Ecological benefits of global warming keep coming to light even though the articles that mention them rarely draw the conclusion that, biologically speaking, global climate change is not only not new, it's also not necessarily a bad thing to have happen.
Here's another example from New Scientist:
"Teeming with life" may not be the description that springs to mind when thinking of the Arctic Ocean, but that could soon change as global warming removes the region's icy lid. A study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.
Ice-free summers and icy winters are precisely what glaciologists fear could happen in the Arctic within decades. Over the past few years, wind pattern and warm temperatures have been gradually thinning Arctic sea ice, making it less and less likely to survive the summer. Some believe the Arctic could be ice-free during the summer as soon as 2030.
The researchers say that the sheer number of diatoms locked in the mud suggests that when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth the Arctic Ocean was biologically very rich during the summer, on a par with the most productive regions of the Southern Ocean today. Since diatoms are at the very bottom of the food chain, waters rich in diatoms can support a lot of larger life forms as well.
"On the basis of our findings, we can say that it is likely that a future Arctic Ocean free of summer sea ice will also be highly productive," says Kemp. Arctic fauna today is limited by the region's harsh conditions. The ocean is home to very few species of fish - such as the Arctic cod - which in turn support seals, whales and polar bears.
While more diatoms during the summer does not mean that larger animals will spontaneously appear in the Arctic over the coming decades, it could give species that currently live further south an incentive to move into the region by providing them with food. The most likely scenario is one in which larger species migrate to the Arctic in the summer to feed on the enriched summer food chain, then move back south during the dark winters.
Why scientists should "fear" that ice-free summers will be typical of Arctic summers within twenty years is not made clear by the article. It seems to me that the appearance of a nutrient-rich habitat for wildlife is something that biologists would rather welcome, but I suppose there are the politics to consider. Not only is there a risk of incurring their colleagues' censure if scientists wax too enthusiastic about the advantages wrought by climate change, but all the global warming Chicken Littles will be implicitly rebuked, and President Obama will never get his energy bills passed.
RLC
