Another climate change warning, written in the shells of crabs

Posted by Stephen Stromberg on April 8, 2013 at 1:22 pm

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/04/08/climate_change_effects_crabs_carbon_emissions/?hpid=z9

 

“Some claim that the effects of carbon emissions might be good for the United States — longer growing seasons? — or that humans can simply adapt to higher temperatures and more acidic seas. Certainly, we’ll adapt better than those oysters will. But when I hear these arguments, I wonder whether those who make them have really thought about the oysters, the pine beetles, the dry docks and all other other ways, big and small, in which their ecology is changing. Combine those with all of the unpredictability that comes with messing with complex natural systems on such a large scale. Taking these considerations together, the argument for complacency looks very weak, and the case for spending some money now to hedge against the possibility of many negative results later looks really good.”