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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

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 19y ago
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 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.
cstejerean 19y ago
What will likely happen is that some species will learn to adapt and thrive on the increased numbers of algae and bacteria. And all the places and industries that depend on oceans will adapt as well. I bet someone will figure out a way to harvest energy from the life forms that are now taking over our oceans.

scw 19y ago

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 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.

cstejerean 19y ago

What will likely happen is that some species will learn to adapt and thrive on the increased numbers of algae and bacteria. And all the places and industries that depend on oceans will adapt as well. I bet someone will figure out a way to harvest energy from the life forms that are now taking over our oceans.