Post by KNOWTHIS on Feb 28, 2007 3:07:19 GMT -5
link
Warming Climate And Cod Collapse Have Combined To Cause Rapid North Atlantic Ecosystem
Warming Climate And Cod Collapse Have Combined To Cause Rapid North Atlantic Ecosystem
Ecosystems along the continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, from the Labrador Sea south of Greenland all the way to North Carolina, are experiencing large, rapid changes, reports a Cornell oceanographer in the Feb. 23 issue of Science.
While some scientists have pointed to the decline of cod from overfishing as the main reason for the shifting ecosystems, the article emphasizes that climate changes are also playing a big role.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems are being tested by climate forcing from the bottom up and overfishing from the top down," said Charles Greene, director of the Ocean Resources and Ecosystems Program in Cornell's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
"Predicting the fate of these ecosystems will be one of oceanography's grand challenges for the 21st century."
While some scientists have pointed to the decline of cod from overfishing as the main reason for the shifting ecosystems, the article emphasizes that climate changes are also playing a big role.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems are being tested by climate forcing from the bottom up and overfishing from the top down," said Charles Greene, director of the Ocean Resources and Ecosystems Program in Cornell's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
"Predicting the fate of these ecosystems will be one of oceanography's grand challenges for the 21st century."