There's a sea cucumber pooping in this photo somewhere
From the You Couldn’t Make This Stuff Up Department. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the award for Most Bizarre Thing To Allegedly Help Climate Change goes to:
Tropical sea cucumbers and their faeces could save coral reefs from the harmful impacts of climate change, scientists have found.
Scientists at One Tree Island, the University of Sydney’s research station on the Great Barrier Reef, say sea cucumbers reduce the impact of ocean acidification on coral growth.
“When they ingest sand, the natural digestive processes in the sea cucumber’s gut increases the pH levels of the water on the reef where they defecate,” Tree Island director professor Maria Byrne said. (source)
Look, I know they’re trying to be nice here by giving the sea cucumber some credit in all of this, but really, the sea cucumber doesn’t do anything except crimp off a few lengths now and again. It’s the shit that does the job. Bravo.
Australian Climate Madness 
Fair dinkum ? Lmao
A load of shit.
I knew it was all a load of sh*t!
Thank god!
I have been just soooooo worried about climate change!
I just hope that this very important news results in some more funding for a bunch of people who are prepared to loll about in the Great Barrier Reef for a living…
… but the ocean is alkaline !
… I thought the ocean was Acidic due to all the “not going to rain anymore” acid rain we’ve had over our “we will only have hot dry summers” wet summer 🙂
Nice to see our hard earned tax dollars going to such worthy research into sea cucumber faeces. While Australian families struggle to pay their electricity bills, thanks to solar panel subsidies, academics are being paid exorbitant amounts for such useless research into climate change, when the planet hasn’t warmed for the last 15 years.
… and just in case your wondering how much this research is costing, here’s the link: over $370,000.
DP110105298
Prof Maria Byrne, Dr Symon A Dworjanyn
Approved
Project Title
Impact of climate change stressors on calcifying and noncalcifying marine life stages: predicting tipping points for persistence in a changing ocean.
2011 … $127,000.00
2012 … $127,000.00
2013 … $124,000.00
Baldrick once again you brought inspiration and I thank you sincerely, as I do ACM for this earth shattering piece of news.
http://justmeint.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/another-crass-example-your-tax-dollars-at-work/
JustMEinT Clare in Tassie
Perhaps this is just the forerunner of many face saving “research projects” that will emerge, as the CAGW orthodoxy unravels over the coming years?
That’s it. I’m going right out to get a T shirt with a picture of a sea cucumber turd on it. What does a sea cucumber shit look like anyway? Surely this “study” has some depictions amongst it’s pages…
Well, that is very comforting to know. I’ve already protected my home from global warming … by having a number of these Holothuria sp. in my coral reef display. They mainly sift the detritus out of the sand bed.
nothing new – the CSIRO ran this line with whales poo
I don’t know about cucumbers but I think there is some bull poo in their reasoning.