“Global Warming” Jumps The Shark, Literally
Just when you thought it was safe to read The Guardian: Surge in fatal shark attacks blamed on global warming
Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there's still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia.
Two deaths in the waters off California and Mexico last week and a spate of shark-inflicted injuries to surfers off Florida's Atlantic coast have left beachgoers seeking an explanation for a sudden surge in the number of strikes.
In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
'The one thing that's affecting shark attacks more than anything else is human activity,' said Dr George Burgess of Florida University, a shark expert who maintains the database. 'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'
Some experts suggest that an abundance of seals has attracted high numbers of sharks, while others believe that overfishing has hit their food chain. 'I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a convenient excuse,' Burgess said. Another contributory factor to the location of shark attacks could be global warming and rising sea temperatures. 'You'll find that some species will begin to appear in places they didn't in the past with some regularity,' he said.
Oh good Lord….where to begin? For starters, if "global warming" is the culprit how come the sharks have waited until we have had a cooler year before they got to chomping in earnest?
Besides, has there actually been a "surge" in fatal shark attacks? Well, let's look at the worldwide fatal shark attack stats since 1990:
1990-1992: 11
1993-1995: 28
1996-1998: 18
1999-2001: 19
2002-2004: 14
2005-2007: 9
So, the last three years saw the fewest fatal attacks since worldwide statistics have been kept. In fact, were we to see a dramatic increase in shark attacks one might argue that was evidence of global cooling back to mid-1990's levels!
Actually, the reference to Jaws in the Guardian story is kind of instructive here. I've always argued the "global warming" hysteria fulfilled the left's need for a simple morality tale, but I've come to realize the storyline it most closely resembles is the classic Spielberg yarn from 1975. Think about it. In the film you have the heroes, the earnest public servant (Roy Schieder) and the vaguely hippie pseudo-academic (Richard Dreyfuss), joining forces to battle against the ignorance of the political and capitalistic establishment (think Murray Hamilton as the hapless Mayor of Amity Island). The powers that be ignore the dire warnings from the voice of science ("this is no boating accident!") and, as a result, friendly dogs and young children are slaughtered (among others.) If only they'd listened! I could go on about the parallels (I've got a bit about Quint representing the supposed "suicidal" tendencies of tradition), but I think I've made my point.
I just wonder what tomorrow will bring? Maybe we will learn AGW causes male pattern baldness and erectile disfunction as well.
I can't wait.
Update:
Others on this stupidity. JammieWearingFool:
This is so ridiculous. The recent fatality off Solana Beach in California was more an anomaly than anything. For one, there weren't exactly too many people in the water that morning and the Pacific Ocean isn't exactly like warm bath water.
I was on that beach two weeks prior to that attack and believe me, the water was freezing. I was one of the few people who actually went in the water without a wetsuit.
Junk journalism like this should be rejected by the editors at the newspapers. Such irresponsible reporting does nothing but bring discredit upon the news business.
I wonder how that theory works when the IPCC and others have had to admit the global temperatures have been flat or falling while the shark attacks increased? I guess we just need to ignore the data, and take it on faith, that all is right with the Church of IPCC-Gore. Pathetic.
Animals, Junk Science | Rich Horton May 4, 2008
By Jim, May 4, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
The Jaws analogy is very apt. Also, you may have seen <a href="http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm">this list</a> that tries to be a comprehensive repository of links to what AGW "causes".
By Quilly Mammoth, May 4, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
On the other hand I have to buy store bought tomatoes and peppers because for the first time the weather has been too cold. I waited two weeks past my usual Tax Day planting and _still_ most failed due to nights in the upper 30s and lower 40s.
By Gaius, May 4, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
Actually, Rich, I see the real threat as ginormously fat moose.
http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/01/19/the-ultimate-threat-of-global-warming-fat-moose/
Imagine one of those plummeting from the sky and landing on your car.
http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/02/12/look-up-in-the-sky/
By Bleepless, May 5, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
If it is not a rapidly-increasing epidemic, it cannot be blamed on Karl Rove.
By Mockinbird, May 5, 2008 @ 2:36 pm
Shark attacks happen every day and every night. The sharks eat fish on an opportunistic basis until they are full.. Occasionally, they will try something new.
Increases in shark attacks due to global warming makes as much sense as shark attacks causing increases in global warming.