<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Ok, how do we feel about this? How does this rate on a scale of importance next to, say, AIG bonuses, torture, abortion, the Federal Reserve, Ron Paul, health care reform, or Barack Obama's birth certificate?</div><div><br></div>Fall in tiny animals a ‘disaster’<br>July 11th, 2008<div><a href="http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=1385">http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=1385</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; line-height: 16px; "><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7499834.stm" target="_blank" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(93, 121, 210); ">BBC News</a>: Experts on invertebrates have expressed “profound shock” over a government report showing a decline in <a href="http://www.eoearth.org/article/Plankton" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(93, 121, 210); ">zooplankton</a> of more than 70% since the 1960s.</span></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#444444" face="arial" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 10px; line-height: 140%; font-size: 14px; "> “The disappearance of butterflies, moth, bees, riverflies and other small animals is an environmental tragedy.</p><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 10px; line-height: 140%; font-size: 14px; ">“But, despite this experience, we were profoundly shocked to read that <a href="http://www.eoearth.org/article/Plankton" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(93, 121, 210); ">zooplankton</a>abundance has declined by about 73% since 1960 and about 50% since 1990.<br></p><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 10px; line-height: 140%; font-size: 14px; "><br></p><p style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 10px; line-height: 140%; font-size: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; line-height: normal; "><div>Top of the Food Chain</div><div><a href="http://www.postcarbon.org/top_food_chain">http://www.postcarbon.org/top_food_chain</a></div><div><br></div><div>We need to understand that these are food for crustaceans and fish, which are food for sea birds and mammals. We need to appreciate the importance of the oceanic food web in the planetary biosphere.</div></span></p></span></span></font></div></div></body></html>