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October 10, 2011 |
All living things, including humans, of course, depend on water. If something were to happen to the planet's supply of water, life would cease to exist. When NASA scientists sent a probe to Mars to look for signs of life, they looked for evidence of water. Water means life. No water, no chance of life. It's that simple.
Ocean Dead Zones So it became a subject of extreme concern when the United Nations Environment Program issued a report on March 29, 2004, announcing that there exist "dead zones" on the world's oceans. These zones are complete devoid of any living thing. There are no fish, no plankton, and the most important - very little oxygen. Even more disturbing, according to the report, is the fact that these areas are growing. There are now more than 150 dead zones around the world. In 1990, there were half that many. Some are measured in thousands of square miles.
Scientists believe they are caused by runoff from farm fertilizers, sewage, and industrial pollutants. In other words, dead zones are caused in part by human negligence. It's not just the zones already in existence that frighten the scientific world. It's the fact that they are growing so rapidly.
And not only the oceans are affected. Many species of amphibians around the world, spending so much of their life cycle in the water, are becoming extinct. Frogs and newts, especially, are disappearing in frightening numbers. Many that survive are grotesquely deformed. Some are missing legs. Some have two heads. There are currently 425 species undergoing rapid decline. Some of these species have been so depleted that it may already be too late for them.
Simon N. Stuart of the World Conservation Union describes the decline as "outside our normal experience." He wonders if it is an early signal that animals farther up the food chain, such as human beings, will soon follow.
Amphibians have porous skins. They are subject to whatever contaminant enters their watery world. In the words of Trevor BeeBee, a professor in biochemistry at the University of Sussex in England, "in my view, this assessment of amphibian declines is very important, because it quantifies an extremely worrying set of observations. Amphibians are are declining in many places all over the world, often in areas where we might expect human effects to be minimal." He goes on to explain that just because humans don't live near some of these areas doesn't mean they are not at fault.
In fact, he believes the opposite to be true. Human pollution has invaded far-flung places of the globe where no humans live. Even well protected havens such as state preserves, national parks, and remote, hard to reach areas are not safe, so pervasive is the heavy hand of human harm.
Global water shortages are expected to increase. Dust storms and sandstorms will become more frequent and occur in places they have never before been seen. United Nations environmental studies indicate that chronic water shortages will affect more than one third of the earth's population within the next few decades.
The prognosis is bleak. Even conservative studies predict that by the year 2015 the problem will be critical. And many are voicing the quiet concerns of many scientists.
Is it already too late? |
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