By Paul Homewood
h/t Patsy Lacey
The Guardian is peddling the latest climate scare, about how all of our fish are migrating to cooler parts:
Britain must prepare itself for invasions of growing numbers of foreign sea creatures attracted by our warming waters, a new report has warned. Some newcomers could have devastating effects, others could be beneficial, say the researchers.
Examples provided by the team include slipper limpets that could destroy mussel and oyster beds. By contrast, new arrivals such as the American razor clam and Pacific oyster could become the bases of profitable industries for British fishermen.
The humble haddock is being forced polewards by rising ocean temperatures. Photograph: Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley
The team’s research also stresses that Britons will have to change their ideas about the seafood they eat as favourites will disappear from UK waters. Haddock and cod are being forced polewards as ocean temperatures rise, while flatfish like sole and plaice have nowhere suitable to go. At the same time, cuttlefish and sardines are being caught in rising numbers and are destined to become the fish of the future for Britain.
Native species of mussels, fish or oysters could be displaced. Harbours and boats could be fouled or blocked
The latest report, published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, provides a crystal ball that could highlight which parts of our coastlines will be most vulnerable to climate change triggered by rising atmospheric levels of greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars, factories and power plants. Sea temperatures around Britain have already risen by more than 1.5C in the past 30 years because of these changes, and scientists have warned this trend could continue for much of the rest of the century.
“In a few decades the temperature of our seas is likely to be roughly the same as those found in the waters around Portugal at the turn of the last century – so we can expect to find the kind of marine life that existed there in British seas in the near future,” said marine biologist Professor Stephen Simpson, of Exeter University. “Apart from cuttlefish and sardines – which are already moving into our waters – we can expect fish like red mullet and john dory to be more common. By contrast the haddock is already disappearing from the southern North Sea, while plaice and sole are also becoming less and less prevalent. Fortunately, cod appears to be more resilient.”
The idea that GHGs can make any measurable difference to the temperature of our deep oceans is frankly gibberish.
In fact large scale migrations of fish are nothing new.
As HH Lamb described in his book, “Climate, History and The Modern World”, seas became much colder in Little Ice Age, particularly during the 17thC. As a result, cod left their usual waters around Iceland, the Faroes, and even Shetland and Norway.
Yet during the Middle Ages cod was abundant even off West Greenland, just as now:
In more recent times, the Greenland cod again migrated to warmer seas, as the temperatures plummeted in the 1960s, heading to Iceland, where cod was already struggling. Herring too left Icelandic waters.
All of these movements occurred because of natural climate change, linked to oceanic and other factors. There is no evidence that current changes are any different.
Meanwhile it was the Guardian itself that reported two years ago how North Sea cod stocks are growing rapidly:
North Sea cod stocks are improving rapidly and could be certified as sustainable within five years, according to fresh analysis.
The fish, once one of the most disastrous examples of overfishing, is now closer to being certified as being sustainable as gurnard, a species which consumers have previously been encouraged to eat instead of cod.
In reality, warmer oceans can only be a good thing for the world’s fish. After all, they seem to thrive in the warmest seas. The fact that fish such as cod can now survive further north increases the range of fish stocks generally.
via NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
September 4, 2017 at 08:42AM
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