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Subscribe to RSSFlorida's coral reefs have been decimated in recent decades. Underwater coral "nurseries" are one approach being used to recolonize coral there.
Reefs in the Caribbean and Florida Keys have lost most of the colorful corals that feed a rich ecosystem and made the region a diving and snorkeling mecca, a major conservation group reported Friday. On average, reefs have live coral on just 8 percent of their surface area, down from more than 50 percent in the 1970s.
Impacts including warming seas and human sewage have contributed to a steady decline that shows "no signs of slowing," the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in releasing its report, which was based on new data compiled by 36 experts earlier this year.
The decline was not uniform, the IUCN noted, and those areas with less human impact fared better. "Corals declined precipitously on the Jamaican north coast in the 1980s ... but not at Curacao and Bonaire where coral has more gently declined to about 25-30% today," the IUCN said in the report.
In contrast, total coral cover in the Florida Keys, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico "has progressively declined from 25 to 35% in the 1970s to less than 15% today."
Many of those severely deteriorated reefs instead are covered with large algae, which make it harder for coral to get established, "and virtually no fish larger than" a few inches, the report stated.
The report cited a number of factors causing the decline: disease, pollution, overfishing, hurricanes and "coral bleaching" — a process triggered by stress such as warm seas or pollution whereby the coral expels the tiny single-celled algae inside it that provide its color.
The IUCN did not try to weigh the importance of each factor, but some experts voiced their belief that global warming is paramount.
John Bruno, a University of North Carolina marine biologist who contributed to the new data, told NBC News that a study published last July shows the key driver in the decline is a warming ocean.
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the state of Caribbean reefs continues to worsen, primarily due to ocean warming," he said. "To reverse this dire trend, job one is to halt the increase of greenhouse gas emissions."
Related: Study ties coral crisis to climate change
Related: Slideshow on threats to coral
The IUCN released the report at its annual convention and urged nations to step up efforts to reduce fossil fuel reliance, thereby reducing greenhouse gases. It also called on nations with coral reefs in their waters to take several actions:
- Limit fishing through catch quotas;
- Create or extend marine protected areas, which provide havens for coral and fish populations to recover;
- Halt runoff from land of sewage and fertilizers, among other pollutants.
The impacts on coral must be "immediately and drastically" reduced, said Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Program, "if coral reefs and the vitally important fisheries that depend on them are to survive in the decades to come."
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It also happens when the water is colder!!! This has been well documented in recent years where Florida has been hit with much colder winters than normal.
And coral dates back to 450 million years ago. Which predates the Carboniferous Period when CO2 levels and temperature were both much higher than today. So coral survived Co2 and warming 300 million years ago. I don't think CO2 levels and temperatures lower than then are going to do in the coral.
Now overfishing and actual pollution might but CO2 won't.
And you know a neat little thing about more CO2 in the air? Plants grow faster and stronger and are more drought tolerant and more water efficient with more CO2. So higher CO2 levels might mean less fertilizer use which means less runoff into the oceans.
Except for the fact that rampant over-population of this earth is creating the need for humans to reduce the areas that plants can grow by the cutting down of forests and urbanizing open land. So while CO2 levels are rising, the means to combat that rise is reducing. Of course no one really cares and won't until it's too late as long as they can keep filling their wallets during their lifetime.
It still amazing me how much people think they are expects on things that happened 300 million years ago when humans didn't exist and apply it today when factors are completely different.
You forgot to blame it on democrats and Obama.
It's amazing how fast the non-science educated have their misinformation posted.
So what are you saying? The coral isn't really dying? It doesn't really matter the coral is dying? You don't care if the coral is dying? You don't believe the coral is dying? You know the reason but you're not telling? You don't know the reason but you know it's not caused by humans? It's too expensive to fix so you don't care? Saving the planet is just a funny punch line?
Sounds like it is time for nature to wipe out the swarm of locusts that is destroying the planet.
He's a regular AGW denial troll. Just vote No Value.
So maybe we should just listen to you and ignore the experts and their scientifically conducted peer-reviewed studies, since you seem to have all the answers.
Oh by the way, could you direct me to where I could read one of your published scientific reviews on coral bleaching? Thanks.
How do these bozos get advance notice of new stories so they get the first comment in?
Sooo you are saying those incredible percentages are no big deal? Interesting.
