Scientist Warns US GOV :: Monsanto_Roundup...
Roundup Birth Defects...
And The Regulators Knew All Along That The World's...
Most-Wide-Selling Herbicide ... Causes The Problems ...
WASHINGTON -- Industry regulators have known for years that Roundup, the world's best-selling herbicide produced by U.S. company Monsanto, causes birth defects, according to a new report released Tuesday.
The report, "Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?" found regulators knew as long ago as 1980 that glyphosate, the chemical on which Roundup is based, can cause birth defects in laboratory animals.
But despite such warnings, and although the European Commission has known that glyphosate causes malformations since at least 2002, the information was not made public.
Instead regulators misled the public about glyphosate's safety, according to the report, and as recently as last year, the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety, the German government body dealing with the glyphosate review, told the European Commission that there was no evidence glyphosate causes birth defects.
Published by Earth Open Source, an organization that uses open source collaboration to advance sustainable food production, the report comes months after researchers found that genetically-modified crops used in conjunction Roundup contain a pathogen that may cause animal miscarriages. After observing the newly discovered organism back in February, Don Huber, an emeritus professor at Purdue University, wrote an open letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack requesting a moratorium on deregulating crops genetically altered to be immune to Roundup, which are commonly called Roundup Ready crops.
In the letter, Huber also commented on the herbicide itself, saying: "It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders."
Although glyphosate was originally due to be reviewed in 2012, the
Commission decided late last year not to bring the review forward,
instead delaying it until 2015. The chemical will not be reviewed under
more stringent, up-to-date standards until 2030.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/07/roundup-birth-defects-herbicide-regulators_n_872862.html
Monsanto plant shut down by activists ........ Rotterdam May 17 2010
Feb 24, 2011 :: www.reuters.com ::
-------------------------------------------------------
Scientist warns US GOV over safety concerns of Monsanto's Roundup ::
... A newly discovered and widespread "pathogen" significantly impacting the health
of plants, animals, and probably human beings."...
He said the pathogen appears to be connected to use of glyphosate,
the key ingredient in Roundup, made by Monsanto....
the maker of PCBs...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-monsanto-roundup-idUSTRE71N4XN20110224
... The Oceans on Earth are currently known to be contaminated with industrial toxic waste chemicals... ( see: http://ecodelmar.org/pcb ) and since these toxic chemicals are designed to kill plants and animals... and were dumped worldwide into the Oceans... potentially impacting phytoplankton... now down 40% since the early 1950's ... ( http://ecodelmar.org/phytoplankton )
What is killing the Phytoplankton in the Oceans...
The Vital Link Between the Ocean's Health and Human Health...
http://EcoDelmar.org/pcb :: this video is about the impact to dolphins and whales....
and the PCBs known to be circulating in Earth's Oceans and biosphere...
... here is the question...
The "abstract" below is related to several "safer" replacements for PCBs...
...while the text of the abstract states the toxicity is "less" when compared to PCBs...
yet the "quantity" of (10 to 56 µg/L) is extremely low...
mg/L = PPM = parts per Million
.... if these "safer" replacement chemicals are considered "toxic"
at such extremely low trace levels...
and the newer chemicals are "stated to be" less toxic than PCBs... when
realizing that dolphins and whales are now testing at well over 1,000
PPM .... Houston, we have a problem.... because industry has
already dumped tons of PCBs into rivers that obviously drain into Oceans... what may not be so obvious to the industrial mavericks is
that dumping their toxic pesticides and herbicides into the Ocean is
killing the vital phytoplankton that produces most of the oxygen on
Earth...
... if these new and supposedly "safer" replacement chemicals are
toxic to algae at such low trace levels.... what are the toxic effect
of the much higher levels of PCBs in the Oceans now, potentially linked to the 40% loss of phytoplankton
throughout the Oceans today...
( http://ecodelmar.org/phytoplankton
)
----------------------
ABSTRACT:
----------------------
Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the acute or chronic
toxicity of seven potential polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) replacement
products (six phosphate esters and one water-glycol mixture) to the alga
Selenastrum capricornutum and three species of invertebrates.
Significant reductions in algal biomass after 14 d of incubation were
measured in tests with five phosphate esters at nominal concentrations
ranging from 0.10 to 10 mg/L. The acute toxicity of six phosphate esters
tested against a daphnid (Daphnia magna), a midge (Chironomus plumosus)
and an amphipod (Gammarus pseudolimnaeus) was moderate, ranging from
1.1 to 18.0 mg/L. The water-gylcol mixture was nontoxic to algae and
invertebrates at the highest nominal concentration tested (100 mg/L).
Chronic toxicity tests based on nominal concentrations indicated
that five of the six phosphate esters tested against daphnids reduced
survival and reproduction at concentrations ranging from 10 to 56 µg/L.
whereas only one of three tested against amphipods significantly reduced
growth and survival at concentrations of 31 to 128 µg/L. Emergence of
midges exposed to three phosphate esters for 30 d was significantly
reduced at concentrations of 36 to 319 µg/L. The water-glycol mixture
tested was much less toxic to algae and invertebrates than were the
phosphate esters. These data indicate that the potential hazard of
phosphate esters to the environment is significantly less than that of
PCBs.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620040204/abstract
http://DelawareOnline.com/article/20100725/NEWS02/7250361/1006/NEWS
Industry reports that "rain water" is at fault....
