from an article from the August Scientific American on Facing the Freshwater Crisis
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i know that you’re aware that climate change is a big issue. this article - by a respected author citing a prominent scientist in a major u.s. daily - clearly lays out how acute the situation has become.
http://www.latimes.com/news
this is the salient point:
Indian scientist, economist, and 2007 Nobel Prize winner Rajendra Pachauri is quoted saying “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.“
action requires awareness. thinking about and talking about this issue in every possible context is the easiest way for each of us to exert influence beyond ourselves. none of us are required to save the world, but as squatters sharing this planet, all of us are required to participate.
a couple months ago, a major u.k. newspaper reported on a massive amorphous “plastic soup” floating in the north pacific. the story never really gained widespread awareness. in case you didn’t read about it the first time, here’s a brief overview:
the story in the independent describes a “plastic soup” that is “endless for an area that is maybe twice the size of the continental united states.”
according to the story, “About one-fifth of the junk – which includes everything from footballs and kayaks to Lego blocks and carrier bags – is thrown off ships or oil platforms. The rest comes from land.”
why is this something worth caring about?
Marcus Eriksen, research director of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, put is thusly: “What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It’s that simple.”
remember the good old days when you used to be able to throw stuff away? on our small island, isolated in the middle of a vast universe, we’re discovering that there just isn’t any “away”.
i’m excited to see up the yangtze, a documentary about the people affected by the three gorges dam project on the yangtze river in china. it’s opening tomorrow at the cumberland.
i have a friend who eats so much sushi that it’s actually physically revolting. one time he ate so much sushi that he had to lie on the sidewalk in order to somehow placate the pain in his stomach.
understandably, he would be particularly worried about the recently reported news regarding increased mercury levels in tuna served in a variety of new york restaurants. (if you are a sushi eater and haven’t heard about it, read about it here.) the gist is that the mercury levels in tuna are so high, eating as few as six pieces a week would exceed levels considered acceptable by the us’ environment protection agency. worse still, included on the list are high-end sushi restaurants like nobu.
this op-ed raises an important point:
Here is a simple rule for life: the food you eat is only as safe as the environment it comes from.
it goes on:
Though some mercury in the atmosphere occurs naturally, roughly two-thirds is produced by industrial sources — especially coal-burning power plants. It settles into the water in a form called methylmercury, is absorbed by bacteria and then makes its way up to the very top of the food chain — to humans. It is a reminder of how interconnected all life on earth really is. The mercury that worries us in the tuna we eat is the very residue of the way we live. The only way to reduce the one is to improve the other.
as idealistic as it is to ignore the problem and hope that it will be solved by some radical new technology, this is reality: we are making our bodies, homes, schools, workplaces, social spaces, and environment literally unlivable.