Vanishing Seagrass: as Important as Coral Reefs (But Way Less Sexy)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We'd also need guns to keep the riff raff out.

And by riff-raff, I assume you mean GW skeptics?

[Ladylethal 12]

so you do support the neutron bomb?

The european whiteys would be the first to go. And then us puny south americans descendants from thew weak bodied south american indians.

Well those of us that can blend in with the undergrounders would be OK. Eventually we'd depigmentize some more.

I'm already off-whiteish. For brazilian standars I'm too white, but not pure white like the people from the south.

i'm darker than you are.

But Nessa is lighter than me.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We'd also need guns to keep the riff raff out.

And by riff-raff, I assume you mean GW skeptics?

I picture riff raff as furry rodents that would make a decent meal on a stick when the pickings are lean.

[HAL 9000 96]

We'd also need guns to keep the riff raff out.

And by riff-raff, I assume you mean GW skeptics?

No... they can come too. As long as they can contribute something to the cave.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We'd also need guns to keep the riff raff out.

And by riff-raff, I assume you mean GW skeptics?

No... they can come too. As long as they can contribute something to the cave.

We can use their skulls to barricade the entrance since nothing penetrates.

[Heracles 417]

Have you guys seen the vast sections of oceans that are littered with floating trash. Twice the size of Texas in diameter. Now that is disgraceful. It is slowly breaking up and being consumed by animals, which will ultimately end on our plate or in our water supply.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Have you guys seen the vast sections of oceans that are littered with floating trash. Twice the size of Texas in diameter. Now that is disgraceful. It is slowly breaking up and being consumed by animals, which will ultimately end on our plate or in our water supply.

There's a huge "island" of plastic floating around in the Pacific Ocean.

[Heracles 417]

Have you guys seen the vast sections of oceans that are littered with floating trash. Twice the size of Texas in diameter. Now that is disgraceful. It is slowly breaking up and being consumed by animals, which will ultimately end on our plate or in our water supply.

There's a huge "island" of plastic floating around in the Pacific Ocean.

One guess where that ####### is going to end up, in our dam food chain. Also no wonder why our oceans are dying off.

[Heracles 417]

[Peikko 1,575]

Perhaps if this is something 'visible' people will decide it is something worth taking action over - although I will not hold my breath as all the other visible damage is ignored as well.

We do seriously need to get off the economic gravy train that suggest an ever increasing population should be every nations goal. It worked when the global population was small, it was simple, it required no effort. Now, we need to look at ways of inspiring people to reproduce less and work out a sustainable economic model.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[HAL 9000 96]

Have you guys seen the vast sections of oceans that are littered with floating trash. Twice the size of Texas in diameter. Now that is disgraceful. It is slowly breaking up and being consumed by animals, which will ultimately end on our plate or in our water supply.

There's a huge "island" of plastic floating around in the Pacific Ocean.

One guess where that ####### is going to end up, in our dam food chain. Also no wonder why our oceans are dying off.

Eventually... yes. Water is the universal solvent but it takes its time with plastics. Metals not so much... which is why there's mercury advisories for fish so frequently now.

[ScottThuy 140]

Human beings are increasingly making their homes on the coasts of continents, but this demographic shift is taking a toll on a sensitive coastal ecosystem that is often overlooked: seagrass meadows. A new analysis of seagrass abundance around the world found that 27 percent of these meadows have disappeared since 1879, and the rate of loss is accelerating. The study’s authors write: “Seagrass loss rates are comparable to those reported for mangroves, coral reefs and tropical rainforests, and place seagrass meadows among the most threatened ecosystems on earth….. Our report of mounting seagrass losses reveals a major global environmental crisis in coastal ecosystems, for which seagrasses are sentinels of change” [Nature News]. Endangered species expert Susanne Livingstone notes that despite these losses seagrass rarely makes it into the public consciousness. “It’s probably because they’re not as sexy [as corals], they’re not as attractive,” she says. “They’re just as ecologically important if not more so” [Nature News]. Seagrass meadows provide grazing for a variety of marine animals, including the green turtle and the manatee-like dugong. The coastal areas also serve as nurseries for fish; both coral reefs and commercial fisheries would feel the impact if seagrass meadows vanish.

In the study, which will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers say that nutrients in sewage and run-off from agriculture and industry are the major cause of seagrass death…. These nutrients trigger the growth of algae, plants and animals that grow above or on seagrass, and stop it from getting the sunlight it needs [Australian Broadcasting Corporation].

Seagrasses, which evolved from terrestrial plants, are the only flowering plants that can live entirely in water. They are most closely related to lilies and are very different to seaweeds, which are algae…. Seagrass beds are believed to rival rice paddies in their photosynthetic productivity or the ability to extract greenhouse gas CO2 and convert it into oxygen and stored carbon matter [Reuters]. If seagrass meadows continue to shrink in shallow coastal waters around the world, it will accelerate the pace of global warming, researchers say.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/...-way-less-sexy/

Couple that with damage from major events like hurricanes and they in many cases never come back... I saw first hand what hurricane Charley did to the grass flats in SW Florida and they are now marginally back to what they were in areas that have minimal human interaction... areas where humans frequent are not coming back at anywhere near the same rate if at all. A hurricane is like running a box blade accross the bottom and ripping the grass from the ground... the fishing has diminished as a result.

[Ban Hammer 13,491]

you aussies quit throwing ####### in the ocean!

[Niels Bohr 72]

Speaking of coral reef. This is something related to it. But, it's in the sewers!

Can anybody guess what it is?

[Ladylethal 12]

They are trashing our rights! Hack the Planet!