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata2002/risksum.html
http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/eurotrac/SI_report/chapter1.pdf
PCB level in dolphins and whales: http://EcoDelmar.org/pcb
Greenpeace is calling for all governments put in place a global network of marine reserves, covering FORTY PERCENT of the world's OCEANS... In addition, marine pollution will only be stopped if all nations take responsibility for their excessive consumption and adopt a "ZERO Waste" to Ocean plan including waste reduction and recycling... http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/media-center/news-releases/growing-danger-of-plastic-poll/
Monsanto History ::
1901 :: "Monsanto" name was first used for business purposes.
Monsanto became heavily involved in the creation of the first nuclear
bomb for the Manhattan Project during WWII.
In 1967, Monsanto entered
into a joint venture with IG Farben. (The) German chemical firm that was
the financial core of the Hitler regime, and was the main supplier of
Zyklon-B to the German government during the extermination phase of the
Holocaust." [5], [6] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Monsanto
1986 :: Monsanto spends $50,000 against California's anti-toxics
initiative, Proposition 65. The initiative prohibits the discharge of
chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects into drinking water
supplies... http://www.1466group.com/biodynamic_treechange/2009/02/monsantos-greatest-hits.html
Monsanto's creation, 'Agent Orange' contaminated more than 3 million civilians and servicemen,
and an estimated 500,000 Vietnamese children have been born with
deformities attributed to Agent Orange, leading to calls for Monsanto to
be prosecuted for war crimes.
Internal Monsanto memos show that Monsanto knew of the problems of
dioxin contamination of Agent Orange when it sold it to the U.S.
government for use in Vietnam.
1991 :: Monsanto was fined $1.2 million for trying to conceal the discharge of contaminated waste water.
Monsanto was ranked fifth among U.S. corporations in EPA’s Toxic Release
Inventory, having discharged 37 million pounds of toxic chemicals into
the air, land, water and underground.
1997 :: The Seattle Times reported
that Monsanto sold 6,000 tons of contaminated waste to Idaho fertilizer
companies
Today "PCBs" are considered one of the gravest chemical threats on the planet.
Monsanto produced PCBs for over 50 years and they are now virtually
omnipresent in the blood and tissues of humans and wildlife around the
globe.
A 'new company' name "Solutia"... was spun off from Monsanto, as a way
for Monsanto to divest itself of billions of dollars in environmental
cleanup costs and other liabilities for its past actions - liabilities
that eventually forced Solutia to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The key to Monsanto's metamorphosis into a biotechnology company was the
run away success of the herbicide "Roundup" (glyphosate)...
Today, "Roundup" (glyphosate) remains the world's biggest herbicide by tonnage of sales.
Monsanto eventually achieved this by introducing into crop plants genes
that give resistance to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup).
This meant farmers could spray Roundup onto their fields as a weedkiller
even during the growing season without harming the crop plant.
Monsanto's corporate strategy led them for the first time to acquire
seed companies. During the 1990s Monsanto spent $10 billion globally
buying up seed companies - a push that continues to this day.
As a result, Monsanto is now the world's largest seed company,
accounting for almost a quarter of the global proprietary seed market.
In 2008 the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations
condemned corporate profiteering: "The essential purpose of food, which
is to nourish people, has been subordinated to the economic aims of a
handful of multinational corporations that monopolize all aspects of
food production, from seeds to major distribution chains, and they have
been the prime beneficiaries of the world crisis. A look at the figures
for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such
as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their
profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively."
Monsanto spent $6,560,000 for political lobbying in 2010. $1,030,000 was
to outside lobbying firms with the remainder being spent using in-house
lobbyists.[29] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Monsanto
Categories
ANWR ... and the deeper bottom line....
Plan B . . . Go Green
or... Continue with Plan A . . .
About ANWR....
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
And The Deeper Bottom Line... phytoplankton...
President Barack Obama opposes drilling in the Arctic Refuge.[36]
In a League of Conservation Voters questionnaire, Obama said, "I strongly reject drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because it would irreversibly damage a protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect the global market price or have a discernible impact on US energy security."
Senator John McCain, while running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, said, "As far as ANWR is concerned, I don't want to drill in the Grand Canyon, and I don't want to drill in the Everglades. This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world." [37]
REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Refuge_drilling_controversy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The real bottom line is...
The PHYTO - PLANKTON ....
We can’t BREATHE without them…
LINK TO VIDEO:
Ocean Acidification...
The "Nautilus" Lived in the Oceans...
for 500 MILLION YEARS..
until now...
More Acidic Oceans Will Dissolve Sea Creatures' Shells....
Researchers uncover another devastating impact of the industrial civilization age...
By 2018 the Arctic Ocean will be so corrosive, spelling disaster for the food chain as tiny crustaceans begin to die off... reports the Telegraph. "We knew the seas were getting more acidic and this would disrupt shellfish ability to grow shells. Now we realize the situation is much worse," said lead scientist Prof. Jean-Pierre Gattuso. The world's seas are turning acidic as carbon dioxide from industrial pollution converted to carbonic acid in all of Earth's Oceans...
The situation is more dire than our computer models had predicted...
Our Oceans gave us everything...
what did we give back...
The oceans are absorbing One Million TONS of CO2 PER HOUR from the atmosphere ....
