Posted on 10/22/2014 7:03:37 AM PDT by Kaslin
Never let it be said that Mother Nature doesn't appreciate irony. A new study led by researchers at Occidental College and the University of California at Santa Barbara has found that the oil platforms dotting the California coast are fantastic for sea life.
In a 15-year study, researchers found that the ecosystems that build up around artificial rigs host 1,000 percent more fish and other sea life than natural habitats such as reefs and estuaries. The California rigs outstripped even famously rich ecosystems such as the coral reefs of French Polynesia.
Now, as a big fan of artificial reefs, I think this is exciting news. There are many who oppose the idea of improving on God's -- or, if you prefer, Gaia's -- design. This strikes me as crazy, given the fact that virtually all of the food we eat and the clothes we wear are the products of human innovation. When humans ran out of gazelles or bison to hunt, they had the great idea of catching a few and raising a renewable supply. When picking wild seeds and berries no longer fed the tribe, it dawned on humans to plant their own.
Fish pose a special problem, however, because many species are difficult to farm. And even when fish are adaptable to aquaculture, there are special risks and costs involved. As a result, the oceans are still being overfished, thanks in no small part to the tragedy of the commons. (Since no one owns the ocean, fishing fleets often grab as much as they can.)
According to Jeremy Claisse, the lead author of the study, the reason rigs are particularly beneficial stems from the fact they're so tall. A skyscraper from seafloor to surface apparently lends itself to a very rich ecosystem. The fact that it's an oil rig is, of course, irrelevant.
Claisse says in interviews that he hopes policymakers will take his findings into account when approving renewable energy sources such as ocean-based wind farms. "These results show the potential importance of man-made structures in enhancing natural habitats," he told New Scientist, "and demonstrate that leaving them in place after use, if done right, can have benefits for the marine environment."
He's right. I would love to see stand-alone underwater skyscrapers anywhere they might work, but especially along the African coastline, where fishing is essential and overfishing a major problem.
But let's get back to the ironic part. In 1992, world leaders convened in Rio de Janeiro to discuss three issues: climate change, desertification and biodiversity. Since then, the world has dedicated untold billions of dollars to fighting climate change. Even the rosiest accounts of what has been accomplished so far concede that little progress has been made in terms of forestalling the alleged climate apocalypse a century or so from now.
However, the effort has other achievements under its belt. The global war on carbon has allowed politicians, activists and voters to congratulate themselves about their concern for the environment, while at the same time distracting them from the other goal of that Earth Summit: saving endangered species.
If only lobbyists and subsidy-grubbing corporations could make as much money fighting the eradication of the African elephant, the Asian tiger or countless other creatures.
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the global wildlife population has been cut in half, according to the World Wildlife Fund. While there are many heroic organizations dedicated to saving endangered species, who can dispute that fossil fuel phobia dominates the conversation and sucks up most of the passion?
The environmental jihad against oil predates hysteria about global warming by decades. Oil was an enemy back when people were still fretting over the looming ice age. Indeed, many say it began with the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969.
I don't know if the oil rigs off the Santa Barbara coast today have saved any endangered species, but I do know that the wind and solar farms of the California desert are killing and threatening birds -- including endangered ones -- at an alarming rate (and not just birds). Not even the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act can stand in the way of the obsession with climate change.
What good will a cooler planet do us if we're the only ones around to enjoy it?
My wife, daughter & her husband, grand children all went down to the Gulf for a 2 week vacation in October. I was distressed to see they all came back from there covered in oil from that disaster and how devastated everything there was. /s
October - September.....
Everyone who’s wet a hook in salt water knows this......more structure will actually create more aquatic life - it doesn’t just gather existing life - (structure allows development at bottom of food chain and works its way up).
Gonna tick off environmentalists to no end....
Jonah Goldberg has matured greatly as a columnist. Both his selected subjects, and what he writes about them have improved greatly. This is a story that I had not known about and would not have surmised.
I once figured he only got space because of his famous mother. Whether that was once true or not, he has earned his keep.
you don’t fish, do you? Or snorkell/dive?
Why do we have some of the best fishing around in Louisiana? Yep, just cruise out to your nearest oil platform and get your quota of wonderful fish. We have always known that the rigs are teaming with fish. The greenies need to stop eating fish because they may come from the hated oil rig!
It’s true of freshwater too. Look for structure with sonar and you will find fish, from baitfish to predators, it is their preferred habitat.
Wild blueberries are pathetic. Manmade blueberries rock.
yes, but there’s no oil rigs in fresh lakes and ponds....
...because if you had ever done so, you would have known about the relationship between structure and increased marine life.
100% of the time.
Everyone in Louisiana knows it’s simply the way the way the food chain works.
Structure causes more marine growth which attracts small fish which eat the growth.
Small fish eating the marine growth attract the larger fish which eat the smaller fish.
The larger fish which are eating the smaller fish which are eating the marine growth attract even larger fish which eat them.
The larger fish then attract the Coon Asses which will eat anything that doesn’t eat them first.
The larger fish then attract the Coon Asses which will eat anything that doesn’t eat them first
Yummmmm, I’m think’in road kill!
WTF? This has been known for decades.
Globle warming makes more fishies and animals.
The globle warming hoaxters should be sued for cruelty to fish and animals for denying fish and animals a healthy habitat with ocean oil rigs.
OIL RIGS : make 5 star hotels for fishies.
Road kill gumbo!
Now we’re talking good eats.
Now we’re talking good eats.
Stewed Nutria! Cher
So offshore oil wells are GOOD for nature while wind farms and solar panel farms kill thousands of animals.
The econazis don’t care.
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