Not surprised you mentioned that psilli - North America generally is one of *the* areas which are being severely damaged.

Got some pics taken in Texas years ago - in a large valley which was like a national park and rich in ecology/species. That whole valley (and it's a big area!) is now totally devasted. There are no leaves on the trees - they are all dying and little wildlife left.

Apparently the main source of the problem was emissions from oil refineries in that area and where the local conditions mean't that these emmissons ended up as a cloud of pollution over the valley. Sad stuff...

Sure mercury is a problem, but not alone in the cocktails fish are fed. Analysis of water from a large number of rivers (a US survey) showed common traces of chemicals - mercury, the residues of chemicals used in Viagra, birth control pills and (dammit - forget the brand name) - anti-depressants. So... we got the fish high on Viagra, but taking their birth control pills and some anti-depressants to keep em happy :winkwink:

That's funny. A digression from climate change, yet this thread seems to be going that way anyway.

-------------

I was just going to try and edit my post above about how I think not only should we stop polluting the planet with chemicals, but also people.

I'm not talking eugenics here, or anything as insidious as that. Just some normalized trend over population centers to limit their ability to procreate based on the carrying capacity of their ecosystem and those systems around them.

Exactly...my dad who is a recovering Republican used to complain about the "save the whales" bumper stickers back in the 80's...I finally looked at him and said..."what the fuck is so wrong with saving whales?"

I honestly don't get it. The republicans I hang with now days say similar shit about global warming...their answers usually are..."who cares I won't be around to see it all happen."

But what about their children, and their grand-children?

Selfish way of thinking...and honestly I'm not even a democrat...LOL I'm more Libertarian than anything...however I do have a few liberal leanings in some instances.

global warming, acacia, 2257, visa, xxx

please people

Listen I dont think there is ANYTHING wrong with conservation. NOTHING. Its the gloom and doomers that piss me off. Do all we can to help keep the planet clean and for things to not needlessly die. We'll see in time this was another silly scare mongering money grab. Its the intentions of people that push it I have the problem with.

I'm no expert in this area psili, but got friends here who are and it's very interesting learning from them.

On the "tiny piece" aspect, one biologist who works specifically with people engaged in reforestations has the job of "implanting" species into the new forests to make the whole ecology of that area work. He has ranges of insects, toads, snails, reptiles etc (all indiginous species) and these are "planted" as part of the rainforest "re-creation program". Apparently when there is an element missing from the stucture - like an insect etc - this breaks the forest life down and it stands less chance of being self-sustainable.

Another friend specializes in "slithery critters" - he's kinda like a real Crocodile Dundee and prob handled most of the world's reptiles :-) There was a small frog - very small creature half an inch in size. This was assumed to have become extinct a few years back and was a major factor in the future of several rainforests. Alex eventually found a very small pocket of these frogs and managed to preserve them and with others, is spreading them into new forest territories to encourage/restore the ecology back to it's previous state.

It appears that very small things have this trickling effect over much bigger and obvious elements ;-)


PS It is interesting what these folks do and can be fun as well :-) Got a demonstration of a snake attack a couple of years back - had to firmly hold a large perspex sheet between the snake and my face. The snake was very interested in "performing" and eventually attacked. Could not believe the power of that "punch" against the perspex - if it was glass, chances are the snake would have broken the glass. It was more like a strong human punch - and inclined to have great respect for snakes now *lol*

Then there was the injured jaguar one kept in his kitchen while it got back to health *lol*... But that's another story...

It's sometimes just fun to know in other threads I'd like to post the exact opposite of what you posted, yet in others there's a general agreement.

Anyway.
Back to work, I guess.

Cheers.

Those are the exact words of several world leaders or members of their governments eroswebmaster ;-)

Got a few people we are privileged to have working with us on other projects here - they are qualified beyond belief and have worked with many governments in areas of sustainability, ecosystems, resource usage etc. Two in particualar, and on different occasions, have described presentations to leaders and govt ministers.

The reactions, depending, were, ackowlegement of problem areas and that "something should be done" etc... but, often the final comment - implied or actually stated - was that "I won't be in power when it crumbles so why should I bother?" Amazing when you think that is the limit of concern for the nation they supposed to represent :pimp

But.. there is a lot more active interest these days and a lot of funding being allocated - literally many billions - and not just for their own countries, but being allocated to sustainable eco development in other regions which are under pressure and kinda relevant to the overall planet.

Hehe.. ya might be surprise how much we have in common psili - don't rely on GFY bullshit as the measure :winkwink:

Cheers man!

It's the end of the world... nooooooooooooooooooooo...oooooooooooooo...o

50 tinfoil hatters...

2nd hand smoke is not harmful.

Quite interesting reading through some of these answers, the topic seems to be playing a world stage atm. The Australian of the year award was given to a scientist who 20 years ago, was seen as a dead set whacko. Now he is being hailed a great man with great ideas, and to me it is saying something about what the politicians know, or pressume to know....
I am not worried, just empowered with the knowledge of what presents itself, and these weather patterns are to me a good indication of how the world is out of balance, no matter what the cause....