Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Gone with the Wind
Today Space.com reports that human-caused global warming is diminishing the trade winds. Sounds pretty non-important at first, but consider this:- The trade winds supply vital nutrients to surface ocean ecosystems. Those ecosystems support fish life. Take away those nutrients, and you lose fish -- a catastrophic loss of a major food source.
- Christopher Columbus relied on the Atlantic's trade winds to carry him to North America. The same trip might not have been successful today.
- The already weak winds are expected to decline another 10% at least by the end of the century.
- The causes are definitely man-made. Oops.
(photo links to Yahoo slideshow)
And, perhaps most important, Brazilian model and actress Barbara Borges (nsfw gallery) thinks this is a very serious issue, as she explains in this video (nsfw) for her Playboy shoot.At least I'm pretty sure that's what she's talking about. I don't speak Portugese.
