A Rising Problem for the Pacific

In the past 6- years, some parts of the Pacific Ocean have warmed 15 times faster than these parts had in the 10,000 years leading up to this. Researchers from Journal Science have states tat the middle depths if a part of the Pacific Ocean has warmed very rapidly recently. They relate these rises to most of humanity putting more greenhouse gases into the air more recently. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations-sponsored group of scientists that issues reports every few years about the effects of global warming, states that "Increases in ocean heat content and temperature are robust indicators of global warming during the past several decades." The lead study author of this case, Yair Rosenthal, said "We're pumping heat into the ocean at a faster rate over the past 60 years and we may have underestimated the efficiency of the oceans as a storehouse for heat and energy," he added. "It may buy us some time — how much time, I don't really know. But it's not going to stop climate change." They are saying the 15 percent increase is not too high it’s just the rate at which this 15 percent was obtained that t causing some to be worried. Researchers have found that the Pacific Ocean had actually been cooling over the past 10,000 years until about 800 years ago when temperatures slowly started to creep up. This object of clear global warming is showing the negative effects that it can have on our world and that we must do something to start to prevent this from rising more.

Citation:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/31/global-warming-pacific-ocean/3324251/

A Monstrous Barnacle

There is one animal living in the ocean that is a particularly scary creature. When learning about what this thing does it appears very disturbing. Many people have said this creature is comparable to animals from a monster movie but this one is very real and very dangerous to other sea animals. In order to fully understand what these animals do, imagine you are a full sized crab after a life of dodging predators your age and size make it impossible for many predators to attach. All of the sudden you feel something inside of you. There is a Rhizocephalan barnacle inside of you and it’s going to take over. This Rhizocephalan is dangerous and painful for the animals it attacks. Its roots crawl through the tissue, gut, and brain of the animal. The adult female body of the Rhizocephalan is twisted and deformed, not resembling in any way its barnacle cousins living on rocks near shore. She has lost her hard shell, her legs, her eyes, and transformed into sickly yellow roots and sinuous twisting filaments that are slowly grow like black mold through your tissues. As the barnacle continues to eat away at your body, eventually your abdomen explodes. This barnacle has now taken over the body of the attacked completely. The attacked now thinks that it is a female organism and will produce new life. It is a bizarre process that is often not seen but in this case it makes it able to reproduce without using its own body.

Citation:

http://deepseanews.com/2013/10/this-may-be-the-oceans-most-horrifying-monster-and-youve-probably-never-heard-of-it/

A Nearly Irreversible Infestation

A map depicting where the infestation is occurring

In the Caribbean and surrounding picturesque locations, the infestation of Lionfish is a growing problem. While very beautiful, these lionfish are considered highly dangerous because of their venomous nature 

and large reproduction numbers. Lionfish will eat everything and everything and because they are not a naturally occurring fish in the Atlantic Ocean, they are changing the food chain and impacting the surrounding wildlife in a very negative way. The problem, other than unnatural occurrences in the ocean, is that the Lionfish have no natural predators other than humans. The rapid reproduction rates make them impossible toe exterminate for humans. "The lionfish invasion is probably the worst environmental disaster the Atlantic will ever face," said Graham Maddocks, president and founder

of Ocean Support Foundation. The Lionfish reproduce faster than almost any other marine life form. They produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs every few days and reach sexual maturity at only about 1 years old. They are currently spread through the Amazon, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, as well as waters around North Carolina. According to most of the research done, just a few fish that escaped from owners In Florida started this lionfish epidemic. In fact, DNA evidence shows that all the lionfish in the Atlantic were started by just 3-4 female lionfish escaping and rapidly became an absurd amount of them. Maddocks said, "I don't know if we can stop the lionfish invasion. This isn't a battle we can win, we can only maintain," he said. "Human beings started this problem. It is our fault they are here. We have to take responsibility and try to fix or hope we can control it."

Citations:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/tech/innovation/lionfish-infestation-atlantic-linendoll/