Warmer Waters Draw Sea Life From Afar
You have to admire the clever bias:
OSLO, Norway “Parts of the North Atlantic are setting winter heat records, allowing species ranging from swordfish to jellyfish to thrive beyond their normal ranges in a shift many scientists link to global warming.Temperatures in Arctic waters off northern Europe at the tail end of the Gulf Stream, for example, are about 6.7C, the highest for early January since records began in the 1930s, according to Norway’s Institute of Marine Research.
The world’s oceans are already in a warming trend that could alter fish stocks, perhaps damaging coral reefs that are vital nurseries for tropical species while boosting northern stocks of cod or herring.
“The global oceans have been warming since the middle 1970s and several studies have shown that the warming can be attributed to a human-produced signal,” said James Hurrell of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Off New York this week, rescuers guided eight dolphins into open water after they became stranded in a shallow cove, apparently because unusually warm waters meant fish on which they feed were staying closer to the coast.
A species of Black Sea jellyfish seems to have become established off Scandinavia, perhaps flushed out of the ballast tanks of visiting ships and now able to survive because of less chilly waters in winter.
Try re-reading the article, but this time, skip every paragraph but the last one.
Question: Is it Global Warming or Cheap Human Economics that is the root cause of these problems?
Energy – again
It is simpler than you can imagine, but time and time again people miss the point.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,1937683,00.html is a rather lengthy article about speed on the roads. “Speed kills” vs. “No it doesn’t”; arguments against speed cameras; arguments for loopholes. The list goes on and on.
Here’s something: “The energy of a moving body is proportional to the square of the velocity”. Newton, Sir Isaac, since you ask.
Double the speed, four times the energy.
Triple the speed, nine times the energy.
In a crash (and don’t tell me they don’t happen), where does that energy go?
In total it is dissipated throughout any available material, that is, any material that gets in the way.
That material might be a guard-rail, it might be a tree, it might be another vehicle, but it will always include the driver.
In any crash the driver is an involuntry unavoidable recipient of the energy. And that energy is going to be dissipated, for all things ultimately come to rest (Newton again).
Doesn’t matter whether it is an aeroplane or a train or a car.
Does matter if the occupant is black or white, rich or poor.
The energy of the vehicle is going to be transferred to other objects.
And the energy is proportional to the square of the velocity.
Slow down. There’s less energy available to kill you.
