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102 Comments
- AmyVernon, on 11/17/2008, -2/+38That's what she said.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. So hopefully this will redeem that comment somewhat; If these continue replacing krill, it could spell disaster for a lot of marine life. - Dinsdale77, on 11/18/2008, -0/+23Not as good as the giant ice-cube from Futurama.
- Serphyas, on 11/18/2008, -1/+22I, for one, welcome our...
...Oh god, what have I become?
*pistol in mouth* - K4P741NxKRUNCH, on 11/17/2008, -0/+18"They are interesting because they are the fastest reproducing multi-celled animal on the planet and can double their numbers several times a day."
Should we start begging for mercy now? - ricperry1, on 11/17/2008, -0/+16So are they good or bad? They displace krill (a major source of food for numerous larger sea creatures), but they slow global warming.
- Meursault, on 11/18/2008, -0/+14Good for SUV drivers, bad for whales. But many SUV drivers are land whales, so it's not a total loss.
- TPorter72, on 11/18/2008, -3/+14Awesome, im going to get in my car and drive around the neighbourhood just to celebrate.
- ch4os1337, on 11/18/2008, -0/+11"jelly balls"
- Fizpez, on 11/18/2008, -2/+13Without RTFA it makes it seem like the planet is sentient and has a plan for maintaining the temperatures as it should be, ya know, the exact temperature it was from 1985 through 1993 - anything outside that range would mean the death of the planet - it clearly doesnt want that.
- bicyclethief, on 11/18/2008, -1/+11There is such a thing as equilibrium though.
- MorganMghee, on 11/18/2008, -0/+7Let's not forget what the algae produces, oxygen. Decreased ocean flora + decreased forests = Less oxygen. Decreased ocean flora + increased marine 'dead zones' = break in marine food chain. This disruption = nothing but an indication that marine cycles have changed to a point not seen for at least 70 years. ANYTHING that eats the algae will sequester the carbon in contains. As we know it, it is the foundation of the marine food chain.
- cyberfreak01, on 11/18/2008, -2/+8I for one would like to welcome our Jelly Balls overlords.
- thegrantman, on 11/18/2008, -0/+6Alright,you win.
I won't quibble about Tribbles. - 2Deluxe, on 11/18/2008, -0/+5I'm pretty sure they're referring to those clear globs that wash up on the beach that look like transparent kidneys.
... they're awesome to throw at eachother. - EdwardMass, on 11/18/2008, -0/+5I thought that was just my nick name in high school.
- DeskFlyer, on 11/18/2008, -0/+5"The planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! Pack your *****, folks. We're goin' away."
-George Carlin - bouldertrex86, on 11/18/2008, -0/+5Probably bad would be my guess. If they are going to be so numerous to trap enough carbon from algae to slow the effects of global warming, then they will easily be displacing enough krill to disrupt food chain dynamics in the antarctic ocean. Food chain effects will have a more significant economic impact quicker than global warming. Global warming impacts are slow to be felt-- most scientific studies are looking at the impacts for the world in 2100, I don't care what Gore says about the near future. This is just another interesting feed back system to climate warming and increased CO2 rates.
Global warming is going to be more dangerous in terms of feed backs like this one versus things like rising sea levels- and the worst part is that were still figuring out how these feed backs are working, and were also discovering so many different feed backs. - Autodidaddict, on 11/18/2008, -2/+6Yes, 98% of environmental biologists and scientists are "eco-extremists"
You must know something that many millions of people much smarter than you don't.... - mrgreen371, on 11/18/2008, -2/+6Dug down for being a douche bag. People who observe facts are not eco-extremists.
- MorganMghee, on 11/18/2008, -0/+4Marine Tribbles
- MeatyVitamin, on 11/18/2008, -1/+5"A mechanism is a combination of parts designed to perform a given function." just pulled up a quick google definition. There is no necessary design in equilibrium; jeffiek is right to say that the planet doesn't care. Furthermore those multi-cell organisms don't care if they happen to slow down global warming, all they care about is doubling their numbers several times a day!
