Never mind predictions of catastrophic bleaching from global warming, cold is the culprit of this story. With ocean heat content now shown to be dropping slightly since 2005, there is even greater concern.
Excerpts from Physorg.com: Coral in Florida Keys suffers lethal hit from cold
January 30, 2010 By Curtis Morgan
Bitter cold this month may have wiped out many of the shallow water corals in the Keys.
Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive teams looking for “bleaching” that is a telltale indicator of temperature stress in sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak. The impact could extend from Key Largo through the Dry Tortugas west of Key West, a vast expanse that covers some of the prettiest and healthiest reefs in North America.
Given the depth and duration of frigid weather, Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, expected to see losses. But she was stunned by what she saw when diving a patch reef 2.5 miles off Harry Harris Park in Key Largo.
Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom.
“Corals didn’t even have a chance to bleach. They just went straight to dead,” said Johnson, who joined teams of divers last week surveying reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “It’s really ecosystem-wide mortality.”
The record chill that gripped South Florida for two weeks has taken a heavy toll on wildlife — particularly marine life.
…
Many of the Florida Keys’ signature diving destinations such as Carysfort, Molasses and Sombrero reefs _ as well as deeper reefs off Miami-Dade and Broward — are believed to have escaped heavy losses, thanks to warming effects of the Gulf Stream. But shallower reefs took a serious, perhaps unprecedented hit, said Billy Causey, Southeast regional director of national marine sanctuaries for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
…
Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, both becoming the first corals to be federally listed as threatened in 2006.
This big chill, said Causey, shapes up worse.
“They were exposed to temperatures much colder, that went on longer, than what they were exposed to three decades ago,” he said.
Typical winter lows in-shore hover in the mid- to high-60s in the Keys.
At its coldest more than a week ago, a Key Largo reef monitor recorded 52. At Munson Reef, just about a half-mile off the Newfound Harbor Keys near Big Pine Key, it hit 56.
At Munson Reef, said Cory Walter, a biologist for Mote Marine Laboratory in Summerland Key, scientists saw losses similar to what was reported off Key Largo. Dead eels, dead hogfish, dead coral — including big coral head 5- to 6-feet wide, bleached white with only fringes of decaying tissue.
“They were as big, as tall, as me. They were pretty much dead,” said Walter, who coordinates Mote’s BleachWatch program, which monitors reefs.
Read the entire story at physorg.com
h/t to Leif Svalgaard
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As a matter of fact lakes and rivers are normally more or less acidic in areas where there is no limestone rocks or where there is much coniferous forest or peatland. This includes among others most of Canada, parts of Scotland, most of Scandinavia and most of Russia. Moderately acid waters (down to about pH 6) do have molluscs, crayfish and other shell-forming animals, but more highly acid ones don’t.
Perhaps Florida should import some of those Norwegian corals. They seem to do very nicely in really cold water………
A few questions for the well informed:
1. Prolonged cold in Florida waters. Does this mean a cooler than usual Gulf Stream over the next few months?
2. If so are there weather implications for Europe which depends on warmth from the Gulf Stream?
3. The extent of N. Atlantic sea-ice seems to be strongly influenced by the heat of the Gulf Stream. Does this mean more sea-ice than in recent years in the N. Atlantic over the next few months and into next winter?
cal (13:50:35) :
In newsreel of margaret thatcher you may see a weedy little twerp in the background looking all ineffectual like and holding a brandy as if it were all he could do not to spill it.
dennis thatcher. Not a twerp. Not ineffective. Not a lush. Not a nice person.
Very friendly with nuclear power types though.
Coldest UK December and January for 30 years, news at ten weather forcast.
Posted elsewhere on this website is this image:
http://i48.tinypic.com/14e6wjn.gif
One can clearly see that there has been a recent warming trend (50+ years) in terms of world-wide ocean temps. Coral bleaching from cold water is a fascinating phenomenon, but clearly not at all indicative of the global trend.
The logic here is also relevent to temperature – one would be foolish to stick a thermometer out the window and declare they had calculated mean global temperature, by any definition.
“Cold-water bleaching is unusual, last occurring in 1977, the year it snowed in Miami. It killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn corals across the Keys. Neither species has recovered, both becoming the first corals to be federally listed as threatened in 2006.”
I know little about corals, but according to this link (from last August), staghorn coral was making a bit of a comeback through human efforts (until the latest cold snap, anyway):
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1199581.html?storylink=mirelated
I have to wonder, though: if Florida is at the northern limit of these corals’ range, it may be a waste of money to attempt preservation, regardless of their value to the tourist industry.
Henry Galt (15:39:40) :
“In newsreel of margaret thatcher you may see a weedy little twerp in the background looking all ineffectual like and holding a brandy”
I think you will find it was a Gin and Tonic if my memory serves me well. Got me thinking back to the Spitting Image puppets on TV though! We could really do with those guys back to take the p/ss out of the CRU tec!
“”””paul revere (11:23:13) :
“Jane Lubchecno also says
“We cannot say definitively that these dead zones are caused by climate change, but we can say that they are consistent with our understanding of climate change dynamics. Moreover, there is no other obvious explanation for the appearance of dead zones off an open coast such as ours. This dead zone is a consequence of changes in oceanic and atmospheric conditions, not runoff of nutrients from the land.”””””
Lubchenco burned through $9 million studying Oregon’s (seasonal) Ocean Dead zones and found no scientific link to global warming.
Her OSU research team speculated that shifting ocean currents and winds were likely the cause along with effects of volcanic surmounts rising over the same entire area.
Lubchenco, needing to show some useable benefit from the $9 million and being a global warming team player, began spreading her fabrication of a link to AGW.
Her primary method of deceit was to reference wind driven upwelling. Her link is the notion which supposes these particular winds are “consistent with” global warming predictions.
Her refined link sounds even better.
“Delayed early-season upwelling and stronger late-season upwelling are consistent with predictions of the influence of global warming on coastal upwelling regions.”
And as paul revere (11:23:13) quoted above
Lubchenco “Moreover, there is no other obvious explanation for the appearance of dead zones off an open coast such as ours.”
No other obvious explanation? How about her own research team? They had some explanations. No mention of global warming though.
Lubchenco also added her wholy concocted notion that these “dead zones” are a recent phenomenon and are lasting loner than ever.
All to embellish the imaginary suspicion that AGW is likely the cause.
Yet there are reports of dead zones going back 100 years and there has been no tracking or research to compare her recent “findings” to.
Lubchenco embellishes and fails miserably to find scientific evidence for her claims.
Her carefully chosen words do not insulate her from charges of spreading fabricated science. Her fabricated linking of ocean dead zones to AGW has been distributed through her many commentaries and interviews resulting in her “science” being accepted as established.
Although she observed areas of ocean floor littered with Dungenus crabs etc. this years harvest season is near record breaking with huge numbers of large, healthy Dungenus crabs.
Our Coho and Chinook Salmon runs are reported to be headed toward the highest levels since the Bonneviulle Dam was built in 1939.
Can I fabricate is an AGW link to these positive effects?
Or does it take a scientist?
Lubchenco has also claimed “Climate models are robust enough to predict wind patterns 100 years in the future. This will help Municipalities locate wind farms and buildings”
How asinine.
There are no such models period and even if there were, who would build anything according to such predictions?
Imagine proposing a wind farm where little or now wind is now but Jane’s says there will be some day?
This is buffoonery run amok.
@cal (13:50:35) :
!986 Chernobyl puts another nail in the nuclear coffin
1988 Hansen presents to Congress and the real bandwagon starts
……. After the band wagon was rolling everyone jumped on WWF, Greenpeace, Animal Rights, Anti-Capitalists etc all had a reason to fan the flames. The climate scientists themselves could not believe their luck..
You know, this could equally well be interpreted as:
Nuclear power developed in the 50s, becomes big idea in the 60s. Prompts major anti-nuclear weapons/Vietnam war type protest movement throughout 70s, which finally becomes successful in closing down nuclear development in the 80s. Cheap oil/gas probably had a lot to do with this as well.
Now big anti-nuclear/peace movement stil exists, but has nothing to do. Morphs into Green protest movement and gets laughed at because of sandals and vegetarianism. Needs big idea to protest at – finds it in temperature increase…
Gail Combs (14:21:47) :
In upper New England, northern New Hamphsire, Maine, Vermont… it is poison ivy that is in the northern most reaches of its range.
Eh? Poison ivy stretches all the way up to the northern boreal forest, to the ends of the northern deciduous forests. Lots of robust poison ivy in northern Ontario.
What is at the limit of its northern range in southern Ontario is the possum. Poor little buggers are the most bedraggled frost-bitten (literally) mammals hereabouts. Seen mostly as roadkill, which prompts the longstanding biologist’s joke: “why did the chicken cross the road? To show the possums it could be done….”
Steve Oregon
Check out this site for pH variation:
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/global/acid2.htm#how_acidic
You can see the annual variation at the Monterey Bay aquarium ocean intake – 7.7 to 8.2. Interestingly, in parts of the tropics there is a daily surface water variation of 0.4 units due to biological activity.
Gail Combs (14:21:47) :
Why did the Armadillo cross the road?
We don’t know yet, but as soon as one makes it, we’ll ask.
Hot’s miserable
Cold’s a killin’
CO2 is life
And keeps on givin’
Wayne Delbeke (20:20:15) :
“Steve Oregon
Check out this site for pH variation:
http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/global/acid2.htm#how_acidic
You can see the annual variation at the Monterey Bay aquarium ocean intake – 7.7 to 8.2. Interestingly, in parts of the tropics there is a daily surface water variation of 0.4 units due to biological activity.”
That certainly is an interesting website. But human-induced variation in the mean/min/max pH of a given body of water would almost certainly have consquences for at least some species. Let’s assume that ecosystems have adapted to the range of pH vlues presented on seafriends.org. Couldn’t one assume that pH values outside of that range would act as a stressor to some more sensitive organisms/ecosystems?
Just curious….when do you think we’ll see the temperature record for January?
Sorry Anthony for the poem,
but, thinkin of all the poor coral,
cold and frozen…
and IPCC trying to take their CO2
and warmth away…
kinda got me right here…
just had to write my first
for their memory…
and hope for their prompt return.
if i didnt know better i would think i am reading a warmist blog.what sort of survey is this when someone says.” the corals didnt bleach thet went straight to dead” and we were stunned by what we saw” and ”unprecedented” aand floor was littered with dead turtles and parrot fish. wouldnt they just move on to healthy coral? these peole should write the next ipcc report.
“”” Well Jane performed an experiment with ordinary tap water dyed blue with a common laboratory blue dye; presumably also containing chlorine, Fluoride, maybe cough mixture or aspirin, and she showed that if you chilled it with big chunks of dry ice, that the common laboratory blue dye would become a common laboratory yellow dye, and I guess she was demonstrating that corals could grow in the blue dyed water, but not the chilled yellow water.
Well now we know she was probably right on chilling the water; but I don’t see why the dye color has anything to do with anything.
Why didn’t she do her experiment with some ordinary water from the Great Barrier reef, that we know corals will grow in ?