South Indian Fish Stocks Threatened by Climate Change, Human Development
by Kimberley D. Mok, Nomad on 07. 3.07
Even after the devastation of the 2004 tsunami has left its mark, environmental degradation and short-sighted development projects are still now adversely affecting the fish populations of coastal areas along the Indian Ocean, placing the balance of complex marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of fishermen at risk.
Changes in the sea level and temperature due to climate change have already had a negative impact on the coral reefs, particularly in places such as the Gulf of Mannar, located in the southeast of India and known as the most biologically rich coastal region in the country.
Other culprits such as commercial deep-sea trawling and removal of the protective cover of mangroves along the coast have already negatively affected fragile marine ecosystems.
Plans to build the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP), a passage connecting the Arabian Sea with the Bay of Bengal, have environmentalists and locals alike concerned about the project’s effect on increasing the sea’s temperature, salinity, turbidity and altering the flow of nutrients. In addition, the canal project could change the direction of ocean currents, translating into increased coastal erosion and industrial pollutants being brought back to the shore and thus affecting human settlements. A telling assessment done by Delhi’s Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) in 2000 has shown that a one-metre rise in sea levels could displace up to 7.1 million people who live and work along the coast.
"Canal dredging is also likely to stir up the dust and toxins that lie beneath the seabed. These will adversely affect the population of corals, oysters and sea cucumbers. Other species, too, will be impacted by the turbidity. There has been no systematic survey of the geology of the seabed to be excavated," says scientist Rakesh Kumar, of the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). ::InterPress Service
Climate Change???
Recent research by Henrik Svensmark and his group at the Danish National
Space Center points to the real cause of the recent warming trend. In a
series of experiments on the formation of clouds, these scientists have
shown that fluctuations in the Sun's output cause the observed changes in the
Earth's temperature.
In the past, scientists believed the fluctuations in the Sun's output were
too small to cause the observed amount of temperature change, hence the need
to look for other causes like carbon dioxide. However, these new
experiments show that fluctuations in the Sun's output are in fact large
enough, so there is no longer a need to resort to carbon dioxide as the
cause of the recent warming trend.
The discovery of the real cause of the recent increase in the Earth's
temperature is indeed a convenient truth. It means humans are not to blame
for the increase. It also means there is absolutely nothing we can, much
less do, to correct the situation.
Thomas Laprade
480 Rupert St.
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Canada
Ph. 807 3457258
Your readers might be interested in these websites.
Please paste these links in your browser.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2332531355859226455&q=The+Great+Global+Warming+Swindle
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html
http://www.unikron.com/play/play_display.cgi?speed=hi&id=canadian_values_march1
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/04_26-32/LIF
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=927b9303-802a-23ad-494b-dccb00b51a12&Region_id=&Issue_id=&IsTextOnly=True
Wow, you skeptics are so tiring.
It really hacks me off that so many folks think that there is no point doing anything about the issue.
Efficiency can only be seen as a good "thing", have you considered the effects that the drilling for oil causes people who live in areas such as the Niger delta.
Perhaps that in its self is reason enough to follow this course and let the folks who still think the earth is flat sit smug in their opinion.
So easy to critises and put down, the whole issue of climate change not being in PART due to human activities is driven by the likes of exxon who have spent $16 million to cloud the issue!
Hum ho
Martin Dudley
Antigua
West Indies