Back in June, I wrote about the link between jellyfish swarms and global warming. At the time, there were warnings that Spain’s beaches would be inundated with huge numbers of stinging jellyfish.
Global warming would not be the only factor in the growth of huge numbers of jellyfish waiting in the waters just off the shores of Spain. Pollution and the collapse of marine ecosystems due to overfishing probably also play a part in the phenomenon.
However, the story is an important reminder that the environment is not just an abstract political issue. We live in nature. We work in nature. We play in nature. When environmental problems impact the ability of large numbers of people to just go to the beach and enjoy a fun summer day, it’s a sign that things have gone too far. It’s an economic problem too, when tourism dollars (or in this case, euros) are drained away from coastal communities.
Two months later, here’s an update: The Spanish government has collected 8 tons of jellyfish so far, and recruited hundreds of volunteers into a Campaign for the Study and Detection of Groupings of Jellyfish to keep information on the jellyfish crisis current.
Beaches have indeed been closed, and more than 20,000 people have received medical treatment for jellyfish stings they received in Spanish waters.
My kids were finding jellies, and plenty of them, on the beach in Maine this summer. My mother-in-law, a biologist, she said she’d never seen so many jellies out there—most years, she doesn’t see any. She’s had that house for something like 40 years, and her mother had another house on the same bay, so that’s a pretty long baseline.
Last year set a record for US beach closings at somewhere around 25,000 due to pollution (which in turn was due to overloaded aged infrastructure according to an e-article/video called America’s dirtiest beaches on Yahoo news this morning).
So the problem isn’t just overseas.
Globally the environment is adapting to our carelessness as humans. We’re ignorant lazy slobs with no concern for anything but our own good times (while they last). So enjoy your day in the sun!