Ocean Acidification combined with worldwide industrial toxic dumping is killing the only Living Oceans in the known universe....
Without Healthy Living Oceans and Earth's Symbiotic Environment... this planet will not have a Life supporting atmosphere...
Just talk to any of your friends who have ever maintained a salt water aquarium about how delicate the pH balance is...
Consider the following scenario, and tell me if i am wrong about this...
1) we have no way to stop runaway Ocean Acidification...
2) we will probably continue burning fossil fuels worldwide for about 50 more years...
3) all the kings horses and all the kings scuba divers can not prevent the Oceans from becoming so acidic it will dissolve the coral reefs and impair all marine life, including the phytoplankton....
4) when that happens... we could loose up to 70% of Earth's oxygen supply...
5) with more CO2 in the atmosphere, even the trees, plants and crops will no longer function...
6) when the methane hydrates melt... and they already are... mega tons of flammable biomass will burn out of control worldwide... releasing additional greenhouse gas, increasing the positive feedback loop....
7) forests will become deserts... further reducing oxygen and increasing CO2...
8) Earth's currently Livable atmosphere will be lost for thousands of years... No blue, No green...
http://EcoDelMar.org/ocean_acidification
Most of us on this webpage are well aware the problems of climate change and Ocean acidification... and we all understand the need to conserve energy and reduce CO2 emissions...
Yet there is still a huge block of American "voters" who have accepted the propaganda spewed by big oil/coal convincing them that 'climate change' is not even real...
Unfortunately there is another huge block of voters among the religious conservatives who are welcoming the 'end of times' and they see no need to 'save the environment' at all...
Big oil/coal may have more money...
yet, "we the people" have more votes....
United we stand... and we will fall... if we become divided into turf battles...
Our "mass consumption" culture seems to relish intentionally wasteful behaviors... as if eating too many hamburgers in x amount of time makes someone a super hero to be televised... yet protecting our precious Oceans is not of much public interest...
Recently the world-wide beach clean-up's and demonstrations like "hands-across-the sands" are gaining public appeal... and the core values of our "mass consumption" society is finally recognized as unsustainable... thanks in a great part to web videos like: http://TheStoryOfStuff.com
Leandro Blanco made some wonderful web videos for Ocean conservation.... and i think it's a great way to "counter" Madison Avenue's cultural "mass consumption" indoctrination of the totally gullible American consumers...
One the key factor seems to be balancing the amount of beauty of Nature with the educational content that will lead to an actual shift in awareness towards protecting Nature... and an intrinsic motivation to share the content with others...
With access to blogs and youtubes, etc, we can all contribute to the educational content of the web and share our inspirations towards a healthy environment... i am trying to do this at: http://ecodelmar.org/arkive
..:: " Dissolved methane makes sea water more acidic, and this could add to the growing problem of ocean acidification, which has so far largely been due to dissolved CO2. Scientists are concerned that more acid oceans could threaten plankton... If the methane in the hydrate deposits did ever make it into the atmosphere, the effects would be profound...
http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=516
..:: " More than 250 plumes of gas bubbles have been discovered emanating from the seabed of the West Spitsbergen continental margin, in a depth range of 150–400 m, at and above the present upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ).
Some of the plumes extend upward to within 50 m of the sea surface. The gas is predominantly methane. Warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current by 1°C over the last thirty years is likely to have increased the release of methane from the seabed by reducing the extent of the GHSZ, causing the liberation of methane from decomposing hydrate.
If this process becomes widespread along Arctic continental margins, TENS of TERA-GRAMS of methane PER YEAR could be released into the Oceans...
-
1 Teragrams ~ 1.1 Million Tons
-
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2009GL039191.shtml
Albeit too late, we are recognizing the true value of 'respecting' Nature... and it even comes down to the way each individual values their human ego... vs nature...
Indigenous people had a respect for Nature that is almost beyond our ability to understand it today... seeing all living creatures as Spiritual representatives of the "great waver"... whatever name you might imagine... semantics don't matter, respect does...
Our over stimulated 'ego' has become the theme for our life-style... and it has become addicted to anything it wants... and it always wants more... never achieving real Peace...
After all, the best things in Life... are not things...
http://ecodelmar.org/indigenous
Whatever pathway you choose, to awaken inner consciousness, if it works for you... it works... Be it art, music, poetry, philosophy, prayer, meditation, yoga, or dancing in drum circles... it is your personal responsibility to enjoy enlightening yourself...
When you rerspect Nature... you want to know your environment... and you will and not pollute it...
Big oil/coal is spending big bucks to keep their cash cow alive.... and we know it's a dinosaur....
please see: http://ecodelmar.org/GoGreen/
And suggest to your politicians... to donate the money they took
from big oil... to help restore the GULF... they need to hear from the
"voters" whow know the truth... otherwise they will get away with more
of the same.... again and again...please see: http://ecodelmar.org/MBA_Lemmings/
Nobody cares 'which' Environmental / Ocean / Dolphin / Whale /
501-c-3 non-profit organization you like best... the point is to support
them... and not to throw stones at everyone else.... enlighten
yourself...
Global Geo-Engineering Ocean Experiments have failed to solve Climate Change and Ocean Acidification... phytoplankton has reduced by 40%... and still we carelessly drive the planet along the highway known as "Business As Usual"...
