I Can't Decide . . .

. . . if the discovery of over 100 species both entirely new and not previously observed in the French Frigate Shoals near the Hawaiian Islands is very cool or very scary.

I thought the very same thing when a Canadian hunter killed an odd bear a few months ago that turned out to be a Polar-Grizzly crossbreed.

Cool, as in the miracle of life never ceases!

Scary, as in evolution in motion, which means that a once hospitable environment is changing enough that a species' survival depends on radical change -- geographically or into an entirely new species.

The variety of species never before seen in the area enhances the scary side of the coin. Most animals do not seek out new habitats without a reason, and in this era of dynamic climate change there are plenty of reasons, and none of them good.

Deny global warming, if you find reality too scary, but understand that we are seeing an unprecedented number of events like this, events that cannot be explained away as easily as WMDs as a cause for war . . .