iht.com — In a period of hours during a day a couple of weeks ago, 300 people on Barcelona's bustling beaches were treated for stings, and 11 were taken to hospitals. From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii, jellyfish are becoming more numerous and more widespread, and they are showing up in places where they have rarely been seen before.
Aug 3, 2008 View in Crawl 4
graciasAug 4, 2008
Having been bit before, in Barcelona, i can tell you its not fun, it feels and looks like you were whipped hard with whip. I was stung on my chest and had a 5 inch long, raised, bright red line, as thick as a pencil, which looked like it almost drew blood towards one side.Now in Barcelona they pay fisherman to put nets on the front of their boats and float around collecting as many as they can at the tourist beaches.
lunaticfringeAug 4, 2008
When you consider some species like the Box jellyfish kill a good percentage of the people who encounter them, this really is a serious issue. The raised temperatures mean their range will spread, meaning more coastal areas will become generally unfit for human use.To clarify about the Box jellyfish, a slight brush with their tentacles can put you into intensive care (if you can get there before you croak), and might leave you with a series of marks that make it look like you were scourged.
cardinalgAug 4, 2008
It amazes me how the AAAS, NAS, WMO, NOAA, NCAR - pretty much every scientist in the world who devoted their lives to studying climate or some piece of nature have come forward to say that the climate is changing and the affects are observable in their field - and yet there are people that are willing to stand up and say 'nope, they're wrong.'There are things happening right now, like jellyfish, which have no precedent of ever happening before in the entire recorded history of the human race. Maybe it's not global warming. Maybe it's not caused by humans.But you know what, that thought would scare me even more, because it still means the oceans are warming up to dangerous levels that are beginning to melt greenland ice, and methane pockets could begin to melt and bubble up, and jellyfish swarms will continue to rise - and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it except hope it's a freak of nature and only lasts a decade or two.Personally, I'd rather blame myself for these things, cause at least then there is something I can do to try and fix them.
3leggedhorseAug 4, 2008
Japanese tentacle porn sprang to mind glancing at the title.
hwoodAug 4, 2008
I first read the title as stinging testicles...