Glad there's nothing to worry about , back to the American dream in progress zzzzzz
Another thing that is impacting the coral reefs is the large increase in population of an invasive species from the Pacific, the Lionfish. They think they got into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico when Hurricane Andrew destroyed an area that had an aquarium full of them and they survived and got into the ocean.
Lionfish will populate a coral area and the native fish do not see them as a threat. The lionfish just swim up to them, sting them, and eat them. A coral reef can lose a most of the native species of fish this way, fish that they depend on to eat all the algae that builds up on a coral reef. The algae then builds up, chokes out, and kills the coral. The lionfish are causing a huge problem and its out of control
Non-native fish should be banned from being sold and kept as aquarium pets in Florida where they could potentially get into the river system and oceans and cause damage like this. Its just common sense. A similar thing is happening on land with the red tail boa and the python. Idiots release them into the wild when they get too big and now they are causing major problems in Florida. These also should be illegal to have and sell in the south were they could survive the winter.
George Carlin said it best. "The planet is fine, the people are f$%&'d...
...The planet will be here long after we're gone. And if it's true that plastic is not bio-degradable, then the earth will simply adopt a new paradigm: Earth+plastic. It doesn't share our prejudice toward plastic. Probably thinks of it as one of their children. Could be the answer to our age-old question: Why are we here? PLASTIC... a-hole."
Almost every single problem facing this world all funnels down to the root cause: overpopulation. Yet half the progressives who scream up and down about conservatives not caring about the planet are the ultimate hypocrites giving birth to more than one child.
No amount of greening of your home and lifestyle will ever counter the destruction you cause by having more than one child.
I am a pro-choice, pro-woman, pro-gay, pro-legalized gambling/drugs/prostitution, athiest, middle class, small government, constitutional and fiscal conservative who by choice will have ZERO children.
And all we need to do is find a way to convert 99% of the progressives in these threads and out there in society in order to fix the real problems of the world.
@ economykiller,
So more C02 makes things grow better while humans continue to cut down everything that stands in our way. What we don't cut down we burn. How will a concrete planet produce C02?
Vglance
I think you'll find that us 'progressives' are great believers in birth control. You need to pay more attention to the political landscape and exactly WHO are the ones wanting to limit reproductive rights. Who wants to defund Planned Parenthood, ect.
Or maybe you don't know the definition of 'progressive,.
Progressives label conservatives as the only ones spawning tons of kids and yes, some of them do. My point was two-fold. First, I was showing that as a conservative, I am proof that the stereotype is false. Second, that many progressives are guilty of having more than 1 kid, not just conservatives.
And it's BS propaganda lies that progressives are spewing about conservatives when it comes to things like conservatives want to ban abortions. They want to ban abortions paid for by government. That is a HUGE difference. It doesn't matter how many times conservatives fire back at you explaining that they don't mind if you want to have an abortion, they just don't think it's fair that they have to partially pay for it. But you'll still spin it anyway.
It's classic how you take the extreme radical right and try to paint all conservatives like them.
And when I said 99% of progressives, I was not meaning that 99% of them are having more than 1 kid, but that 99% of them are supporting unsustainable benefit/entitlement programs and legislation that long-term produces lazy, dependent and unresourceful people. We need to stop producing people to be completely disinterested in politics, economics, history, business, personal management and financial literacy and responsibility.
The progressive ideology is a road to hell paved with good intentions. It is a short-sighted view of kindness and fairness designed to 'protect' but the net result is that you create a pattern, a thought process, of optimism over pragmatism, living beyond ones means as opposed to living debt-free and saving money for emergencies and retirement. And walking that tightrope in all choices made because of the imaginary safety net of a nanny government designed to bail us out when we are irresponsible.
The biggest excuse of a progressive's lot in life is that it is the fault of others or bad luck/circumstance, when in reality they've been brainwashed by marketing, politicians and government to believe they deserve a higher standard of living than their economic productivity actually warrants.
Bottom line: A conservative hopes for the best, but prepares for the worst. A progressive just hopes for the best. We need somehow to teach progressives the second part of what life is about.
Its a good thing for you Vglance, that everyone doesnt have your attitude. Or you would be screwed. Im sure lots of people like you, dont like paying for the roads that support your business, and the city infrastructure that you use and need to do your business. Or how about other medical procedures? I dont approve of you having anything removed. So no surgery4U.
I guess I better stop pissing in the ocean.
