Mainstream media would have most of us believe that the current struggle at Standing Rock, North Dakota is all about clean water – that its only focus is stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) from running through Indigenous reservation land. And, yes, it is about these things. But while such a narrative may create “hot headlines,” it fails to capture the full truth and essence of what‘s really going on there.
According to recent reports, more people die from air pollution than malaria and HIV/AIDS. The statistics show that 3 million people die prematurely each year from the toxic air, and the number could double by 2050 if no efforts are made to stabilize it. In the realm of good news on this issue, scientists have now created an inhaler that could help protect your lungs from the deadliest effects of air pollution. [1]
Many cities around the world are afflicted with air pollution, leading to an early death for as many as 200,000 people each yeah in the U.S. alone. Now, there’s even more of a reason to be concerned. According to a recent study, toxic nanoparticles have been found in “abundance” in human brain tissue.
The U.K. government pledged on September 3 to phase out plastic microbeads in cosmetics by the end of 2017. We’re expected to know which products will be covered by the ban in the coming days. [1]
We’ve got the best,
Glass bottles. Goats and girls,
In the town we call the World.
— Ditty on Charters Towers, circa late 19th Century
The practices we now call conservation are, to a large extent, local alleviations of biotic pain. They are necessary, but they must not be confused with cures. The art of land doctoring is being practiced with vigor, but the science of land health is yet to be born.
— Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
The malls are the soon-to-be ghost towns
So long, farewell, goodbye
— Modest Mouse, “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine”
Both legal and illegal drugs are polluting streams in and around at least 1 major U.S. city, a new study reveals. This includes amphetamines, which are biologically active and highly addictive. [1]
The pollution comes at a high cost, ecologically. Areas in some streams have high enough concentrations of amphetamines to alter the bottom of the aquatic food chain.
Study author Sylvia Lee said:
The City of Miami Beach just asked the Miami Herald for almost $73,000 to hire one of their employees for a year, just to deliver public records documents related to “human-source fecal marker” and water quality.
Our seas are littered with plastic, and tiny bits of it are seriously threatening the environment, according to a study published in the journal Science. Researchers say microplastics – small plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter – could be hurting the survival of European perch, as well as other creatures.
Source: EcoWatch
As suggested by Jane Mayer in Dark Money, never have two members of one American family spent so much time and money to control our democracy, and in their effort, foster economic damage for most Americans. The guilty parties: Charles and David Koch. It is also likely that self-delusion and insularity from the less-fortunate have rendered both impervious to any recognition that their course is detrimental to the well-being of a great majority of Americans.
