Climate Change Might be Altering Waters Along U.S. West Coast
February 7, 2009 · Print This Article
Climate change might already be altering waters along the west coast of the United States, according to University of California Santa Cruz climate scientist Mark Snyder. Snyder noticed a large number of dead shellfish, sea stars, rock fish and other marine life in Oregon and began wondering whether nearby California faced a similar problem.
Scientists say climate change is responsible for stronger and more persistent winds along the coast, which drive more upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean waters. At normal levels, this upwelling supports a rich variety of life, but too much of these waters ultimately results in “dead zones” starved of oxygen.
From The Guardian:
To assess future wind and upwelling scenarios along the California coast, Snyder and his colleagues at UC Santa Cruz ran climate simulations for two time periods. One spanned from 1968 to 2000, verifying the accuracy of the modelling. The second simulated the region’s estimated climate from 2038 to 2070, using the intergovernmental panel on climate change “high-growth” emissions projections. Snyder said he chose the high emissions scenario because today’s are exceeding earlier IPCC estimates.
The results showed increases in wind speeds of as much as 2 meters per second, a 40% increase from current wind speeds, which now average 5 meters per second, Snyder said.
The change in wind speeds is already happening, Snyder said. California winds have been growing in strength in the past 30 years.
“It was just chance they found the dead zones in Oregon,” Snyder said, describing how fishers reported to marine scientists an alarming number of dead or dying crabs they were pulling up in traps. “It’s quite possible these areas could be off the California coast,” he said.
Researchers have been sending a robot equipped with a video camera to record images of the dead sea life, and have also deployed a fleet of robotic ‘gliders’ to measure oxygen levels and other conditions along the Oregon coast. Oregon State marine ecologist Francis Chan said they’ve seen areas “carpeted with dead marine life”.
More research is needed, and scientists say they can’t point to greenhouse gases as the sole culprit behind windier conditions on the coast – but no other explanation fits, given the historical pattern of winds and upwelling.
Link [The Guardian]
Photo credit: Flickr user Mahalie
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We need a much more effective strategy to deal with global warming. The water changes on the West Coast is only one more hint at the price we will have to pay.
Mark C. Henderson proposes a large-scale green strategy that could be an alternative to what we are now doing. The renewable energy sector was turned around by market forces in less than three months last summer.
Henderson based his strategy on the same mechanisms. It is outlined in a book called, The 21st Century Environmental Revolution. Details are available at http://www.wavesofthefuture.net.
Tags: global warming solutions, environmental taxation strategies
I really think that this also has a lot to do with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the ocean.
Maybe that should be talked about more, the oceans are all screwed.
Yummy Plastic Soup anyone?
Civilizations are growing so rapidly that it angers me when ignorant people have this attitude that we can never affect our environment. Fragile ecosystems are being degraded daily.
This article pretty much sums up my thoughts on the current environmental movement in America:
http://www.enviro-family.com/articles