The Princess Parrotfish and the Pea
According to new research published in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, parrotfish are invading the Mediterranean, courtesy of climate change.
Decked out in gaudy colors and in constant, Sisyphean need of dental care (the only way they can stop their beaks from growing is to chomp constantly on dead coral), parrotfish are the C-class celebrities of 'hot-water' coral reefs in the Pacific and the Red Sea. So what on Earth are they doing in the Mediterranean?
They're taking advantage of climate change, says Dr Michael Arvedlund, the author of the study. The first blue-barred parrotfish was speared off the coast of Israel in 2001, he says, and many more will follow as the water warms. (By 1-2.5C in 2099, if this European Commission report is correct.)
Hang on. Surely the 119 mile long water tunnel we built between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in 1869 helped, you ask? (Of the 1000 'immigrant' species that call the Med home today, 62 of them got there via the Suez Canal, according to Dr Bariche at the American University of Beirut.)
'This first observation [of blue-barred parrotfish] in the Mediterranean is probably due to the migrational possibility via the Suez Canal', Dr Arvedlund admits. 'However, settling is highly dependent on optimum conditions, and such circumstances in a subtropical region for a tropical fish species may be due to climate change.'
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It may also be worth looking at the movement of fish in response to climate change closer to home, in the North Sea:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10887
http://www.wri.org/publication/content/7680
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/may/13/environment
It may also help explain the recent crash in sea-bird numbers:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1436938/Vanishing-sand-eel-threatens-birdlife.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7526313.stm
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Lets get real.
Should we dismantle our economies and abandon our lifestyle because one fish has somehow swum off its home base ? One fish ?
PS: you gotta love these predictions of 1 - 2.5 degrees. The sheer vagueness of these numbers suggests that no-one has a clue if it's going to be +2 or even -2 degrees.
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#2. If you look at the North Sea data it's more than one fish Jack:
As for uncertainty, that's what worries me.
The trends also suggest warming, not cooling.
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Hi Tim !
What trends ? Global average temperatures have flatlined since 2003 - in spite of CO2 emissions ballooning by an estimated 30% in that time.
So many of the projections are just bubblegum graphs like you can do in XL. Draw a line that seems to fit the points and think that the 'trend' will continue. A bit like house prices and the economy.
I've been in so many meetings at work where people really think that a line on a graph has some momentum of its own. Sales will just keep rising. Faults will just keep falling - all with no effort on anyone's part.
The reality is that climate science is at the stage of physics and chemistry some 200 years ago. Just one example: nobody knows if the climate makes clouds - or if clouds make the climate. They are so obsessed with their models and their conferences that they haven't even spotted the big yellow thing in the sky that has a huge effect.
Maybe you could help with some of these previous global scares:
Acid rain - is it still a problem ? It's gone quiet.
Ozone hole - still a problem ? again its gone quiet.
CJD / mad cow disease killing us all ??
Bird flu ?
Global Yawning is like a really bad Horizon Programme that's escaped from the studio and taken over the western world.
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"What trends ? Global average temperatures have flatlined since 2003 - in spite of CO2 emissions ballooning by an estimated 30% in that time."
What trend, Jack?
Where are your 6 numbers that show it's been cooling?
And why is it that you think that CO2 is the ONLY cause for weather changes?
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"Should we dismantle our economies and abandon our lifestyle because one fish has somehow swum off its home base ?"
Jack's screaming out his alarmist mantra again.
Got any proof that we would have to dismantle our economy and abandon our lifestyle (and I'm talking about REAL evidence, not models), or is this just baseless alarmism?
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@yeah_whetever - please help me, I just woke up and you are talking about "Jack's" alarmist mantra - and actually asking for evidence that we need to dismatle our economy and abandon our lifesytle - or am I still asleep?
Did anyone consider that there are a lot of factors that influence migrating fish population (aside from Man Made Climate Change?).
Parrotfish are quite common in both tropical and subtropical waters the world over - at least that has been my experience in over 1500 scuba dives. Much of the Southern Med qualifies as subtropical water. Just take a look at how many scandanavians vacation there during the dead of winter.
Perhaps, due to overfishing, we have allowed the parrotfish to "invade the Med" and take a niche in the food chain, vacated by a species which was overfished or...lots of possiblities exist.
Could it be that in the North Sea - where entire fisheries have been decimated by unsustainable fishing, that other fishies have taken over the habitats (and adapted to) those habitats left (nearly) empty by overfishing? Or must it be "man made climate change"? Of course, I must admit, that it is easier for a marine biologist to get published if he includes the words "climate change" in his/her paper...lol
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re 7, Jack is spreading fear and alarm about how we'd have to abandon our way of life and dismantle our industry.
With no evidence to support that this is required.
And you come along with no more evidence.
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And waiting for Jack's six numbers...
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In response to the question about evidence, please see the latest UAH temperature anomaly at http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/07/03/uah-global-temperature-anomaly-for-june-09-zero/#more-9082
Where is the warming let alone "warming faster than we projected" that is made up from useless models.
Or try latest Topex data for slr or the Argo systems for no change in ocean heat content sice 2003.
Cheers
Paul Maynard
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"Where is the warming let alone "warming faster than we projected" that is made up from useless models."
In the ocean, being a La Nina event at the moment where the colder deep water is being brought up, reducing the average temperature of the ocean because the warmer surface water which has been warmed by sun and wind is being replaced with water that hasn't.
That's where.
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And still no six numbers from Jack.
Maybe he knows that there's no number showing cooling...
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@Paul, thanks for that - Cheers Mate.
@yeah_whatever - perhaps Jack is out enjoying the weather and the weekend. I know I would much rather be out enjoying myself on the 4th of July (you know - "give the colonies away day"...lol) - but I am pretty much stuck at home in bed.
What is your excuse?
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"@yeah_whatever - perhaps Jack is out enjoying the weather and the weekend."
Long weekend.
He sits around long enough to make up lies and innuendo then runs off when asked to show his working.
And what's your excuse?
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#14 @yeah_whatever
My excuse is that I went to bed about 16 hours or so ago and just rose. Actually wish I was still in bed. I only spend my time here as I can't get out and enjoy all the activities I used to - like skydiving...
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@yeah_whatever
If you read my previous posts, you would already have my excuse. Tell me, where is your execuse.
And BTW it IS a long weekend...remember, "give the colonies away day"
Just the day on which I want to be called a traitor! (by a damn brit...lol)
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@yeah_whatever writes:
"...from useless (climate) models"
Did someone hyjack yeah_whatever's username? Or could we in fact agree that the models are in-fact useless with regards to their predictive capabilities? I find the first supposition more likely...
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@larry
you've mis-quoted yeah_whatever. he was quoting somebody else
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My excuse for what, Larry?
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@MangoChutnyUKOK
Thank you for correcting me. I knew I had to have it wrong somewhere...;)
Cheers
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"Acid rain - is it still a problem ? It's gone quiet.
Ozone hole - still a problem ? again its gone quiet.
CJD / mad cow disease killing us all ??"
Acid rain: listened to the scientists, removed sulphur from the smokestacks, problem solved.
Ozone hole: listened to the scientists, removed CFC's (and where did all the "It's going to ruin us! The prices will rise!!!" doom and gloom go from the vested interests? It's all gone quiet), and the problem is slowly receeeding.
CJD: Listened to the scientists, culled cattle infected, stoppped feeding sheep to cows. Problem solved.
Or do you expect, once you've fixed a problem, for the problem to remain?
Isn't that only the case in slipshod work???
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