A Few Fish May Inherit the Earth

March 28th, 2007 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Climate Change, Environment, Housing, Water

Well maybe. Today’s post strings together thoughts on three recent news items. First, in order of decreasing “drasticity”, is news that two-thirds of the world’s largest cities are vulnerable rising sea levels caused by global warming. “At risk” must be some sort of liberal marketing catchphrase you think . . . well, that’s not so. According to a study published in the journal Environment and Urbanization, some 634 million people in cities like New York, Mumbai, Tokyo, Shanghai, Jakarta and Dhaka (Bangladesh . . . I didn’t know that) could be flooded out of their homes by 2080. 2080 people! That’s only 73 years. That means a child born today in one of those cities is at risk of being wheeled out of his old folks home with water nipping at his man nurse’s heels on their way out. Yikes! And this scenario is real for over 180 countries, many of which have urban areas of more than five million people. Maybe we will one day be Surfing in St. Louis.

Now we must consider what we’re in for if the oceans do start creeping up onto densely populated areas. We already know that the polar bears recently seen ~~playing~~ stranded on an ice in the Arctic are no threat to us. How do we know? Rush Limbaugh says so. But, what about the fish? I received an email from Environmental Defense this morning that said “ocean fisheries are not limitless”. WTF?! Yes, this was confirmed by yet another study, this time in the publication Nature. It’s no Rush Limbaugh but I feel like they usually fact check before publishing something. The email told me that entire marine ecosystems are being “pushed to the brink of collapse”. I’m sure that’s just the equivalent of “Iraqi Civil War” in “greenspeak” but the fact that “90 percent of large, predatory fish—such as tuna, swordfish and sharks—have disappeared from the world’s oceans” has to mean something. “It must the weakest 90% that have disappeared,” says the climate change skeptic. “Survival of the fittest . . . oh wait, I don’t believe in that either.” Read more here.

And finally, instead of wallowing in misery as idiots with the means to tear up the earth continue to drunkenly wield power, do something about it. April 14 is the National Day of Climate Action. Booya. The day’s slogan is “Step It Up!” and more information can be found here. The gist is to rally troops and sync the message: “Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050.” Get busy, it’s your birthday. There are house parties being hosted all over the country. Sign up, or just visit the site to learn more.

2 Responses to “A Few Fish May Inherit the Earth”
By Clark on Mar 28, 2007

With even a 3-meter rise in sea level, my hometown of Lake Charles, LA, some 40 miles from the Gulf Coast, would be underwater. It gets me in a way that contemplating how a rise in sea level would affect hundreds of millions in other parts of the globe, however however horrible that may be, does not.
By Vihar Sheth on Mar 29, 2007

I watch disaster movies for pure entertainment, but scenarios like this make me wonder how close to reality they are. Sure the speed with which the disaster takes place is accelerated but after Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Asia, the consequences of our indiscretion have been made clear. There are certain horrible events we’ll never be able to control but if our habits caused devastation, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves. The sad fact is that poorer countries will be more drastically effected by pollution from the developed world than the developed world itself.

green | rising