Today's global warming snapshot: Reefs collapsing off Baja California

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/17/MNGG0GOFQ11.DTL

Cabo Pulmo, Mexico -- When Jesus Castro-Fiol died last year at the age of 107, he was survived by seven children, all living in this little settlement on the Sea of Cortez, and by two generations of grandchildren.

The four generations had many things in common: a rich sense of family, a dependence on the sea for their food and livelihood, and a respect for the natural wonders that draw tourists here over many miles of bumpy dirt roads -- the spectacular Cabo Pulmo Reef and the giant gray whales that migrate from the Bering Sea to give birth in the lagoons of Baja California Sur.

... But in Castro-Fiol's last years, the family watched as a warming climate began to put their way of life at risk.

They saw parts of the reef sicken from a too-warm sea. They saw whales change their behavior, circling the Baja peninsula in new patterns in search of cool water. They saw a new tropical disease, dengue fever, emerge in Baja after a severe hurricane and kill a member of the family.

... Now when tropical storms come to Baja, many people fear more than losing electricity and roads washing out. The phrase common in Cabo Pulmo is "calentando'' -- global warming.

lots more

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. good article. thanks! nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. You're right - it's one more tragic snapshot. Thanks for this.

[pinniped]

3. Thanks for posting!

In case some missed it, here are two other articles the SF Chronicle printed from the same author:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/15/MNG3FGMHML1.DTL&hw=polar+bears&sn=001&sc=1000

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/16/MNG9UGO2DO1.DTL&hw=anemone&sn=001&sc=1000

[upi402]

4. "past the point of no return" -prominent scientist

Global warming 'past the point of no return'
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 16 September 2005

<snip>
A record loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover.
<snip>

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article312997.ece

[nofurylike]

5. thank you for posting this, Newsjock. tragic. important. eom

[tex-wyo-dem]

6. Thank you for posting this...

The reality of global warming and what we are headed for keeps me up more nights than not, as it should anyone who fully appreciates what is really going on and the consequences.