Okay, so based on the brain trusts on this thread (economykiller, vglance), it's either not people at all or, if it is, it's the "progressives". Let's just declare conservatives "blameless" so we can move on with a solution.
I can tell you this, it seems that conservatives may well be the answer to all our problems... because with all the time wasted trying to be logical and compromising with these people, it DOES make you think twice about bringing children into this world to have to deal with them.
It's obvious to any straight thinking human that we need to deal with carbon emissions. And with no single silver bullet, this effort needs to include "all of the above" solutions and involve every country on earth. The funny (but not funny) thing is that we can probably get every other country involved easier than getting our own country involved.
Have we really become this dysfunctional and down-right stupid? Yes, we have.
As far as the issue of the coral goes, I think it has far more to do with pollution than with global warming. Phosphate content in our oceans has increased considerably to in large part to agricultural run off. These phosphates feed algae blooms that choke out the coral. The reason I do not think that warming is the main culprit is two fold. First of all, the amount that ocean temperatures have risen is well within normal historical variations that have occurred over the centuries and millennia. Second, if water temperature was the driving factor we would see a corresponding increase in coral growth in areas where the water is that little bit cooler.
To make one comment about the population debate and the whole progressives versus conservatives argument, I think that all you need to do is look at census data to get the picture. You will find that it is far more ethnically/culturally related than political viewpoint related. For example, Hispanics tend to have much larger families than Europeans regardless of whether the Hispanics or Europeans are conservative or progressive or whatever other political label you want to hang on people.
Oil washed ashore following hurricane Issac. One beach in LA had slimy looking oil and another beach in Mississipi had tar balls. If you think BP has the Gulf cleaned up, you are fooling yourself. I have even read some reports that the leak isn't completely stopped and never was. One scientist said that even if there is absolutely no more leaking oil, we could continue to have oil and tar balls wash up on beaches for the next 20 plus years.
The damage that the oil has done may not be known for years. However, some species have turned up with deformities and the effects from this may be felt forever.
Isn't it amazing how the right wingers keep giving us their ignorant comments about global warming, just to justify their party of poisoners?
CO2 is the MAIN problem IN THE PLANET, either you like it or not, and FOSSIL FUELS ARE THE REASON WHY THE EARTH IS WARMING, AND MANY SPIECES OF ANIMALS ARE DYING AT INCRDIBLE FAST PACE.
IF YOU THOUGHT THAT CORAL WERE JUST "ROCKS"THEY ARE NOT, THEY ARE ANIMALS. GUESS WHAT? humans are also animals, and we will be next.
Oh! But like Romney said "We are not going to let fact-checkres destroy our campaign" Go ahead and VOTE AGAINST YOURSELVES. You will be contributors of the nasty poisoning of your own families.
It starts with you Lmarc! Set an example and get rid of your car. Buy some horses that fart and @!$%# all over the place, and then get on your high horse and proclaim your superiority over the rest of us!
We will consume our resources long before the libs will be successful in "saving" the planet. Dont worry, nature will take care of everything. The heard will thin!
In addition, to get all countries involved in the effort to cut CO2 emissions means that you must conquer them. This is going to raise military spending, as well as decrease our likability in the world. Libs dont like to think about unintended consequences of their well intentioned ideas.
What an ignorant comment! Don't you understand ANY other language than the language of VIOLENCE??? There are other ways, but you MUST be willing to figure them out.
Go ahead an look at the following words in the DICTIONARY: DIPLOMACY, cooperation, mutual agreements, science projects...
Good luck using words to persuade countries like China to give up the automobile.
We cant even get our own country to give up the automobile, let alone other countries. The only way to solve this problem is to come up with a better, cheaper alternative fuel source.
@Kornfed,
RE: "The heard will thin!"
Do you mean that eventually everyone will become hard of hearing or that we will tell or inform people of less information? :)
heardpast participle, past tense of hear (Verb)
1. Perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or something).
2. Be told or informed of.
Ohhh....Now I get it. I'm such a silly wabbit you meant herd. My bad. :)
A Herd refers to a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic, and also to the form of collective animal behavior associated ...
I haven't seen you for awhile. You seem to have misplaced your sense of humor and sheer joy of tormenting your opponent until they snap :( I rather miss the show actually :)
How am I supposed to do any tormenting when you belittle me like this! It takes away all of my gravitas!
"How am I supposed to do any tormenting when you belittle me like this!"
I understand how you feel as I used to be sensitive as well. I cured it by finding my Inner Child and kicking its little arse back into the closet where it belongs. See how much better I am now;)
Oh "Newsvine Bubblegum" a double post. Oops
I tried to stuff my inner child into the closet once... I dont want to talk about what happened
I was stationed in Key West in the 70's for three years and sent considerable time snorkeling the waters inside the reef. Occasionally we would snorkel some of the man made canals hat ran into housing developments. It wasn't unusual to see a layer of blood red pollutant on the bottom. It was probably from sewage, what we assumed, and we left immediately. We rarely saw sea life like fish in those canals with the red stuff.
One the Solutions is solar energy for home and auto and breaking the monopoly big oil has on world energy needs. A world dependent on fossil fuels??? How smart is that???????????????
Then of course, OUR world O V E R P O P U LA T I O N which Mother Nature will tackle, Brutally of course, with a Planetary Pandemic, much Like the Spanish Flu of 1917 which infested the planet's atmosphere and killed 60,000,000 People Then. With H1N1 Combine/Mutating with H5N1, a Human Overpopulation problem will be solved. Why are Flu Shots made so convenient and almost without cost?? World Scientists are VERY worried that a Pandemic of H1N1 will be the catalyst to a mutated Spanish Flu Killer; They are saying the Spanish Flu is a genetic brother to the present killer Bird Flu, with a 70% kill rate, but is not very contagious; Whereas the swine flu, H1N1, has a kill rate of .02% but is Very Contagious. Both flus will combine and mutate into a super killer which is what world scientists are very worried about because it is time something of this magnitude happened.
When it comes to a solution to the over-population problem... only the elite, super-rich, well educated, most vocal and well-to-do have all the answers to this most volatile problem.. as long as it doesn't involve them. Only China at present has the best answer and solution without regard to opinion, but that will never happen here until the status-quo is one day shocked into reality... or a disaster strikes them !!!
The heavy and careless hand of man is taking a toll in a bunch of different areas. It seems like the rapidly growing human population is reaching the limits of what the earth, as we know it, can sustain.
Outlaw air conditioning & get double bang for the buck - much less global warming and a big reduction in people & pollution in Florida!
Great, another story to bring out the environmental wackos,
chas, I would think you'd be better off pleasuring yourself rather than spending your time online uttering such stupidities. OR....perhaps you've mastered the skill of doing both at the same time.
I much prefer pointing out how looney you lefties are.
chas, I really don't think you have the intellectual capacity to piss downwind say nothing about criticizing people that unlike yourself have gone beyond a high school education. Get a life, Fruitcake.
I was actually thinking this was a great story to bring out all of the ostriches who have their heads buried in the sand, while scientific fact flies unnoticed over their backsides.
By the way, Chad, how IS that sand? Warm? Grainy? Tastes like denial?
No, ChasSD, what these stories always bring out are the pretend-scientists and know-nothings like the first poster above.
not that I dont disagree with global warming but why is it that liberals always have to tout intellectual superiority and education like some sort of red meat, gun shooting, male ego flexing that they claim the conservative nut jobs do? I have an education and background that is considerable but never have I used those credentials to "put someone in their place". It is remarkable the similarities in hypocrisy that the two sides continually hate about the other.
Jayfos
Perhaps it's because many conservatives refuse to believe the science backing the global warming. Most people don't have the educational background to really understand it all but at least we 'liberals' as smart enough to know this and respect those who do have the education.
This is not some political exercise, we're talking about the survival of humanity. Or at least the survival of our civilization. Too many are unwilling to recognize it. If it only affected the non-believers it would be ok but they are willing to take us all down with them.
1st man to walk on the moon Neil Armstrong and 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden are both buried at sea. The dying coral is in the sea. Can't you see the connection? It's a more plausible theory to some people than scientifically proven climate change. The deniers think global warming is a conspiracy of some sort despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. I will restate my question to the deniers:
How bad does it have to get to convince you this isn't a normal variation?
Right! Because that doesn't concern you. It is obvious that you live in a different planet.
Jayfos, the difference between all those educated liberals and the uneducated rednecks is that the liberals read and reasearch scientific publicaitons. The rednecks get the depth of their knowledge from bumper stickers.
No. They get most of their "scientific" information from Beck and Limbaugh, those two brain dead fools from asylum radio. The rest they get from Faux News, another brain dead source. Those three sources together could not pass a second grade science test, so it is no surprise that their followers are equally ignorant.
