Surfer repels shark with punches
You know, I have to wonder.... The shark attacks have either increased because of more publicity or they have simply increased in number period. We've had two category 5 hurricanes in the last few weeks and one very disastrous tsunami last year. It seems to me that natural disasters & other incidents like this are on the rise overall. Now, some could argue that these are unavoidable because they are forces & actions of nature. However, has anyone stopped to consider if the causes of the increase in natural disasters might be laid at the feet of mankind's abuse of his environment? I recently learned that the Gulf of Mexico waters have been rising in average temperatures. There were locations this past year that even reached an average temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The warmer water adds energy to tropical storms and help them become the strong hurricanes. Alternatively, I have to apply this to the sharks...what if rising water temps is affecting their natural hunting grounds? Would there be a reason for this to make them more prone to attack humans? The scientist in me is curious...the environment is a strong force in the day-to-day global events. Just like the movie The Day After Tomorrow in which global warming causes fresh water melting (from the polar ice caps) to throw off the salt-water ratio which then has an effect of changing the atlantic current, I have to wonder if our global warming isn't part of the cause of stronger storm surges, possible changes in natural hunting grounds (and the food supply for the food chain), and etc.
You just have to wonder...
4 comments:
Must... bite.... lip....keep.... silent....
;-)
Those are, of course, good points to think about. This year does give one pause.
I still think it's more the cylce of the planet. We've kept accurate records here in the US for what... 150 years? Maybe? There've been hot years, cold years... this isn't even close to the worst hurricane year.
I'm absolutely a fan of not destroying our own environment, and we must continue to work to do better, but I don't think mankind has THAT great an effect on the whole of the earth's life.
BTW, did you know that surface temperatures on Mars are warming? Ice caps at the southern pole are retreating at the rate of 10 feet a year. I'm certain we're not responsible for that.
see http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050921/sc_nm/space_mars_dc
Hey, if Barbara Streisand says it must be true then it must be true! ;) Never the less, I'm still waiting on Tom Cruise for a second opinion.
On a serious note, I guess I haven't seen any definite proof showing global warming is the cause. It may be one factor but in the case of hurricanes, we are just beginning a well defined and well documented twenty to thirty year cycle of more (and larger) hurricanes.
I sometimes look at it as Mother Nature cleaning out the gene pool. There was a guy on television last night complaining that his entire car collection was wiped out by Rita. He was asking why him after all these years? I wanted to ask him why he stored them so near the coast in a hurricane prone region if they were that valuable to him. I put money in a bank for this reason instead of leaving it sit out in an area prone to theft.
LOL...you guys. I was writing this from an archaeological perspective. I took environmental archaeology in college and it was very interesting. Did you know we are due for another ice age according to the ice age cycles of 10K years? Funny how it just keeps getting warmer... When I have the time *insert hysterical laughter here*, I'll have to pull out my textbooks (were interesting enough I actually kept those!) and see what it says about the historical record.
Barbara Streisand? What did she say?
Babs said that we are under a global warming crisis.
I think I have heard that about an ice age being due or at least it sounds somewhat familiar. I would rather have global warming turn Iowa into a southern California climate without the earthquakes than a northern Canada one due to an ice age.
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