- IAmTheGuy, on 11/18/2008, -0/+4This isn't really a smart article. It claims that the salps ("jelly balls") help global warming by eating phytoplankton and sending it to the ocean floor in the form of feces. While this is true, it is worse than if the phytoplankton were not eaten. If they don't get eaten, the phytoplankton will continue to undergo photosynthesis which captures CO2 and stores it as sugars. If a phototropic organism (in this case phytoplankton) is given enough CO2, water, light and other various minerals it will reproduce, thus creating more organisms. More phytoplankton leads to more photosynthesis taking place, which captures more CO2. Once these cells die, they will fall to the bottom of the ocean anyway; they don't need to be eaten in order to end up at the ocean floor. Salps actually inhibit the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
- unclecaveman, on 11/18/2008, -0/+4Good or bad is the wrong way to look at it. They are just a species that will thrive as our oceans become warmer and more acidic. In the future our oceans will be full of jellyfish and blobs like this because they're the only thing we don't eat. The sea turtles will love it.
- doublefelix, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Like the Dude, The Earth abides.
- hooah212002, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3If you bothered to read the article, you would have read that they are 0.5cm in length.
- Meursault, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3GM's new Jelly Ball SUV blowout event!
- Diggnabbit, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3I don't quite get it. Sure they'll sequester the carbon that the algae have consumed. But haven't the algae already kind of done that? And, wouldn't we be better off, in terms of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere, if there were MORE algae, not less? So, how does this help?
- Laughingman42, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Exactly what I was thinking. By the article's logic WE are "the Earth's mechanism for combating an oxygenated atmosphere". Whenever a certain material is abundant the processes fed by that material proliferate, it's not any kind of conscious effort on the Earth's part to "preserve the balance".
- MalarkeyPN, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3You're just overreacting to the word "mechanism." You should probably read the article. There's nothing "faith-based" about it.
- MrDowntempo, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Pic From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Salp.jpg
They look a ***** ton bigger than half a centimeter though. - mattycoze, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3hehe; the Salp in that photo are just closer to the lens... here's a better real size comparison;
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://natu ...
I've seen tons of these and just thought they were some form of 'blubber' which are like premature jellyfish; they also play host to tons of sea-lice! - ceramufary, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Thank you -- you're exactly right. This was a very poorly written article by someone who wasn't really thinking about the fact that the algae are the ones doing the carbon sequestration, not the salps.
- thegrantman, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Those aren't Jellyballs,
they're Tribbles. - amoore2600, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3Can we get a picture of these jelly balls!
- thedinomeister, on 11/18/2008, -0/+3From 1933...
http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/061/mwr-061-09 ... - tgc1, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Wait this isn't the Onion? What gives?
- inkovic, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2See the planet is fixing itself so I'm going to continue to drive my gas guzzling vehicle and start a tire fire while I'm at it.
- Laughingman42, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2So Salps are not a "mechanism for combating global warming" they are a mechanism for combating a mechanism for combating global warming.
- cupajoe60, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2It's just a matter of survival. There's more CO2, which makes there be more algae, which makes it easier for salps to survive and reproduce.
- Mujokan, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2It's the trend line that matters. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4 ...
(Data comes from here before anyone complains about Wikipedia: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/ ) - RadInfinitum, on 11/18/2008, -1/+3Please tell me I'm not the only one who read 'University of NSW' as 'University of NSFW'... It's just one letter off from being an internet phenomenon.
- Mujokan, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2This isn't right IMO, because when they die and decay they release their carbon. It's the pellet form of the salp poo that sends it to the bottom of the ocean intact.
- HiKevinRose, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2You're talking about Portuguese Man-o-wars.
- haobaba1, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2what satellite data?
- IAmTheGuy, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Don't worry, they aren't the same thing. Salps are completely harmless and much larger than Iraganji.
- HiKevinRose, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2They don't seem to actually be all that helpful to the whole process since they don't do anything that doesn't already happen.
- RightBleeding, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Semper Fi, maggots. Ohhhh, _those_ marine jelly balls...
- YawehsDead, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2Makes sense to me..
- Ablerank, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2"'Jelly balls' may slow global warming " --- There goes Al Gore taking the credit again.
- Mujokan, on 11/18/2008, -0/+2It falls down to the bottom of the ocean where it's less involved in the carbon cycle.
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