July 12, 2004

Warming Warning

ReefFish
When I snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef a few years ago, we were informed of a very sad fact: that in less than 30 years, the Great Barrier Reef will be dead. Thousands of lifeforms gone because of the warming waters. In 1998 and 2002 there were massive coral bleaching events. Thirty years is not a long time. It's this lifetime. It means your kids might NEVER see the Great Barrier Reef. They'll just hear about it in books, see pictures on the internet. They'll never snorkel there to see life. They'll snorkel there to see the geological leftovers of dead coral of what might have once been the most spectacular ecosystem in the world. This makes me crazy sad.

With headlines like today's, you might wonder what's going on in this world?

Europe plagued by snow and heatwaves, Romanian death toll climbs
AFP - Sun Jul 11, 5:32 PM ET : "Extreme temperatures, which have killed at least 22 people in Romania in the space of a week, continued to plague Europe, with Greece sweltering in a heatwave and an open-air performance of Verdi's 'Traviata' canceled in Italy."
Flights canceled, houses collapse as massive rainstorm hits Beijing
AFP - Sun Jul 11, 4:57 PM ET
Humidity Grips the East, Midwest
AP - Sun Jul 11, 3:45 PM ET
Floods and landslides kill 23 in Nepal
AFP - Sun Jul 11,11:47 AM ET
China rescues 62 tourists stranded by mudflows
AFP - Sun Jul 11,11:09 AM ET
Unseasonal cold brings snow to Bavarian Alps
AFP - Sun Jul 11,10:45 AM ET
Floods Kill Dozens in South Asia, Millions Homeless
Reuters - Sun Jul 11, 9:29 AM ET
Bangladesh Floods Maroon 3 Million, Death Toll 13
Reuters - Sun Jul 11, 3:25 AM ET
Floods Kill at Least 40 in India, Millions Homeless
Reuters - Sun Jul 11, 2:01 AM ET
Floods Kill 22 Across South Asia
AP - Sat Jul 10, 2:23 PM ET

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