People don't seem to understand that destruction of "the" environment is destruction of "Our" Environment.. and that means Our destruction, too. Those of Us, homo sapiens sapiens, who are privileged enough (by wealth, education, personal power, etc.) to make a difference in Our World, the one We all live in, the only one We've got... have largely become so removed from the realities of Nature around Us that it's easy to forget Our very lives depend upon it. Our air, water, food do not come from big man-made factories and stores. They come from Nature. And when We poison Nature to death (in the form of phytoplankton, honey bees, and the very land-air-water required for all life here and all that We depend upon to stay alive), then We will die, too. Our own reckless ruthless actions have compromised Our planet and Our health to disastrous levels already. But without Oxygen, all life forms We know are in dire peril. And that include all of Us. Whatever else we might think we can "live without" in this world, Oxygen is not one of them. So Our Earth, and all of Us with it, may not perish with a bang or a boom but with a choking gasp for oxygen. How ironic that the death of one of the smallest most primal life forms may be the one that brings down the whole mighty edifice of life here....
"Phytoplankton are the basis of the entire marine food chain, and have an important role in the global carbon cycle. Through photosynthesis, they produce around half of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere and drive the 'biological pump' that fixes 100 million tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide a day into organic material, which then sinks to the ocean floor when the phytoplankton die, or are grazed and digested." (the journal Nature; see link)
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Even as I publish this, men are working to prevent any restrictions on oceanic oil drilling like that responsible for the most massive crude oil 'spill' in history in the Gulf of Mexico, although there are other 'leaks' and 'spills' going on in several other places a well. And as if the oil itself is not destructive enough to ocean life forms and those that live on them (including humans), the high toxicity of the powerful solvents ("dispersants") used to "magically" make the oil disappear from view is many times worse. The Gulf of Mexico is a primary incubator of oceanic life and its compromise will have devastating results that are largely being denied by main stream news sources. This is an area where science, health, commerce, finances, energy, and politics all come crashing together and politics reins in all of them, for better or worse. Those who sit at the head of governments in positions to effect changes that could protect our oceans and the life in them, including the little phytoplankton, need to act now to protect us all. But too many people feel too removed from the political processes and the need to influence the men who form them, thus allowing them to bow to the more immediate pressure of the heavily invested interests who want no interference with their reaping of resources, no matter what the ultimate cost.
- 1 vote
An important seed claudi, it should have gotten more attention. It's yet another line of evidence that major environmental changes are underway.
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