dohboi wrote:Less charismatic but more vital is the loss of the organisms that provide most of the oxygen for the planet. I mourn those little guys deeply.
Cid_Yama wrote:Oxygen in the upper layers of the Ocean prevent hydrogen sulphide from being released. Reduce oxygen enough, and the hydrogen sulphide reaches the atmosphere.
rangerone314 wrote:Its not all gloomy. If there is a huge die off, people will rebound eventually, and so will the Earth, although it may take tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years...
Once, the human species had a genetic bottleneck of about 10,000 breeding pairs I think it was...
Its hard to imagine a catastrophe bad enough to knock us back to that point, given how versatile and adaptable humans are... not even Yellowstone erupting or most big asteroid impacts.
Putting people into a state of suspended animation is a mainstay of science fiction, but a new study may have brought the idea closer to reality. By exposing mice to low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas in air, researchers slowed the animals' metabolic rate to a near standstill with no apparent ill effects.
Many animals undergo periods of extreme metabolic slowdown, or torpor, in which heart rate drops, breathing slows, and body temperature plunges. For some organisms, such as several species of hummingbirds, this drop in metabolic rate is a daily event. Other animals, such as bears, experience a seasonal slowdown for months while they hibernate.
By administering room air laced with 80 parts-per-million of hydrogen sulfide, a noxious gas that smells like rotten eggs, the researchers induced mice to enter a hibernation-like state. Within minutes of breathing the gas in an enclosed chamber, the mice stopped moving and appeared to lose consciousness. Their respiration gradually dropped over the next 6 hours from the normal 120 breaths per minute to fewer than 10 breaths per minute. Moreover, the rodents' body temperatures dropped from the normal 37°C to as low as 11°C, depending on the air temperature within the chamber.
After the researchers shut off the gas and pumped in normal room air, the mice progressively regained their normal activity levels. A battery of behavioral and functional tests showed no difference between mice that had been metabolically suspended and those that hadn't.
Since mammalian cells normally produce some hydrogen sulfide, the results could indicate how hibernators and other animals naturally enter torpor, says Hannah Carey, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who studies hibernating ground squirrels.
Roth notes that experiments with a variety of mammals are needed to determine whether gas-induced torpor will be feasible in people. "We think this may be a latent ability that all mammals have," he says.
If this ability is indeed an ancient adaptation, it might explain how the precursors of small mammals, reptiles, and birds could have survived the Cretaceous and Permian extinctions. Hydrogen sulfide would have been a fairly ubiquitous by-product of the massive die-off of vegetation.
Cid_Yama wrote:Today comes the startling news of a British government report showing a drop in oceanic zooplankton of 73 percent since 1960.
We were profoundly shocked to read that zooplankton abundance has declined by about 73% since 1960 and about 50% since 1990. “This is a biodiversity disaster of enormous proportions.” A graph shown in the report charts a steady decline in zooplankton from 1990 to 2006.
For many people, this may seem relatively inconsequential as compared to daily cataclysmic revelations about the state of the national and global economy. This reaction is understandable: we care first and foremost about our own immediate survival prospects, and a new and greater Depression will mean millions losing their homes, millions more their jobs. It's nothing to look forward to.
It takes some scientific literacy to appreciate the implications of the catastrophic loss of microscopic sea animals. We need to understand that these are food for crustaceans and fish, which are food for sea birds and mammals. We need to appreciate the importance of the oceanic food web in the planetary biosphere.
link
The movie Soylent Green forsaw this, the death of the base of the food chain leading to the necessity for the drastic measure of "Soylent Green". The die-off of the plankton was the "big secret" Saul discovered that led to the "horrible secret" of Soylent Green.Numbers of zooplankton, tiny organisms that form the base of the ocean's food chain, have plummeted 70 percent since the 1960s, according to numbers collected by the British Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The data were included without further comment in a graph on page nine of DEFRA's 2008-2009 Marine Program Plan. The nonprofit organization Buglife noticed this graph, however, and began sounding the alarm.
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Subtropical crops such as dates, figs and rice could become staples of British agriculture within 20 years, according to government forecasts.
The assessment, produced by officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), outlines future possibilities for British food production based on recent climate data.
The forecasts highlight some of the unexpected benefits of a warmer climate. It means the British diet will in future be able to include produce currently imported from as far away as China and the Philippines, without incurring massive food miles
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However, some existing crops such as potatoes will struggle, as temperatures are predicted to rise by about 2C within 20 years.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 719157.ece
Plockton, an 18th century planned village is one of the most beautifully situated villages in Scotland. Not only is it surrounded by mountains but it also enjoys a mild climate. This mild climate can be attributed to several factors. Firstly the village can be found on the east side of a great headland protruding out of Loch Carron, and therefore enjoys a position that protects it from sea gales. Secondly, it enjoys the warm waters of the Gulf Stream which make landfall on the west coast of Scotland. Hence, the reason its pretty harbour is unexpectedly fringed with Palm trees.
essex wrote:Interesting pic dorlomin , it shows native cabbage trees from New Zealand - Tī kōuka in Maori. These are very hardy plants and can stand the cold.
Quinny wrote:My newly plated vines are growing, but no fruit, about 2ft growth though form a 6in plant, quite pleased really. Hope they live through the winter.
GASMON wrote:Yes, we Brits love a good WHINE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, as far as England is concerned, global warming is a complete load of bollocks.
I've just spent a week in the "sunny south of England" (Somerset) - Some days warm, but cloudy, and some days wet & cold. We have had 2 "hot" weeks this year, when it didn't rain - TWO, (early June).
Its July, and, yes, the heating is back on occasionally as it's cold when it rains (even in "sunny" Somerset). I am also still paying off last winter's (till end of may) gas and electric bills.
Global warming, CO2, etc - COBBLERS.
Peak Oil (i.e. >=50% of reserves burned) - FACT (Thats why I'm here)
Yes we have a 2 deg climate change here - 2 deg COLDER.
Gasmon
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