GW? I keep hearing from deniers and members of the Flat Earth Society that there is no such thing. Hmmmm. I also have been hearing from the same bunch of loonies that Armstrong's moon landing was a hoax and the Nazi's never killed a single Jew. As a matter of fact, the last factoid they've been firing off is that OBL is alive and well, living in the Bronx.
This crowd of crowing crackpots has gained the corner on the truth and if you don't believe it, just ask them!
Stick your fascist propaganda where the sun don't shine troll.
Gee Valhalla, I don't know quite what to say in the face of your brilliant, well-thought out reply. Where did you get the ability to think so deeply, pal? 'Popular Mechanics' perhaps? Or did you get it from a fellow classmate at Low IQ 'U'?
Val, on second thought don't bother to answer. It was either (A) from a fellow classmate at Low IQ 'U', or (B) from reading 'Popular Mechanics'.
Global warming is real, and caused by human activity. Common sense would lead you to this conclusion. There's barely a patch of land on earth that hasn't been altered by humans.
Armstrong's landing on the moon probably was a hoax. Again, common sense. Plus the photos look like a stage.
Nazis did kill Jews. Millions.
OBL is dead.
Hope that helps.
I heard he was driving a cab.
Bob
So if the moon landing is a hoax then don't you think the Russians would have been all over it? They were monitoring the signals.
That's common sense. But then for some sense just isn't that common.
Sounds like if you want to see live coral as you snorkel really just a half dozen feet or less below the surface of wonderfully warm ocean relatively inexpensively as compared with alternatives, people had better get to the Keys and Caribbean withing about 10 years. What a terrible shame.
Enjoy natural wonders such as coral reefs while you have them, people. Between population explosion and profiteers poisoning stabbing the Earth in the back for a buck, coral doesn't have a lot of time left to delight us.
Face it, there is no such thing as Global Warming, it is all a made up scientific crisis to help fund the Left Wing college graduates who otherwise would be unemployed or working in one of the many low paying jobs resulting from the Bush II meltdown. I know this is true, because Sarah Palin, and GWB II tell me so. The reefs aren't really dying, they are just morphing into a different type of sea life, Besides, the Right wing doesn't like seafood anyway. so no big loss to them.
;)
Love the Gumby and Pokey avatar.
THATS NOT TRUE...that would be evolution and evolution is a LIE too!
Just like gravity is just a theory, along with germs, atoms, and anything else FAUX tells me not to "believe"...
Global warming is just god hugging us extra tight in these tough times...
Thank you, Greg-2438150
Where there's love, there's Gumby (and Pokey).
Have a happy day!
All summer long I have been sweating like a pig but fortunately I keep telling myself "It's not really hot, I have just been brainwashed by Al Gore"
We can't destroy our ecosystem fast enough. Thanks BP.
Maybe that disappearing oil spill trick BP did has happened more often than we know?
There are maps that show a oxygen deprived zone completely around Florida. Starts near Gulf Shores, Ala and goes to Jacksonville, Fla. Official Reason: Runoff of fertilizer, weed killers, sewage in some areas and other chemicals from storm water runoff from parking lots and highways. The tourist deep sea fishing has been run for profit and has fished out fish many miles off shores. They usually take their tourist fisherman further and further out to provide them what species are left. Off the coast of the Keys, say at Marathon to Key Largo, where the reef is, one has the same problems and the lack of fish to catch is noticeable. All this actually started in the late 1980's. I believe in Global warming but think much of this is the desire to have nice grass growing on parks and golf courses, commercial and residential lots. Key word "Overpopulation".
I haven't bought BP, Shell, Exxon or MAPCO gas in over 10 years.
If Romney wins, the gulf will be used to store oil. Ha, you been Bained.
I live in Tampa and grew up in Homestead, Florida. The impact that humans have on our ecosystems have been getting progressively worse for decades. Fertilizer needs to be banned unless a person or farmer tests the soil to see exactly what is needed and then only apply the needed amount. All too often, people fertilize whether they need it or not. And hey, if alittle is good then more must be better. The next issue that we face in Florida..... Septic systems and poorly maintained sewer systems. Septic systems need to be outlawed in all communities that conventional sewer systems are available. Often beaches are closed, not just for the bacteria that is publicized on TV. But for bacteria that only comes from raw sewage. The poo is coming from somewhere! And he best bet is failing septic systems and sewer systems. Communities rarely put the needed resources into the proper maintenance of their sewer systems. Instead they make repairs as things break. Maintenance is much cheaper than repairs but until the sewer is spilling into your neighborhood no one wants to pay an extra couple of bucks for the maintenance.
