Fishermen pull a net full of jellyfish out of the ocean off the coast of
Kokonogi, Japanon Oct. 14. Junji Kurokawa / AP file
Kokonogi, Japan – Scientists believe climate change and the warming of the oceans are to blame for 2,000 jellyfish species expanding their ranges.
Besides the huge numbers of jellyfish that are interfering with the work of Japanese fishermen, some of the jellyfish are reported to be as big as the size of a small refrigerator.
Jellyfish swarms scientists say used to be considered a rarity occurring every 40 years. Now they are seen as an annual occurrence along several thousand miles of Japan’s coast.
Some fishermen have reported seeing giant jellyfish that weigh up to 450 pounds that look like what is described as a blood-orange blob.
The U.S. National Science Foundation says the jellyfish are being blamed for the shutdown of seaside power and desalination plants in Japan, the Middle East and Africa. They are also reported as terrorizing beachgoers worldwide.
Lucas Brotz, a Umiversity of British Columbia researcher said, "These increases in jellyfish should be a warning sign that our oceans are stressed and unhealthy.”
Associated Press contributed
Comments
Global warming or as it has changed to climate change, does it also cause hemorrhoids? It must! Because every time I read that GW/CC causes this or that with ZERO scientific proof, much less any real investigation, those people are just a PAIN IN THE ASS!
Lucas Brotz, a Umiversity of British Columbia researcher said, "These increases in jellyfish should be a warning sign that our oceans are stressed and unhealthy.”
And WHAT evidence does he have for this UNSCIENTIFIC statement?
NONE! FRAUD is what it is. Pavlov responses to ANY climatic phenomena. It is really sad.
calm down you're HURTING my BRAIN!
And WHAT evidence does he have for this UNSCIENTIFIC statement?
Well "Trends in Global Jellyfish Populations" is his area of study, so he'd probably know as much about that as anyone. (If you google him, his webpage at UBC is on the first page of hits).
You have no evidence that the statement is unscientific, and less that it is fraud.
When it comes to points of science, a scientist directly studying the phenomena is actually a good place to go to get a scientific opinion, not an unscientific one.
It doesn’t matter WHAT ANY OF THE SCIENTISTS SAY anymore because the public is getting intolerant and impatient for a promised crisis, therefore:
Sooner or later, it’s the deniers that will hold the majority of opinion because any fool can see that sustainability of this SAVE THE PLANET, can’t keep promising death for the next 100 years when the IPCC says we will all START to feel the effects of a “catastrophic climate crisis”. Public pressure will kill this already dead theory because the public is not experiencing the promised climate crisis, even after 23 years. I don’t see it, my neighbor doesn’t see it, and my family doesn’t see it. We have yet to meet anyone ourselves who has suffered from this so called crisis.
Sooner than later the global warming theory hand will have to be shown to the dealer because these threats of SAVE THE PLANET are unsustainable.
It’s “all in”, in this climate game and “death” is the last bet, the last promise, the last threat to our children.
You
re: 'can’t keep promising death for the next 100 years when the IPCC says we will all START to feel the effects of a “catastrophic climate crisis”.'
The effects will certainly accelerate, but they have begun.
About 166,000 deaths as at 2000 was the WHO estimate in 2005. Today there are 1,000,000,000 people suffering insufficient nutrition, and much of that is due to changing precipitation patterns, and less secure fresh water resources as snowfall has become rainfall in the Himalayas.
The 30% drop in biodiversity in the 35 years to 2005, estimated by the Living Planet Index, is due to the fourfold assault of habitat loss, pollution, over-exploitation, and not least climate change.
If you can't see the effects, talk to an ecologist or look at the peoples in South East Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa or the Horn of Africa.
Japanese fisherman are not the only ones affected. The crisis already here, and it is affecting economics and ecosystems globally.
I was playing with my jellyfish, and they ran away from home,
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