Marine Life Moving Poleward By Average Of 7 Kilometers Annually - Guardian

[hatrack]

Rising ocean temperatures are rearranging the biological make-up of our oceans, pushing species towards the poles by 7kms every year, as they chase the climates they can survive in, according to new research.

The study, conducted by a working group of scientists from 17 different institutions, gathered data from seven different countries and found the warming oceans are causing marine species to alter their breeding, feeding and migration patterns.

Surprisingly, land species are shifting at a rate of less than 1km a year in comparison, even though land surface temperatures are rising at a much faster rate than those in the ocean.

“In general, the air is warming faster than the ocean because the air has greater capacity to absorb temperature. So we expected to see more rapid response on land than in the ocean. But we sort of found the inverse,” said study researcher Dr Christopher Brown, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute.

EDIT

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/05/climate-change-pushing-marine-species-to-poles

[Mojorabbit]

1. Everything is being thrown off balance. nt

[denverbill]

2. That's pretty scary stuff.

Unfortunately, the right-wing has already come up with a solution:

#1) Global warming doesn't exist
#2) Global warming exists, but it is not caused by human activity
#3) Global warming exists and is human caused, but it's too late to do anything to stop it.

I've actually seen all three of those arguments used by prominent right-wingers in recent months. They don't even seem to care that they've already conceded one point, and will go back and re-use the same argument.

I even see them talking about deliberately wasting fossil fuels as a response to liberals wanting energy efficiency. This despite the fact that the very root of the word conservative is about conservation.

[gtar100]

3. Yes, that is insane. The word 'conservative' has come to mean it's exact opposite. The only things

they do conserve are: empathy, compassion, and their own piece of the pie. When it comes to energy, the environment, and the ecosystem, they care only how it benefits them. As if economics was the very foundation of life, instead of a higher expression that depends on the balance of nature for its very existence. I guess there's another thing they are very conservative about... their outlook on life; very short-term, shortsighted and self-serving. If they even considered the consequences of their actions just on their own children's future, it might wake up some of them.

But who am I kidding. I see no evidence of conservatives ever caring for the earth or the incredibly intricate interdependence we have with all forms of life. They think they're all going to heaven so they can excuse themselves for making a wasteland of this planet.