Ocean ‘dead zones’ may be permanent

[nosmokes]

What can you say to this? The local rag buried it in the local sextion where the big talk is about the new owners redoing the fancy mall in town! WOOT!The literal heart and lungs of of the planet may be dying from our misguided and irresponsible activities but goddammit,They're sprucing up the mall!Outta my way!

original-registerguard

Ocean ‘dead zones’ may be permanent

By Winston Ross The Register-Guard

Published: February 15, 2008 08:42AM

CORVALLIS — Oregon State University researchers will publish findings today showing that low-oxygen levels recorded for the past six years are unprecedented, which suggests a stronger link to global warming and the potential permanence of the sea life-killing phenomenon than previously known.

Oceanographers combed through records of water samples dating to 1950 and found that last year’s oxygen levels in swaths along the Oregon Coast were the lowest ever recorded — by far.

“This proves how unusual these levels of the last few years are,” said Jack Barth, one of the authors of the study, which will be published in the journal Science today. “We’ve examined more than 50 years of data.”

That data suggests a link to the stronger, more persistent winds that are expected to accompany global warming, the researchers found. The low-oxygen events, or “dead zones,” are caused by a natural process known as “upwelling,” whereby winds push cold, low-oxygen, nutrient-rich water from offshore closer to land, where it replaces warmer water that contains more oxygen in it.

Warmer temperatures on land that would be expected with global warming would pull more air in from the cooler ocean, setting up the winds that create upwelling, and draw the dead zone closer to shore.

After six years in a row, the scientists are theorizing that such a low-oxygen condition, or “hypoxia,” is here to stay.

~snip~
.
.
.
complete article here

[kurth]

1. The Great Dying has begun

We're so fucked.

[Karenina]

2. Nothing "wrong" with dying.

It IS the fate of every living being on this planet.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. maybe "nothing wrong with dying" but

there's PLENTY wrong with extinction of whole species and right now we're living through the largest extinction event the Earth has ever had.

[Subdivisions]

4. This is not the future I dreamed about as a child. This is

an apocalyptic nightmare.

[Robbien]

5. I often wonder

if all the groups of dead fish and water mammals which mysteriously end up on various beaches could be as a result of these creatures getting suddenly caught up in one of these dead zones.

With so many dead zones these days, it must be getting harder for fish to stay out of their way.

[countryjake]

6. The one in Puget Sound & the WA coast definitely affects the tinier creatures...

such as smelt, crabs, starfish, and shellfish, who can't rapidly escape the affected areas. That, in turn, affects everything higher up the food chain, with depleted food sources resulting in shore birds and the larger sea critters having to expand their range to survive or starving after not being able to adequately fatten up in preparation for their species' migrations.

[proud patriot]

7. FUCK - countdown to extinction

countdown to extinction-megadeth-Dave Mustane

Endangered species, caged in fright,
Shot in cold blood, no chance to fight.
The stage is set, now pay the price.
An ego boost, dont think twice.
Technology, the battles unfair,
You pull the hammer without a care.
Squeeze the trigger that makes you man,
Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned...
The hunt is canned.

/chorus/
All are gone, all but one.
No contest, nowhere to run.
No more left, only one.
This is it, this is the countdown to extinction.

Tell the truth, you wouldnt dare.
The skin and trophy, oh so rare.
Silence speaks louder than words.
Ignore the guilt, and take your turn.
Liars anagram is lairs,
Man you were never even there.
Killed a few feet from the cages,
Point blank, youre so courageous...
So courageous.

/chorus/

One hour from now,
Another species of life form
Will disappear off the face of the planet
Forever...and the rate is accelerating.

/chorus/

[tabasco]

8. Earth will survive.

Not so sure about homo sapiens.

I'm not sure we deserve to survive as we have destroyed so many other species and ruined the biosphere.