

Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms  - pg
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-me-ocean30jul30,0,6670018,full.story

======
bootload
_"... Jellyfish populations are growing because they can. The fish that used
to compete with them for food have become scarce because of overfishing. The
sea turtles that once preyed on them are nearly gone. And the plankton they
love to eat are growing explosively. ..."_

Interesting comment.

Remarkably similiar to the scenario of _"species collapse"_ outlined in Jarad
Diamonds work, Collapse. [0] As species loose their ability to adapt in the
environment the whole adjacent species start to be effected. Loose enough and
whole groups that are closely inter-related disappear. You have to start
questioning what are we doing wrong when the stable marine environments start
to change so quickly.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse:_How_Societies_Choose_to_Fail_or_Succeed)

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daniel-cussen
I really doubt a complete change of ecosystem is all downside. You lose
biodiversity, I guess, and I suppose people miss the megafauna and they have
to adjust to the change in the food chain, but beyond that, I don't see why an
anoxic food chain is categorically worse than an oxic one.

I also disagree with a more-evolved/less-evolved view on ecosystems. Don't
evolutionary biologists prefer to think of things as more adapted or less
adapted? Isn't the view that evolution is always progress passé? It's like
people confuse "more evolved" with "bigger" because of the focus on the
evolution of humans as k-strategists.

~~~
scw
No one in the article claims it is all downside (the shrimp farmer in Georgia
now makes his income from Jellyfish) or a claim on the evolutionary advantage
of the system. In a direct way, we can trace our own lineage as mammals to
being benefited by the extinction of the dominant vertebrate for 160m years in
the Cretaceous extinction.

However, in our current position, humans have a different role and
relationship with nature: what we do has a direct impact on our environment.
Even if you discount the loss of biodiversity as a minor thing to be waved
away -- and even if you do take the fairly nihilistic view that all ecosystems
are of equal worth -- there are direct impact to humans from our changing of
the environment.

In the case of the oceans, they provide a massive economic benefit directly
from extraction industries, which have been in decline due to overuse, and
mechanisms like the great ocean conveyor belt
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation>) transmit tremendous
quantities of energy into northern climates providing moderate climates at
northern latitudes (particularly, Northern Europe). In the case of corrals,
diving, recreational fishing and tourism are key components of many of the
economies of nations containing them. Without these natural resources, local
economies suffer, as has already happened in a number of Caribbean nations.

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sutro
Why post an article from a year-and-a-half ago? This link has made the rounds
of Reddit et. al. multiple times since it was first published. It seems
neither "Hacker" related nor "News."

~~~
cstejerean
Comments like "why post ...?" don't seem to add much to the discussion.
Obviously someone thought the article was interesting enough to post and
several people thought it was worth reading (and perhaps worth commenting on).
I for one didn't see the article a year ago.

~~~
aaco
_"I for one didn't see the article a year ago."_

Neither did I.

That's the way information are spread. Duplicating them is a side effect and
there's nothing wrong with that. If they are still interesting, people will
upvote them again, and again...

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malkia
Oh, Blimey!

Makes a good story for Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) game!

~~~
sown
I played the first one on the NES about 15 years ago.

Memories....good thing we have NES emulators and I can play it again...

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newton_dave
I, for one, welcome our new algal overlords.

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DanielBMarkham
It used to be a caveman walked across the top of a mountain looking for deer
to eat. He left trash wherever he went and even introduced "fire hunting"
where entire mountainsides would be burnt in order to get the most game.

Now we go visit mountains where we stay on closely-guarded trails and hope to
see a deer to frame in a picture. We drive up in our internal combustion
engines and hike "leaving nothing behind, taking nothing but memories"

And we feel guilty for doing it.

I'm thinking the caveman got the better deal.

------
ed
Itching Powder 2.0