It has become painfully obvious that we can not depend on a government dominated by a slick OIL industry to actually protect the ONLY known Living Oceans in the entire Universe...
Greenpeace has a plan to save our Oceans already prepared in a report titled "Roadmap to Recovery, a Global Network of Marine Reserves."
Outlining in detail the rationale for complete protection of FORTY
PERCENT of the world's Oceans in areas essential to prevent total Ocean
collapse.
please see: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/marine-reserves/roadmap-to-recovery
..:: "Perhaps the most startling news story of this year passed almost unnoticed by the general public... Ocean plankton (phytoplankton) that live in the oceans and carry out a job you and I depend on to stay alive... produce over HALF the world’s OXYGEN, and take up more CO2 than trees. This year, one of the world’s most distinguished scientific journals, "Nature", revealed that 40 per cent of the phytoplankton have been killed by climate change of the OCEANS since 1950...
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-there-wont-be-a-bailout-for-the-earth-2143876.html
No Blue... No Green... if we loose the phytoplankton... we all loose...
please see: http://ecodelmar.org/phytoplankton/ ... the most important species of them all... is the least respected... what you do to the least of these...
The Societal Challenge of Ocean Acidification
The Cove"... and Miyoko Sakashita ... Oceans Director and Senior Attorney, for the Center of Biological Diversity... discuss the impacts of Ocean Acidification on Earth...
Louie Psihoyos, photo-journalist of " Miyoko Sakashita is on a mission for the Earth's imperiled marine life... and to protect Earth's ECO-Systems from the impending threats of Ocean Acidification...
Podcast Powered By Podbean
The cost to the environment and our survival is too great to allow the lobbyists in Washington to "run" our government. Over the past 18 months the petroleum industry has spent... $1,800.00 per day, per congressman, in lobbying expenses. If renewable energy had that kind of money for influence, imagine where we would be...
It was great to have Miyoko on the program this week, as the Center of Biological Diversity is at the forefront of changing policy in Washington.
---------------------------------
LINK to full interview:
---------------------------------
http://earthup.podbean.com/2010/11/18/louie-psihoyos-miyoko-sakashita-discuss-ocean-acidification/
Sylvia Earle.... No Blue, No Green.... (seriously)
http://ecodelmar.org/sylvia/
:: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution : www.whoi.edu:
Q: Will capping atmospheric CO2 at 350 or 400 ppm stop OA?...
A: Atmospheric CO2 is already at 390 ppm and is increasing at about 2
ppm per year. Without dramatic reductions in CO2 emissions, atmospheric
CO2 will continue to rise, and most emission forecasts for the near
future indicate a likely increase (rather than decrease) in atmospheric
CO2 growth rate. The first step in addressing ocean acidification,
therefore, is to stabilize and eventually reduce CO2 emissions.
Atmospheric CO2 almost certainly will peak well above 400 ppm, because
we will not stop increasing emissions in the next 5 years. The impacts
on marine life at the peak CO2 level may be substantial. In the long
run, it may be possible to reduce atmospheric CO2 through natural and
artificial uptake mechanisms. The chemistry of seawater is reversible,
and returning to 350-400 ppm would return pH and carbonate saturation
levels to approximately their current conditions. However, some research
has suggested that even current-day conditions may be deleterious for
some organisms, and it is even less clear if future biological impacts
due to peak CO2 will be reversible. Even if we stabilized CO2 emissions,
atmospheric fossil fuel CO2 will continue to penetrate into the deep
ocean for the next several centuries...
:: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution : www.whoi.edu:
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=58683&pt=2&p=69346
Q: Isn’t it better that we sacrifice the oceans and let them keep on taking up CO2 and buffering climate? ...
A: Ocean acidification and climate change are two sides of the same coin. Both are direct consequences of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and cannot be separated from each other. The present uptake of about one quarter of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by the ocean indeed serves as a buffer against rising atmospheric CO2, and so this "service" could be considered to diminish, but not prevent, climate change. In the long term, on time scales of tens of thousands of years, the majority of anthropogenic CO2 emissions (80-90% will end up in the ocean. This, however, will not protect the climate system from global warming during the intervening period. Thus, sacrificing the ocean for the sake of the atmosphere is not entirely possible. It is also important to point out that impacts on the oceans, particularly "sacrificing" them, will have profound effects on the functioning of Earth’s ecosystems...
:: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution : www.whoi.edu:
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=58683&pt=2&p=69346
Q: Is it too late to do anything?...
A: It is within our technical and economic means to modify our energy and transportation systems and land-use practices to largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from our economies by mid-century. It is thought that the cost of doing this -- perhaps 2% of the worldwide economic production -- would be small, yet at present it has proven difficult for societies to decide to undertake this conversion. -- K. Caldeira
:: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution : www.whoi.edu:
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=58683&pt=2&p=69346
Q: If ocean acidification is so potentially serious why isn’t it included in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) climate mitigation negotiations?...
