Music Banter - The Environmental Watchdog MasterThread

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^ I'm afraid that headline is just too depressing for me to read the article, Psy-Fi. :(

It's in the nature of this thread that the good news stories are mostly insignificant in the face of general environmental trends. Here's a small step in a good direction which is unlikely to make any discernable difference :-

Turkmenistan's President Wants To Close "Gates Of Hell" : https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...hnk/index.html

Notice that the story is about a declaration of intent only; watch this space for when it actually happens. Also watch this space for a resolution of the similar long-burning probs at Centralia, Pennsylvania.

Pharmaceutical contaminants discovered in South Florida bonefish

Quote:

A three-year study by FIU and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) has discovered pharmaceutical contaminants in the blood and other tissues of bonefish in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys.

“Coastal fisheries face increasing threats associated with human-based contaminants,” said Jim McDuffie, BTT President and CEO. “Pharmaceuticals are an often overlooked dimension of water quality and their presence in South Florida bonefish is cause for concern. These contaminants pose a significant threat to the flats fishery, an important part of Florida’s recreational saltwater fishery, which has an annual economic impact of $9.2 billion and directly support over 88,500 jobs.”

Since the study began in 2018, FIU scientists and BTT research associates, in partnership with Sweden’s Umeå Unversity and the University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), have sampled 93 fish in South Florida, finding an average of seven pharmaceuticals per bonefish, and a whopping 17 pharmaceuticals in a single fish. The list includes blood pressure medications, antidepressants, prostate treatment medications, antibiotics, and pain relievers. Researchers also found pharmaceuticals in bonefish prey — crabs, shrimp and fish — suggesting that many of Florida’s valuable fisheries are exposed, and not only the bonefish fishery.

That's depressing news. It's worrying that there are so many knock-on effects from pollution that we don't much think about until they turn up in some scientific study.

In a similar way, forest fires are in the news only while they are burning, but that's only part of the story. After the news cycles have moved on to other scandals, the real impact of fires starts to kick in, but those reports are most often local news only:-

Underneath discussions such as this is the now forbidden topic, seldom raised since the 1970s, the population explosion.
If by some miracle the majority of our species began behaving in an ecologically sensible way the mere presence of billions upon billions of our species imagining we can continue to increase in numbers without negative consequences is no more than a delusion. Never mind, the planet is about to take its revenge.
Glad I wont be around to see it.

It's a pretty good point if we accept the parasitic nature of capitalism to be inherent to human nature and therefore unchangeable.

Oooooh, Malthusianism...

https://i.gifer.com/ngH.gif