It is not just coral that is affected by poo leaking into our waterways. There are countless infections and rashes that result from being exposed to high levels of bacteria in the water. Aside from all the above.... it is just plain nasty!
Cleaning up our water is just as good for us as it is for the fish and coral.
Good post, Paddle. Keep educating people on the thoughtless damage they are doing to our oceans. Hopefully one day they will hear you enough to be able to pull their heads out of the sand.
Yeah - fertilizer, Roundup, and other pesticides sprayed onto lawns by the carbon and diesel fume spewing truckload. Fertilizer that's made from petroleum releasing even more carbon. What a waste. We should let our lawns turn back into forest, and use that sewage to fertilize crops.
Has anyone heard of Milorganite? It's a slow release, safe natural fertilizer made from... poo. Check it out. You might decide to leave the Scott's and other chemical fertilizers on the shelf.
St. Vincent, Grand Cayman, Florida, Jamaica just to name a few. Same story all over. Nothing humans are willing to do will stop overpopulation and the conseqences. The result will come upon humans ...and coral inevitably. It is not even part of the political US conversation. The drive to self destruction is true in an aquarium or the greater earth. Nothing humans are capable of doing will prevent the inevitable death.
NPR did a series of the deforestation of the Amazon....Unbelievable the eventual consequences to not only SA but to the Western Hampshire. Of course the Party of No and its Ditto Head followers don't believe in science .
coral dying fish dying I have two words for you SOLYENT GREEN
I agree we have an abundant food supply and as you said we have been looking in the wrong place.
More of the GOP profit before regulations plan. Wait and see what things will look like a year after Romney wins. Profit, Profit, Profit. "Jobs he laughs, you fools have been Bained".
Couldn't be much worse tha "Obama'd."
The only ones better of since he took office are those that he gave money to... GM, Solyndra execs, his friends and of course.... those collecting welfare and food stamps......
When gas was at these levels when the shrub was POTUS.... it was his fault..... now.... well it's still his fault 4 years later... and unemployment is over 8%... still Bush's fault... but according to NBC the president doesn't have any control over that....
Anyhow... the "experts" are a self anointed and self proclaimed group that say what they say so they can continue to get grants and donations. I remember (almost 30 years ago now) Jacques Cousteau came to the Great Lakes for some studies. I was in university then and he addressed us. He "proclaimed" that Lake Superior was dying... his reason was the lack of certain organisms.... you know the ones that thrive in warm water... not cold lake water... he also proclaimed that Lake Erie would never be usable again and it's "toxins" would spread down the St Lawrence and destroy the entire ecosystem within a decade.... Last time I was near there... there was actually swimming, fishing and life there... cleaner now due to our efforts.....so his "expertise" has been proven wrong within my lifetime.... we can change things.....but taxing and regulating the crap out of us will make us.... well Europe.... specifically... Greece?
And all the Mormons keep overpopulating the earth. They keep on saying that "latinos" have more families. Every Mormon has 5 children -or more- The Republican "debates" were a contest to see who had "more children". These people are WORSE than some of the thrid world countries, that keep on promoting "sensible family planning"
Mitt Romney is the master puppet of the Koch Brothers. They have given him 400 MILLION dollars for his campaign. Do you think that THEY DO NOT EXPECT ANYTHING IN RETURN?????
Look at the ocean now, that there is still some left. Pretty soon it won't make a difference. It will look like a septic tank.
What a bunch of whack jobs. I suppose we humans destroyed the dinosaurs too, right?
And of course we caused the 10 million square miles of glaciers to melt 12,500 years ago, with all the cars, air conditioning and CO2 emissions back then
And aren't these records from the early 1900s? Horse farts must have contributed....
What about past history. How do we KNOW what the temps really were? Were any detailed records kept in the 1600s?
Chances are.. pollution is affecting things to a POINT.... but natural processes always correct things.... look at the Exxon spill... doom doom doom... It will never be safe or clean again... last studies showed that it had improved to the point of not being recognizable......Ma Nature will fix things...it gets too hot... we drown and die... less cars.. less pollution... things improve... or not.....the only experts I see telling us ANYTHING... either side... have a stake in their research .... money.....