A: Although scientists have known for decades that ocean acidification would occur as CO2 increased in the atmosphere, the consequences to marine life were not realized until about 10 years ago. At that time, biologists discovered that ocean acidification affected the ability of many marine organisms to form their shells or skeletons. Since then, many more effects of ocean acidification have been found to influence a wide array of organisms and marine processes. Because the scientific process relies on formal research protocols, peer-review, and publishing, it takes some time for a new finding to be verified and accepted by the scientific community. However, sufficient evidence about ocean acidification existed by 2007 that the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change (2007) stated in the Summary for Policy Makers, "The progressive acidification of the oceans due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide is expected to have negative impacts on marine shell-forming organisms (e.g. corals) and their dependent species." Ocean acidification and its effects have now been documented to the point that they are widely accepted by the scientific community and it will be seriously addressed by the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. In fact, ocean acidification was a major topic of discussion at side events such as Oceans Day at the December 2009 COP15 climate change negotiations in Copenhagen even though specific considerations about oceans had little or no mention in the text of the proposed agreement. -- J. Kleypas, C. Turley
:: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution : www.whoi.edu:
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=58683&pt=2&p=69346
Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) :: Global List of Carbon Footprints:
* US - 2,530 million
* China - 2,430 million
* Russia - 600 million
* India - 529 million
* Japan - 363 million
* Germany - 323 million
* Australia - 205 million
* South Africa - 201 million
* UK - 192 million
* South Korea - 168 million
Phytoplankton :: Produce 70% of the Oxygen on Earth...
Building Block #1 in the Food Chain and Oxygen Cycle for Life on Earth...
Phytoplankton has reduced by 40% since 1950...
"Over half of the world's OXYGEN is produced by these phytoplankton," explained Professor David Thomas, from the school of ocean sciences at the University of Bangor. "If you took that away you would lose the basis of life on the globe. There simply wouldn't be enough oxygen to support life." Professor Thomas said: "If you go back far enough in time, life started in the plankton, so we owe it a remarkable debt." telegraph.co.uk
View Global Phytoplankton via NASA's Aqua satellite
Date: Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 10:15 PM
Subject: Ocean acidification phytoplankton
The Societal challenge of ocean acidification
http://bristol.academia.edu/DanielaSchmidt/Papers/376335/The_Societal_challenge_of_ocean_acidification
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on current knowledge of marine impacts as discussed above,
to ensure no large-scale risk to marine organisms and ecosystems,
we strongly suggest taking the precautionary principle of a threshold of 450 ppm CO2.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
July 2010: 390.09 parts per million (ppm)
July 2009: 387.74
July 2008: 386.38
July 2007: 384.45
July 2006: 382.15
July 2005: 380.60
July 2004: 377.48
July 2003: 376.65
July 2002: 373.91
July 2001: 371.51
July 2000: 369.69
July 1990: 354.67
July 1980: 339.34
July 1970: 326.35
July 1960: 318.18
July 1958: 315.86
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Data:
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NOAA | http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/data/mlo.html
Scripps | http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/data/mlo.html
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..:: " Currently the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere dips to 19% over impacted areas, and it is down to 12 to 17% over the major cities.
..:: " At these levels it is difficult for people to get sufficient oxygen to maintain bodily health: it takes a proper intake of oxygen to keep body cells and organs, and the entire immune system, functioning at full efficiency.: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/13/carbonemissions.climatechange
..:: " Around 10,000 years ago, the planet's forest cover was at least twice what it is today, which means that forests are now emitting only half the amount of oxygen.
..:: " Desertification and deforestation are rapidly accelerating this long-term loss of oxygen sources.
..:: " The story at sea is much the same. Nasa reports that in the north Pacific ocean oxygen-producing phytoplankton concentrations are 40% lower today...
http://EcoDelMar.org/phytoplankton
. . . and to answer the popular question about 'optimism vs pessimism'... i like the way Paul Hawken says it: ..::"If you actually look at the science about what is happening on Earth and your aren't pessimistic... you don't understand the data... But if you meet the people who are working to restore this Earth and the lives of the poor... and you aren't optimistic... you haven't got a pulse"... http://EcoDelMar.org/paul
The health and intrinsic beauty in Nature is our Guide... in the smallest of the leaves... a dragonfly... a seagull... the dolphins and whales... any one of them will guide any Soul to the Light... out of the materialistic 'real world', that will finally be seen as the illusion it was... Life is breathing... the question is... will we awaken before we have lost every whale and dolphin in the Oceans... How can we humans come to understand that we are all part of the most amazing family of beings to ever exist in all of time... we are miraculous Life forms made from trillion year old star dust... and still we need to practice "gratitude" every day... to manifest the Humility we need to protect the only known human Life forms in the entire universe from the ego's quest to dominate the very Nature that Gracefully creates Life every moment and beats in every Heart since the beginning of time...
Today we are well on our way to loosing the Coral Reefs on Earth caused by Ocean Acidification: http://EcoDelMar.org/coral ... and the Climate Change unfolding today is clearly anthropogenic... the big question is... can we operate our industrial revolution 'Sustainably'... and the question before that is... can we recognize that our 'life-style' is driving up the CO2 that is causing Ocean Acidification... potentially harming the health of phyto-plankton... Earth's #1 source of Oxygen for us to breathe in the air.
..:: " A recent study by Dalhousie University oceanographer Boris Worm and his team found that phytoplankton populations in the ocean are declining at an alarming rate because of human activity and climate change.
..:: " Why should we care?
..:: " They remove CO2 from our AIR and produce more than half the OXYGEN we breathe.
..:: " The report, published in the July 29 edition of Nature, states that PHYTO - PLANKTON have already declined by about 40 per cent since 1950.
..:: " We can't BREATHE without them...
