These days so many bad news reports about the state of our oceans, ecosystems and atmosphere are flooding over the web that one can’t keep track of all the data, it gets confusing and overwhelming, especially since we are sitting on a small blue planet, on the edge of one of many galaxies, and we can’t book a flight to some other location! At least not right now.
This recent toxic algae report is just one more example of declining health of our eco systems.
SEATTLE (AP) — A vast bloom of toxic algae off the West Coast is denser, more widespread and deeper than scientists feared ….This coastal ribbon of microscopic algae, up to 40 miles wide and 650 feet deep in places, is flourishing… It now stretches from at least California to Alaska and has shut down lucrative fisheries.
So-called “red tides” are cyclical and have happened many times before, but ocean researchers say this one is much larger and persisting much longer, with higher levels of neurotoxins bringing severe consequences for the Pacific seafood industry, coastal tourism and marine ecosystems. …
The brownish bloom was particularly thick off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, and Odell said it was unusually dominated by one type of algae called Pseudo-nitzschia, which can produce the neurotoxin domoic acid….“It’s an indication of an imbalance,” said Vera Trainer, a research oceanographer with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.
While scientists debate the causes, one fact is for certain, there is most definitely a downward trend in the health of the planet, its atmosphere, waters and ecosystems, its animal and plant kingdoms and even the people inhabiting it. How to reverse that trend requires correct evaluation of the information in such a way that realistic solutions can be implemented.
One common denominator to dying oceans that The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization USA has identified and is addressing is the presence and cumulative effects of chemical pollutants released in our waters and atmosphere.