Do you have any sources at all to back yourself up? What is your exact point?
Paul, we have tree rings, ice cores that tell us the conditions as far back as we need. Ice cores give us info on the atmosphere back millions of years. CO2 content, O2 content, etc.
Tree rings sometimes go back a hundred or more, depending on the age of the tree. I have a tree in my back yard that is over a hundred years old. It and when it dies it could tell experts the climate conditions of each year it was alive. No, it would not tell us the CO2 content but it would tell us years of drought, very wet years etc.
Let me guess: Republican. Right????
What, no reference to "ocean acidification?" Has that boogeyman been slain?
Global warming, to the extent that it is actually occurring, may or may not be harming reef systems. Those are matters of some considerable conjecture.
But there is no conjecture that urban and agricultural runoff, sewage, leaking septic systems, careless divers, negligent boat operators, illegal dumping of ship's holds, invasive species like the spiky Lionfish, and a whole host of other factors are damaging the reefs. Let's start with the problems we know.
But but your answer doesn't prop up Obama to win the election.
I hate the hangnails global warming is causing; plus, I hear there are hammer toe epidemics around the world.
stupid lazy coral. better evolve or get left behind.
Climate Change is not our concern. Nothing we can do about it but adapt. It is really a false issue. The world will survive. It's obama who is the danger to America. Maybe the EPA should regulate him.
Ain't no warmin' this I know, for Fox News tells me so.
Don't tell those stupid A$$ republicans about those reefs, they will probably try to shoot the sun out of the sky. What a bunch of morons they are. Did you republicans hear? Obama said oxygen is needed to keep all mankind alive..... I was hoping those dumba$$ repugs would stop breathing.
Obama knows that we need oxygen to stay alive? At least he's gotten one thing right in 4 years.
There is no manmade climate change. Actually, Fox News just reported the scientists lied. Think for yourself Brenda or is that too much to ask?
Which scientists? Lied about what?
ChaSD: So you dumba$$ repugs really are as stupid as you act. Hummm Well I agree with all mankind that say you are just plain ignorant and out of touch. You poor sheep....
Drill Baby, Drill !
And if we F'up and the reefs go father south, Oh well, we already got global warming in our corner.
I'd love to hear "Rushdies' "replies, but I have to go to bed and work my 6th day to pay the bills.
GN America.
Are all the earth's ills directly related to man's carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses? It seems to me that coral reefs have always proliferated in warm, tropical waters!! Maybe it is as suggested, pollution of another sort, like man made sewerage or industrial chemicals spilled and drained into our oceans. Let's not forget nature's input with regard to under water volcanic eruptions, undersea earthquakes, etc. Or are those caused by greenhouse gasses too? I spent in different tropical climates, each has their own distinctive, undersea eco-system and environment. Why does it always have to come back to experts chiming in about global warming? "Direct human impact" would seem to be the operative phrase, and in all probability, the cause and catalyst for this negative environmental impact on these coral reef areas. All the areas called into question in this scientific study are decidedly within what one would call "tourist or populated areas." Let's give the greenhouse emission folly a break for a while. I would challenge these same scientific experts to test the coral reef areas in the Pacific Ocean, for example near the islands of Guam, Midway, Wake, the Solomon's, etc. where there is little, if any direct, negative, impact from humans and their corresponding pollution mechanisms. I'm sure the coral is proliferating quite well in these areas. Let's give the global warming hysteria a little less credence when it comes to nature's life cycles, especially considering humans have had less than two hundred years of negative impact on a five billion year old eco-life system called planet Earth. It is in my mind, a politically influenced agenda, claiming catastrophic demise of the planet forpartisan gain. It just ain't totally true that global warming is the reason for all the earth's ills. Give it a rest.
Robert-2241664===I'm glad you brought up the Pacific Ocean's Coral Reefs. Back in the 1940's we had a global war that took place in the area of the world. Can you imagine just how much Coral Reefs were impacted during those years but the Coral Reefs came back in time. Those islands took a hell of a beating and still they survived but many, many soldiers, seamen and fliers didn't. You would think these so-called experts would think of that every once in a while. After all if it wouldn't have been for all of that destruction the world would be a totally different place today. Why I doubt that they would have the jobs they hold now, speaking in Japanese or German.