..:: " While governments stall and deniers spread confusion, it gets more and more difficult to achieve the kind of emissions reductions that scientists say are necessary to prevent the Earth from reaching cataclysmic.
..:: " It was once possible... and "MAY" still be...
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2010/08/declining-phytoplankton-another-sign-of-climate-catastrophe/
..: Large decreases in atmospheric oxygen are being detected :: Decrease in atmospheric O2 has been detected in stations around the world for the past decade, a consistent downward trend that has accelerated in recent years:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/O2DroppingFasterThanCO2Rising.php
Breathing Earth: Interactive world map displaying carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world as well as their birth and death rates- all in real time. Click over country for info.
All happiness comes from the desire for others to be happy ... Dalai Lama
http://www.facebook.com/DalaiLama
Phyto - plankton :: Produce 70% of the Oxygen on Earth...
Building Block #1 in the Food Chain and Oxygen Cycle for Life on Earth...
What do you think killing the phytoplankton...
... trees are often called the 'lungs' of Earth.... yet we are cutting and selling our 'lungs' for profit...... and the biggest 'gardens' on Earth are in the Oceans... yet industrial mavericks save money by using the Oceans as a toxic toilet... killing the phytoplankton that gave us 70% of the Oxygen for millions of years.... freely generated from the Light of the Sun.... soon we will be buying it from the industrial mavericks...
in the profound lyrics of Joni Mitchell :
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We are stardust... we are golden...
We are caught in the devils bargain...
And we got to get ourselves back to the Garden...
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http://EcoDelMar.org/phytoplankton
We are already loosing the Coral Reefs on Earth
caused by Ocean Acidification: http://EcoDelMar.org/coral
… and the Climate Change unfolding today is clearly anthropogenic…
… can we get the 'voters' and our governments to recognize
that the industrial ‘revolution’ is driving up the CO2 that is causing
Ocean Acidification… potentially harming the health of phytoplankton…
Earth’s #1 source of Oxygen we breathe...
..:: ” A recent study by Dalhousie University oceanographer Boris Worm and his team found that phytoplankton populations in the ocean are declining at an alarming rate because of human activity and climate change.
..:: ” Why should you care?
..:: ” PHYTO - PLANKTON removes CO2 from our AIR and produce more than half the OXYGEN we breathe.
..:: ” The report, published in the July 29 edition of Nature, states that PHYTO - PLANKTON have already declined by about 40 per cent since 1950.
..:: ” We can’t BREATHE without them…
..:: ” While governments stall and deniers spread confusion, it gets more and more difficult to achieve the kind of emissions reductions that scientists say are necessary to prevent the Earth from reaching a cataclysmic period.
..:: ” It was once possible… and “MAY” still be…
http://DavidSuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2010/08/declining-phytoplankton-another-sign-of-climate-catastrophe/
The Geo-Engineering "Climate Fix"... That Poisons Marine Life...
Fertilising the oceans with iron to absorb carbon dioxide could increase concentrations of a chemical that can kill marine mammals, a study has found.
(From BBC News / by Richard Black) -- Iron stimulates growth of marine algae that absorb CO2 from the air, and has been touted as a "climate fix".
Now researchers have shown that the algae increase production of a nerve poison that can kill mammals and birds.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they say this raises "serious concern" over the idea.
http://OceanLeaderShip.org/2010/climate-fix-could-poison-sea-life/
What is Killing the Phytoplankton...
A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
"The "lipids" (oils) themselves can cause death just like a virus," says Van Mooy. "We can cause the phytoplankton to die by just giving the lipids." ... and this newly found lipid (oil)... deals it's toxic twist of fate by causing the upper-ocean plants to commit cellular "suicide"... There is also a potential connection with cancer.
"It appears that the virus has "borrowed", (copied actually), the genes for this lipid (oil) from the host," he says. "Similar genes are still on the host, but the virus has figured out a way to take those genes and put them into its own genome, and alter them enough to make them more toxic."
Van Mooy sees it as a struggle between two mighty forces. "The phytoplankton are at one end of the boxing ring and they're taking up carbon dioxide, and the viruses are at the other end, and they're out to kill them. And how that works out controls how much carbon dioxide is taken up.
If viruses are killing off phytoplankton, this can increase greenhouse emissions, Van Mooy suggests. "That's important because if viruses infect a whole bunch of cells, then they can't perform photosynthesis, they can't take up carbon dioxide."
Van Mooy said: "There are probably more out there. And who knows what kind of activities they may be involved with. They may hold a cure for a human disease or they may play unknown vital role in ...... "phytoplankton"....
http://www.oceanleadership.org/2009/newly-discovered-fat-molecule-an-undersea-killer-with-an-upside/
One BP OIL head sealed, while gushers of uncertainty remains...
September 19, 2010|By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles TimesKendra Daly, an ocean researcher at the University of South Florida, said even the droplets could kill many plankton, a crucial component of the ocean food chain, possibly creating a cascade effect that could reduce the populations of other, larger species. Already researchers have found some evidence of oil harming plankton in an important spawning area of the Gulf.
Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist and director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute in Blue Hill, Maine, is among those concerned that the combination of the oil and dispersant is "more toxic than either alone" because the dispersants break down the lipid membranes of cells, allowing oil to enter organs more easily, she said.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/19/nation/la-na-oil-spill-legacy-20100919/3
What is killing the phytoplankton...
