I wonder how much the Grey Lady is paying in alimony after the divorce from reality? DDT On Ice
It has been getting ever harder to pretend that Antarctica is a pristine place. We like to think of it as being scoured clean by hostile winds and extreme cold. But more and more, Antarctica, like the Arctic, shows the lasting scars of human negligence.
The effects of climate change are being felt far more strongly at the poles than elsewhere on the planet. Some of the most persistent and dangerous chemicals ever created have accumulated there and remain there.
Take DDT, the long-banned pesticide. When it was still sprayed on crops and gardens across the globe, it moved through the atmosphere to the polar regions, where it was deposited in water, snow and ice, ultimately making its way into the food chain.
The residue of DDT found in many Arctic species has declined in the past 30 years. But recently, scientists in Antarctica reported that Adélie penguins have a constant and, in some cases, increasing level of DDT in their body fat. It appears that the birds are being newly exposed to remnants of DDT that was deposited long ago.
Scientists estimate that so much DDT is in the penguines blah blah blah…. The Grey Lady never really gets around to the point of why DDT in penguins and theAntarctic is a bad thing. Of course, to so many who read the paper of record, they hear the word “DDT” and immediately have meltdowns over the poor birds which DDT kills. Sniff, sob, weep. When, of course, in Reality Land®, DDT is pretty darned safe.Â
During the hearings caused by Rachael Carson’s book “Silent Spring” – which would have had AGW as the villian if she wrote it today – J. Gordon Edwards, a professor of biology at San Diego State, ate spoonfuls of the stuff with no ill effects. Small amounts of DDT kill disease carrying insects. Millions die every year from malaria, which could be stopped with little effect on birds and other wildlife.
So what the hell is the NY Times bitching about? Or, are they just sad because some penguins won’t get malaria?
DDT almost wiped out the Bald Eagle our national symbol
DDT almost wiped out the Bald Eagle our national symbol
link?
I’m amazed to, MBP. First I’ve ever heard. My recollection, and facts, tell john that it was hunting and clear cutting that almost wiped the Bald Eagles out. We never really used DDT in America.