In the news

[kwgozy]

Just thought I would pass the article on.

Article.. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060314/sc_nm/environment_coral_bleaching_dc)


Kyle

[digitaldego77]

That is pretty depressing news.

[szwab]

yeah you are only supposed to post up the funny/good articles.

i like how they list one benifit of a reef is that it draws tourism. kind of like shoting yourself in the foot

[zeppelin]

Here's more on the subject:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11821539/

[AcroSteve]

It is rather grim, but...

This could also mean that locations that previosly had temperatures too low for coral growth, may now have water temps that support it.

Apperently, the oceans have been much much warmer in the past.

They determined that ocean temperatures in the region ranged between 91° and 107°F (33° and 42°C) between 84 million and 100 million years ago in an era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Temperatures range between 75° and 82°F (24° and 28°C) in the same region now. The approximate uncertainty in the paleotemperature estimates is +/-2°C.

note: This is not the same region of the previous links.

http://www.weatherwars.info/index.php?news_id=54&start=0&category_id=&parent_id=0&arcyear=&arcmonth=

[porky]

"The climate is changing so quickly that coral reefs don't keep up ... the loss of that ecosystem would be tremendous."
This is true not just of coral reefs but other ecosystems as well...
Temperature change has always been a catalyst for evolution. But the worlds temps are increasing too fast for a many ecosystems to evolve.

[szwab]

I've actually heard that if the icecaps melt too fast they will cool down the jetstream which may reverse the proccess and make things much colder.

[porky]

Definately some climate changes taking place, the long term consequences of which are still to be seen...
I think a better term might be "Global Weirding".