Ocean Acidification is the term used to describe the decrease in seawater pH due to ocean’s absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere...
Ocean Acidification is suspected to affect the functioning of ocean plankton . . . _ _ _ . . .
http://oceanacidification.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/two-year-engineer-contract-%E2%80%9Cstudy-of-the-effects-of-ocean-acidification-on-the-functioning-of-natural-planktonic-communities-in-the-mediterranean-sea-using-large-scale-pelagic-mesocosms/
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please see: http://EcoDelMar.org/phytoplankton
and: http://ecodelmar.org/pcb
What is killing the phytoplankton...
The Vital Link Between the Ocean's Health and Human Health...
http://EcoDelmar.org/pcb :: this video is about dolphins and whales.... and the PCBs known to be circulating in Earth's Oceans and biosphere...
... here is my question...
The "abstract" below is related to several "safer" replacements for PCBs...
...while the text of the abstract states the toxicity is "less" when compared to PCBs... yet the "quantity" of (10 to 56 µg/L) is extremely low...
.... if these "safer" replacement chemicals are considered "toxic" at such extremely low trace levels... and the newer chemicals are "stated to be" less toxic than PCBs... when realizing that dolphins and whales are now testing at well over 1,000 PPM .... Houston, we have a problem.... because industry has already dumped tons of PCBs into rivers that obviously drain into our Oceans... what may not be so obvious to these industrial mavericks is that dumping their toxic pesticides and herbicides into the Ocean is killing the vital phytoplankton that produce most of the oxygen on Earth...
... if these new and supposedly "safer" replacement chemicals are toxic to algae at such low trace levels.... what about the toxic effect of the much higher levels of PCBs in the Oceans now, that could certainly be linked to the 40% loss of phytoplankton happening throughout the Oceans today...
please see: http://ecodelmar.org/phytoplankton
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ABSTRACT:
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Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the acute or chronic toxicity of seven potential polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) replacement products (six phosphate esters and one water-glycol mixture) to the alga Selenastrum capricornutum and three species of invertebrates. Significant reductions in algal biomass after 14 d of incubation were measured in tests with five phosphate esters at nominal concentrations ranging from 0.10 to 10 mg/L. The acute toxicity of six phosphate esters tested against a daphnid (Daphnia magna), a midge (Chironomus plumosus) and an amphipod (Gammarus pseudolimnaeus) was moderate, ranging from 1.1 to 18.0 mg/L. The water-gylcol mixture was nontoxic to algae and invertebrates at the highest nominal concentration tested (100 mg/L).
Chronic toxicity tests based on nominal concentrations indicated that five of the six phosphate esters tested against daphnids reduced survival and reproduction at concentrations ranging from 10 to 56 µg/L. whereas only one of three tested against amphipods significantly reduced growth and survival at concentrations of 31 to 128 µg/L. Emergence of midges exposed to three phosphate esters for 30 d was significantly reduced at concentrations of 36 to 319 µg/L. The water-glycol mixture tested was much less toxic to algae and invertebrates than were the phosphate esters. These data indicate that the potential hazard of phosphate esters to the environment is significantly less than that of PCBs.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.5620040204/abstract
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http://EcoDelmar.org/pcb ... this video is about the PCBs in dolphins and whales....
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http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/larry_l/2011/01/26/link-between-the-dolphin-s-health-and-h
Our Oceans Need more help... and less hurt...
Our Oceans gave us everything... what did we give back...
The drawdown of both carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrate per mole of phosphate and the rate of new production by diatoms are much lower than that measured for P. antarctica. Consequently, the capacity of the biological community to draw down atmospheric CO2 and transport it to the deep ocean could diminish dramatically if predicted increases in upper ocean stratiÞcation due to climate warming should occur.
http://ocean.stanford.edu/EESS243/Arrigo_et_al_1999.pdf
* A 1,000-km northward shift of warmer-water plankton, with a similar retreat of colder-water plankton, has been observed in the north-east Atlantic over the past 50 years, as the seas around the UK have become warmer.
* In the North Sea, the population of the previously dominant and important cold-water zooplankton species Calanus finmarchicus has declined in biomass by 70% since the 1960s.
* The seasonal timing of plankton production has altered in response to recent climate changes. Some species are occurring up to four to six weeks earlier than 20 years ago, affecting predators, including fish.
Continued increase in sea temperature, due to climate change and associated changes such as ocean acidification, are likely to exert major influences on plankton abundance and geographical distributions, with implications for primary production and climate control.
http://www.mccip.org.uk/annual-report-card/2007-2008/healthy-and-diverse-marine-ecosystem.aspx
LINK to Video:
http://ecodelmar.org/UNEP
Drinking_Water_Not_Safe_For_Fish_Nor_Plankton_
Industry slips away with their profits...
leaving the toxic fish for the taxpayers...
hundreds of millions for an "industrial" cleanup...
and blaming the problem on "Rain Water Run Off"...
The Legacy of Delaware's OIL toxins in the Potomac Aquifer
of drinking water for the people in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and the Oceans...
After decades of industrial strength dumping -- and Billions in dirty corporate profits -- most of the manufacturers along the Delaware River's border near Delaware City have closed or declared bankruptcy. The cleanup bill now belongs to the public, which remains largely uninformed.
