Friday, October 15, 2004
It IS Something in the Water
I bet you thought I was joking when I said the whole asexuality/penile erectile dysfunction thing was in the water. And, gentle readers, when I promised to get to the bottom of it all you probably thought, "Just more empty promises from that scoundrel Anokoblogger." Oh ye of little faith! Sure, I never return your phone calls, but check out what I have uncovered in a matter of mere hours. This morning's Washington Post, in a story by David A. Fahrentold, reports that male bass in the Potomac river are producing eggs!
"Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river with processed sewage."
And these bass are not swimming in that open sewer where the Potomac meets the Anacostia and most citizens fear to tread, lest they come across a politician or a National League baseball stadium built on the backs of the Nation's Capital's poor. No, these bass are swimming far upstream, in the relatively pure waters of West Virginia. OK, maybe not that pure. Don't care about bass? Consider this:
" 'Whatever's doing this to the fish may be the canary in the mineshaft,' said Margaret Janes, a West Virginia activist with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment."
I know, those West Virginians think everything is in a mineshaft somewhere, but they're not as ignorant as is widely believed. This is not just some isolated thing. A stunning 79 percent of male bass surveyed had developed eggs inside their sex organs!
One of the contaminants that scientists are searching for is caffeine! Don't anyone dare tell me that coffee is bad for me. I'll have to go back to smoking crack on my morning commute. Other possible culprits include chemicals produced when a body breaks down nicotine, which pretty much kills two of the four basic food groups.
I can hear your wailing and gnashing of teeth, gentle readers, but there is more bad news from the wet set. In the same Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin reports that amphibians worldwide are experiencing a precipitous decline. As many as 122 species have disappeared since 1980, and 1900 others are in danger of becoming extinct. I don't know what mineshaft they're in, but I want out! Scientists say this is the equivalent of tens of thousands of years' worth of extinctions in less than a century. And it's not just frogs and their slimy friends. 32 percent of all amphibian species face extinction, but also 12 percent of bird and 23 percent of mammal species. Mammals! That's getting a little close to home.
"Surveys showed the amphibian population of Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloud Forest, for example, was stable until 1987. The next year it began to crash, and by 1989, 40 percent of its amphibian species had gone extinct, including the striking golden toad."
Not the golden toad! That's one of the noblest of all toads - except for that one that's really a prince - but I digress.
"Humans are responsible for amphibians' decline in other regions of the world, including China, where many are sought as a delicacy. The Chinese giant salamander -- at six feet the largest amphibian in the world -- sells for at least $300 on the street and makes for several meals, and it has now disappeared from nearly all its range"
Mmmmm.......salamander.....
All kidding aside, this is not good news. There is definately something in the water, and it's not frogs anymore. I'll leave the last word today to somone a bit wiser than I:
"Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford University ecologist, said the amphibian study is worrisome and shows that administration officials are 'destroying the working supports of our life system' by exploiting rather than conserving habitat. 'They're sawing off the limb that humanity is sitting on' Ehrlich said. 'Without biodiversity, we'd be dead.' "
"Scientists believe this inversion of nature is being caused by pollution in the water. But they say the exact culprit is still unknown: It might be chicken estrogen left over in poultry manure, or perhaps human hormones dumped in the river with processed sewage."
And these bass are not swimming in that open sewer where the Potomac meets the Anacostia and most citizens fear to tread, lest they come across a politician or a National League baseball stadium built on the backs of the Nation's Capital's poor. No, these bass are swimming far upstream, in the relatively pure waters of West Virginia. OK, maybe not that pure. Don't care about bass? Consider this:
" 'Whatever's doing this to the fish may be the canary in the mineshaft,' said Margaret Janes, a West Virginia activist with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment."
I know, those West Virginians think everything is in a mineshaft somewhere, but they're not as ignorant as is widely believed. This is not just some isolated thing. A stunning 79 percent of male bass surveyed had developed eggs inside their sex organs!
One of the contaminants that scientists are searching for is caffeine! Don't anyone dare tell me that coffee is bad for me. I'll have to go back to smoking crack on my morning commute. Other possible culprits include chemicals produced when a body breaks down nicotine, which pretty much kills two of the four basic food groups.
I can hear your wailing and gnashing of teeth, gentle readers, but there is more bad news from the wet set. In the same Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin reports that amphibians worldwide are experiencing a precipitous decline. As many as 122 species have disappeared since 1980, and 1900 others are in danger of becoming extinct. I don't know what mineshaft they're in, but I want out! Scientists say this is the equivalent of tens of thousands of years' worth of extinctions in less than a century. And it's not just frogs and their slimy friends. 32 percent of all amphibian species face extinction, but also 12 percent of bird and 23 percent of mammal species. Mammals! That's getting a little close to home.
"Surveys showed the amphibian population of Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloud Forest, for example, was stable until 1987. The next year it began to crash, and by 1989, 40 percent of its amphibian species had gone extinct, including the striking golden toad."
Not the golden toad! That's one of the noblest of all toads - except for that one that's really a prince - but I digress.
"Humans are responsible for amphibians' decline in other regions of the world, including China, where many are sought as a delicacy. The Chinese giant salamander -- at six feet the largest amphibian in the world -- sells for at least $300 on the street and makes for several meals, and it has now disappeared from nearly all its range"
Mmmmm.......salamander.....
All kidding aside, this is not good news. There is definately something in the water, and it's not frogs anymore. I'll leave the last word today to somone a bit wiser than I:
"Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford University ecologist, said the amphibian study is worrisome and shows that administration officials are 'destroying the working supports of our life system' by exploiting rather than conserving habitat. 'They're sawing off the limb that humanity is sitting on' Ehrlich said. 'Without biodiversity, we'd be dead.' "
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