Posted on 01/18/2011 7:50:54 AM PST by The Comedian
WE ARE living through a massive species extinction event that rivals the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But while an asteroid collision likely did in the dinos, todays extinctions are a direct consequence of human activity, writes DICK AHLSTROM , Science Editor
Whatever the cause, the result could be a complete collapse of the marine ecosystem, according to new research from the US. Far from being no more than a theory, they warn that two marine wipe-outs have occurred in the past and we may be triggering a third.
Researchers from Brown University and the University of Washington catalogued the results of the two earlier extinction events by searching the fossil record. Their study of an extinct distant relative of todays squid and cuttlefish showed just what can happen if you start messing with the marine food web, publishing the details in the journal Geology .
It is definitely a cautionary tale because we know it has happened at least twice before, states the papers lead author, Prof Jessica Whiteside, an assistant professor of geological sciences at Brown.
The research also showed that once you knock the marine ecosystem out of sync, it can take millions of years to put it right again.
(Excerpt) Read more at irishtimes.com ...
Anecdotal evidence. And two can play at that game.
The potato blight which caused the Irish famine and migration affected 1 plant in 1 country.
I am perplexed at your use of “anecdotal evidence” in either of the two cases. The whale/krill case is well documented, and anyone who doubts the Irish Potato Blight has only to look at the Kennedy Klan to realize that all levels of Ireland’s talent pool came here.
Perhaps correlation argument would fit better? As in 90% of all heroin addicts have a history of smoking pot. May be true, but so what - virtually 100% of heroin addicts have a milk history.
Causation is the essential issue, and whaling did reduce the whales, and reduced whales allowed for a larger krill population.
“...indicative of how any particular ecosystem predator die-off would affect the prey population.”
I think the more worrisome aspect of any of these relationships is not so much what happens if the predator dies off, but what if the prey is gone.
The over-fishing of some areas is a concern. And pollution from third-world countries. But I always get a kick out of the environmentalists always pointing their fingers at the U.S. of A. when it comes to pollution, etc. If they were REALLY concerned about the environment they would want more drilling, minining, factories etc. in America where our environmental rules are so much better. (And many rules are over the top).
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