The problem hit home when Bason's infant son, Chris, grew violently ill every time he took formula made with tap water from her house just south of New Castle.
The News Journal learned earlier this year that in September tests of water from a well twice as deep as those sampled in 2005 found four pollutants at levels up to 800 times higher than any previously reported. Concentrations of one toxic compound, benzene, were 5,200 times higher than levels considered safe by the federal government.
Neither the EPA nor DNREC released the full report to the public at large, although the findings were posted six months ago by DNREC to a hard-to-find state Web page. No public hearing has been held to examine the new dangers.
"It's very hard for the public to grasp what's going on down there," said Seth Ross, a Delaware Nature Society member who has followed the issue for years. "If they don't have enough information, it's hard to have an interest."
Delaware City resident Pamela Martin said she was unaware of problems in Dragon Run.
Taxpayers stuck with hundreds of millions for industrial cleanup...
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http://DelawareOnline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=water
REF: http://DelawareOnline.com/article/20100725/NEWS02/7250361/1006/NEWS
Graph 1: http://DelawareEstuary.org/pdf/Summit11/talks/Session%209/3_Velinsky%20Tues%201130%20DSC%20v2.pdf
Industry says the "rain water" is at fault....
http://DelawareOnline.com/article/20100725/NEWS02/7250361/1006/NEWS
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata2002/risksum.html
http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/eurotrac/SI_report/chapter1.pdf
What is killing the phytoplankton...
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Vital Link Between the Ocean's Health and Human Health...
and a question for you...do you really think it's just the rain water...
http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/larry_l/2011/01/26/link-between-the-dolphin-s-health-and-h/
Categories
About Me
larry_l
Flagler Beach, FL USA
Getting the Ocean's health into perspective.
As scientist Jim Lovelock observed, "Although the weight of the Oceans is 250 times that of the atmosphere, it is only one part in 4,000 of the weight of the Earth."
1/4000 = 0.00025
Therefore, only 0.025 % of Earth's mass is Water. Yet we tend to think of our Oceans as vast and an endless resource, free to everyone.
Scientists also point out, "If the Earth were a globe 12 inches in diameter, the average depth of the ocean would be no more than the thickness of a piece of paper, and even the Deepest Ocean Trench would only be a tiny dent, one third of a millimeter deep. (0.3 mm = 0.01 in)
Since the Ocean's mass is 0.025% that of Earth's, our Oceans can be appreciated as the scarce and only living Oceans in the entire universe. Mars might have some frozen mud.
Knowing the Earth's "surface" is 70.8% water, often leads the public to jump to a popular conclusion... there might be more Ocean than Earth.
Unfortunately, this popular conclusion leads to a "global assumption"... that pollution might be absorbed and simply rendered harmless... within the Ocean's vastness.
Millions of Tons of toxic chemicals are discarded into rivers worldwide, while the industry leaders "cross their fingers" in a futile false hope that the chemicals will quietly be absorbed by the living Oceans.
Plastic does not really "break down", but it does break into tiny bits of plastic "dust". PCB's, already in the Ocean, are attracted to the plastic bits like a magnetic sponge. Marine animals eat the plastic bits, and become toxic with PCB's, causing immune system failure.
As the toxins slowly distribute worldwide by the Ocean's conveyor belt currents, the entire food chain is affected, from the tiny coral polyps that make world's largest reefs, to whales feeding on plankton and other particles suspended in the water column, including PCB laden plastic "dust".
An impairment to the immune systems of living creatures is being observed globally, from the tiny coral polyps, to the giant killer whales, and finally the humans themselves, seated at the top of the food chain, consuming the industrial leftovers, that do not bio-degrade in nature for hundreds of years.
Now PCB's are being dumped onto agricultural land or incinerated into the atmosphere by industry in another futile attempt to rid themselves of chemicals they synthesized and are responsible for. I say the manufacture must not be allowed to dump these toxic chemicals in the rivers and must take them back for recycling: http://ecodelmar.org/TakeItBack/
While we are still scrambling to name the new coral reef diseases, and counting growing number of species that are becoming extinct, all the while with more funding going to concern over the stock market.
As a free nation... we the people... spent more of our own tax dollars exploring the mud on Mars than protecting the only "Living Oceans" in the known universe... as our planet become less inhabitable for humans. Who is really steering this over-heating planet, big business persons? Is bowing to the stock market index given a higher priority than the World's Ocean Health index, in Washington... http://ecodelmar.org/MBA_blindness
As we all awaken to the collapse of our Oceans, finally we begin to see the consequences of giving the "green light" to industry for dumping millions of tons of "known toxins" into the only known living Oceans in the entire universe.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, must be looking down on the Oceans and their bleached coral reefs... with salty tears in his eyes. Link to The Cousteau Team results: http://EcoDelMar.org/results
Our Oceans
We have the only living Oceans in the entire universe, unless you know of another one.
Our planet is running full-steam-ahead by giant industrial strength polluters.
Industrial pollution is impairing the immune system of life in the Oceans.
Tons of toxic chemicals are still being dumped into rivers worldwide by industrial giants, who will destroy the Oceans, in order to make more profit.
home page:
http://EcoDelMar.org
Info about PCBs:
http://EcoDelMar.org/pcb
Cousteau Team results
http://EcoDelMar.org/results
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about me:
http://EcoDelMar.org/maya
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