3rd Wet,. Windy UK Summer In A Row Brings Unsettling Changes To Marine, Bird Life - AFP

[hatrack]

A recent scientific conference has provided new evidence for the effects of unseasonal summer storms on a variety of spectacular marine life, including deadly jellyfish, basking sharks and oceanic seabirds. The third annual 'South West Marine Ecosystems' meeting, held in Plymouth in December 2009, brought together 40 representatives from the scientific, conservation, fishing and eco-tourism sectors. The aim was to discuss impacts of environmental change and conservation measures on marine life off southwest England.

A common theme was the influence of a third successive summer dominated by wet and windy weather, with southwest England particularly affected by a series of Atlantic storms. This led to an unprecedented mid-summer influx of the deadly Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish onto Cornish beaches, leading to temporary closure of some popular tourist hotspots such as Sennen Cove.

The stormy conditions also blew in record numbers of the Wilson's storm petrel, a tiny oceanic seabird that breeds in the southern Atlantic Ocean and is traditionally a very rare visitor to UK coasts. Several sightings of the spectacular black-browed albatross were also made during the summer and autumn, including the first in Cornwall for over 20 years.

Meeting organiser, Dr Russell Wynn of National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) said: "The effect of these mid-summer storms on our marine life has been dramatic. If recent summers are an indication of future trends, then we might expect to see more exotic visitors around our coasts in the years to come."

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Impact_Of_Unsettled_Summer_Weather_On_UK_Marine_Life_999.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. My friend who has visited there for years, says she cannot go anymore.

The weather was so great in the summer..now it is too hot and the electrical system cannot bear up the onslaught on AC.

Climate change....there it is..

[Zoeisright]

2. Yep, animals not in their natural habitat is definitely one of the signs

of climate change.

Or maybe God told them to take a vacay?

:sarcasm: