Thanks to David Kirsh for his posting on the topic of global climate change.

Sadly, it isn't up to the polluters to prove otherwise. I wish it
were. I don't want to appear to be a doom and gloom prophet (as I
have been accused of being in the past), but I should think that any
of us who have an open mind should be gravely concerned about what is
happening to our planet.

Here in Tallahassee, Florida, we have yet to have a "normal" weather
cycle since I moved back. Even in 2004, when we were affected by at
least a portion of the four hurricanes that brought such terrible
destruction to the state, we ended up with a significant rainfall
deficit. In my ten years here, I have yet to see anything approaching
"normal weather." When I lived here in 1977-79, and again from
1983-86, I never had to give a thought to watering my lawn or other
landscaping. Summers were a time of almost daily rain showers in the
afternoons, while cold fronts merging with moisture laden Gulf air
delivered pretty regular winter storms. Even now, we are already
close to ten inches below normal!

In 2004, we had the longest prolonged dry spell on record. By my own
rain gauge, we had only about one tenth of an inch of rain from March
through May (though official tallies, taken at the airport do not
support this - but still the figures do show all three months to be
well below "normal" for these months).

In 2003, Scott Schubbe and I went down to the Florida Keys to look at
a habitat that supported a huge population of the large cowries
(Cypraea cervus and C. zebra) back in the 1960s and early '70s. Today
that area is smothered under a thick film of blue-green algae. We
barely saw any manner of life there now and certainly no cowries. The
cause was easy to see: Nitrogen outfall from all the lush green,
well-fertilized lawns that people cannot seem to live without. In the
1960s, Keys residents were content to live with gravel yards in
exchange for the perfect weather and nearly unlimited sea life.

Pointing out any of this to the folks here on Conch-L is truly
"preaching to the choir." I doubt any of us want to consider the long
term effects of disastrous weather / climate shifts, but I think many
of us have seen the writing on the wall. Recent documentaries on
Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other nature-based programming
have all given us cause for great concern. Core samples taken from
Antarctica prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the emission of
"greenhouse gases" is very real and very dangerous for the wildlife
in that area. But it's just one small piece of the puzzle.

I write as often as I can to our local newspaper and contribute
significant amounts to conservation groups (like The Nature
Conservancy, Save The Reef and World Wildlife Fund among others).
Sadly, these organizations cannot compete on an equal footing with
lobbying efforts funded by big business. The thing that does make me
wonder is this: Are we the only ones who see and recognize the
problem? Are the people that run big business (and yes, big
government) so blind that they cannot see that what is going on will
affect their own children and future family generations?

There will always be the ostriches who would prefer to bury their
heads in the sand (perhaps in hopes of locating an Oliva species?).
But this is a very real and very serious problem and we have to begin
addressing it before it truly is too late.

I geological terms, we are a blip on the face of the earth. No matter
how badly we mess things up, the planet will survive and life will
adapt. Change will come. The question is whether people will be
around to see these changes. At the rate we are currently disturbing
things, I seriously doubt it.

By the way, I would love it if I am indeed wrong and everything is
just peachy. Wouldn't that be nice?

Best regards to all,
Jim

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------