- Frogs and salamanders that have lived
on the Earth for 350 million years are dying in alarming numbers in many
areas of the world. In many pristine areas of the world frogs are dying
from unknown causes. Half the Nicaragua's frogs have disappeared and large
populations in pristine areas of Minnesota our dying or being born with
alarming birth defects. These are indicator animals that tells us the
worlds environment is in trouble.
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- The Los Angles Times reported steadily
warming ocean is devastating marine life along the coast of California.
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said, "From
microscopic plankton and forests of kelp to the fish, birds and mammals
that depend on them for sustenance, marine life is dying." The researchers,
who studied extensive water temperature records dating to 1916, documented
an overall temperature increase of 2 degrees Fahrenheit in coastal waters
along the length of the West coast in recent decades. The new blanket
of warmer water is slowly smothering ocean life by preventing more fertile
deep Pacific currents from rising to the surface. This blocks the source
of nourishment for the rich menagerie of marine life for which the West
Coast is known. The warmer waters also enable fish and animals to migrate
northward from tropical waters and edge out California's native species.
The decline in plankton which form the basis of the marine food chain
had severe consequences for many larger species. Abalone, Squid, and Chinook
salmon are almost gone.
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- Rueters reports a melting Antarctic glacier
could lead to the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, causing global
sea levels to rise as much as 20 feet, researchers said. Satellite radar
images between 1992 and 1996 of Pine Island glacier in West Antarctica
showed the glacier is shrinking. "It is important because it could
lead to a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet," said study leader
Eric Rignot, a radar scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
"We are seeing a glacier melt in the heart of Antarctica."
Antarctica has about 90% of the world's glacial ice. Scientists say this
data from remote and stormy West Antarctica could be the first real evidence
that some of these massive glaciers might actually be retreating rapidly.
"The continuing retreat of Pine Island glacier could be a symptom
of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disintegration ," said Craig Lingle,
a glaciologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks who is familiar
with the study. "If the sheet did collapse, it would push sea levels
up throughout the world, with regions near sea level experiencing more
flooding and faster erosion," Lingle said. From Reuters 7/23/98
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- The New York Times reported "The
AIDS virus is spreading rapidly in many parts of the world. Africa is
particularly hard hit with as many as 25% of adults aged 15 to 49 years
being infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Around the world the disease
rivals the greatest epidemics of history. The United Nations claims that
more than 30 million people now carry the HIV virus. Over 20 million live
in Africa where the disease is spreading at an ever increasing rate. Botswana
and Zimbabwe a quarter of the adults are infected with 13 countries having
over 10% of the adult population infected.
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- In Europe although AIDS infection is
comparatively low, a population implosion worries a graying Europe. Birth
rates in many countries are in a rapid, sustained decline. Never before
except in times of war and plague have birth rates fallen so low for so
long. No country in Europe is having enough children to even replace its
population. The citizenry is growing old and there are not enough children
to replace them. For example, in Italy is the first nation in history
to have more people over the age 60 then there are people under 20. This
year Germany, Greece, and Spain will also pass the magic divide. There
is also an alarming reduction in the sperm count among young men contributing
to the lower birth rate. Editors Note: Its almost as if an outside force
is working to reduce the population in Europe and Africa. These trends
are alarming and indicate trouble ahead for our civilization. It struck
me that all these environmental problems may not all be man-made.
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