the economy but since 2/3rds of our trade deficit is due to the buying of fossil fuels, it's directly tied to our fiscal issues.

So we ween ourselves off of fossil fuels, reducing our trade deficit, also improving the air quality, thus lowering (hopefully) the rates of cancer and other illness's born from pollution.

[Ian David]

5. Have I mentioned lately that I fucking hate Ben Stein?

'Wild Ben' Stein Stars in New TV Ads

A new consumer advertising campaign highlighting the abundance and sustainability of Alaska Seafood was launched today on national television by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). The advertisements star Ben Stein, an actor and comedian known to many consumers through his comic appearances on television and in the movies. He has a talent for making people laugh with his deadpan delivery: it made him famous in his role as the teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and led to his hosting his own popular game show on TV.

The TV campaign represents significant expansion of ASMI's effort to inform and influence U.S. consumers, increasing the number of people reached with advertising messages fivefold. Print advertisements are running in key consumer magazines, and news stories about Alaska seafood abound.

There are three different ads, one for all species of Alaska Seafood, one focused on Alaska Salmon and one on Alaska Crab. They will air from September 25 through November 27, to coincide with the fall and winter/holiday season. ASMI also created "Grab a Fork" crab posters for restaurants and retail seafood counters in time for the upcoming holiday crab season.

More:
http://www.alaskaseafood.org/industry/enews/enews%20archive/092706E-news.htm#ads

[redqueen]

10. It's either the BTO song...

or the Chinese curse...

I can't visit this forum without thinking of one or both of them.

[Ezlivin]

13. Oceans are for waves, not fish

That's the Bush philosophy.

And skies are for storing our pollution.

Got it?

I turn 100 in 2057. What a fucked up world to live in as a senior citizen.

[Javaman]

22. Wrote this a while back about the Cod...

Javaman (1000+ posts) Mon Nov-06-06 05:53 PM
Original message

Peak oil and fish...
Having just finished reading the "History of Salt" and the book entitled "Cod", about the history of the fish, I'm struck by something that scares me down to my very soul.

Prior to advent of refrigeration fish was preserved by salting. One of the best fish to salt was the cod because of it's low fat/oil content. Because of that, it would last a very long time.

In recent news, the Cod has almost been fished to extinction. And in even more recent news, because of pollution many species that inhabit the ocean maybe gone in as little as 50 years.

A huge cross section of the earths population depends on fish for their diet. Remove fish and you have one big problem.

But what about Cod? Historically it has basically fed a world. As its population vanishes, a good source of protein and food, the earths population will vanish along with it.

Having grown up on the east coast and knowing the level by which Cod played in the daily life of many of the people there, still does and now nationally, we are in for a very rude awakening very soon.

Can it be turned around? Perhaps. Limit catch sizes or have off seasons to allow the schools to repopulate, but given the fact we are killing the oceans with all sorts of (oil based)fertilizer run off, I'm not to hopeful.

The obvious killing of the ocean will bring on a slow die off, but the removal of eatable fish will bring it on that much faster.

We have some very serious times ahead of us.