North Sea Ecological Collapse Under Way

[hatrack]

North Sea faces collapse of its ecosystem
Fish stocks and sea bird numbers plummet as soaring water temperatures kill off vital plankton
By Richard Sadler and Geoffrey Lean
19 October 2003


The North Sea is undergoing "ecological meltdown" as a result of global warming, according to startling new research. Scientists say that they are witnessing "a collapse in the system", with devastating implications for fisheries and wildlife. Record sea temperatures are killing off the plankton on which all life in the sea depends, because they underpin the entire marine food chain. Fish stocks and sea bird populations have slumped.

Scientists at the Sir Alistair Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science in Plymouth, which has been monitoring plankton in the North Sea for over 70 years, say that an unprecedented heating of the waters has driven the cold-water species of this microscopic but vital food hundreds of miles to the north. They have been replaced by smaller, warm-water species that are less nutritious.

"A regime shift has taken place and the whole ecology of the North Sea has changed quite dramatically", says Dr Chris Reid, the foundation's director. "We are seeing a collapse in the system as we knew it. Catches of salmon and cod are already down and we are getting smaller fish.

EDIT

Overfishing has played a part in the decline, but scientists have been surprised to see that stocks have not made their expected recovery after severe cuts in fishing quotas. They say that continued warming will effect all forms of marine life, including seabirds and dolphins. Research by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has established that seabird colonies off the Yorkshire coast and the Shetlands this year suffered their worst breeding season since records began, with many simply abandoning nesting sites."

EDIT

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=454828

[glitch]

1. oh god

Hatrack you always post the best articles. But they do depress the hell out of me.

[mainegreen]

2. Not for to long

Well, that should change once the gulf stream shuts down due to decreased salinity in the Northern Atlantic from those pesky melting ice caps.

Perhaps this is proactive environmental control by the Republicans?