Global Warming.. Sea Stings are Back..

Stiffling heat, sunburn - to the perculiar pleasure of Spain's beaches in August, add the sting of jellyfish. In the last couple of weeks, fleets of bloblike Pelagia noctiluca have reached beaches of Barcelona to Malaga. In Catalonia alone, the Red Cross has treated 14,044 bathers for the painful stings. Local government in Benidorm and elsewhere have posted signs in the three languages warning of the dangers. The Interior Ministry has publicized advice for those who are stung. Wash with salt water, dont rub it, seek assistance. The Environment Ministry have sent out dozens of boats armed with large nets to snare the jelly fish before they reach shallow water. And Spain is not the only country on the defensive: red warning flags have been hosited on beaches in France, Sicily and along the Italian Riveria. Josep-Maria Gili, a marine biologist at the INstitute if Ocean Studies in Barcelona, attributes the surge in the jellyfish population to overfishing of its predators. But he has another explanation on why so many jellyfish are reaching the beach: Global Warming. Less rain and higher temperatures have made the coastal waters as salty and warm as those in the middle of the ocean. The invasion of the jellyfish is a message telling us that we have to take better care of our sea..

Time 21 August article, by Lisa Abend and Geoff Pingree