Quick - Fish the Pacific before it is too contaminated

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by rwatson, Feb 2, 2014.

  1. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    I empathise with the latest comments, I also am keen to limit the panic effect.

    I also agree, there is a lot of sheer rubbish being propagated on this topic.

    However, from what I can judge from some of the more serious reporting, we may be getting the 'mushroom' treatment in an effort to quell public panic about having 3 or 4 potential atomic bombs sitting on the edge of half the worlds ocean.

    The sad news is that radioactivity causes severe health effects a long time after the ingestion, and its easy to downplay the health effects, like the cigarette industry did.

    It wont be a problem for an old man like me, but I still worry about the future of the younger generation.
     
  2. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Its not the Radiation - its the Acid

    "
    Without diminishing the significance of several hundred tonnes of radioactive water released from Fukushima into the ocean, its effect on sea life is dwarfed by the billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide being absorbed by sea water every day.

    But while testing the ocean for radiation levels is important, there is another invisible contaminant in the water that is being overlooked and which is already doing much more harm to the fisheries: ocean acidification."

    "When carbon dioxide is absorbed, it reacts with sea water to produce carbonic acid. If you remember back to high school chemistry class, acids and bases are opposites and will react with each other. Sea shells and corals are made of calcium carbonate, which is basic. As the oceans become more acidic, coral reefs, oysters, clams, scallops, sea urchins, and even some plankton suffer.

    This was reported this week by fishers in B.C. who are seeing yet another season of dramatic declines in the number of scallops, as well as a lower quality to their shells. In acidic waters, shells grow thinner, providing less protection for the animals against predators. It also lowers the immune systems, so more are killed off by disease."


    http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/technol...-pacific-pales-compared-to-acidification.html
     
  3. Nate57
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    Nate57 Junior Member

    When it comes to ocean acidification it seems the sky truly is falling. Extremely under reported too.
     
  4. SamSam
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    SamSam Senior Member

    The Caribbean gets a huge dose of Saharan Desert dust, it's content affected by drought and weather patterns. It's been blamed for killing coral and other aquatic life, respiratory problems in people and upsetting the waters ph balance and introducing harmful fungases. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_dust

    I believe the Pacific has the same problems with dust from Asia, mainly China. If China can manage to make sheetrock toxic, there's no telling what's in the dust from there.
     
  5. WestVanHan
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    WestVanHan Not a Senior Member

    It's the pollution that generally blows towards us,hence another reason the Chinese don't really care too much about it.

    "from the University of California, Irvine...Los Angeles sees at least one extra day a year of smog that exceeds federal limits because of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide emitted by Chinese factories.... the World Bank estimates that the Asian nation has 16 of the 20 most-polluted cities globally."

    "Danny Kingsberry, spokesman for Environment Canada, said it is estimated more than 95 per cent of the anthropogenic deposition of mercury in Canada is from foreign sources, with the East Asian contribution estimated at 40 per cent."

    "Brauer said less than five per cent of Metro Vancouver’s air pollutants on average coming from offshore, although that can increase to 25 per cent on certain days."
     
  6. Harley1
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    Harley1 New Member

    After that whole Mayan 2012 thing sputtered out, the loons had to find something else to grab onto. Now I'm not saying that pollution and radiation in the oceans is a good thing, not at all - but the Earth is very resilient, probably much more resilient than we think. We came from it, and it'll outlast us when we've turned the cities of humanity into nuclear slag. Life will always find a way. But if you appreciate life as it is now, it might be good to give your representatives a call, let 'em know your worries. And waste and pollute less in your everyday life.
     
  7. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    I think Harley has some good points there - but I would tend to not emphasize the survival of the earth itself, as it has been a nuclear ball, a frozen sphere and a sulphurous hell hole in the past.

    Its more a case of human survival , and survival in relative comfort - and it will boil down to a lot of people caring enough.

    With the pressures of keeping so many people alive, so cheaply - I am inclined to be pessimistic.
     
  8. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    Nothing personal, but I would not believe a word I heard on Russia Today. Nor on Fox News or North Korean TV....... Have any of these claims been backed up by independent research? Or published in a peer reviewed journal? if not then it is just a lot of bilge water......
     
  9. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    Which words ?????


    There has a lot been said.
     
  10. Mr Efficiency
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    Mr Efficiency Senior Member

    I was surprised to read that in the Chernobyl nuclear plant is thriving some kind of lichen that can extract energy needs from radiation, who'd have thought it.
     
  11. Westfield 11
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    Westfield 11 Senior Member

    Your first video link was from RT as was another later. IMHO all bilge water. I try to avoid any obvious propaganda. Like any American TV or radio. Ditto Russian TV and radio, Chinese, etc. Information is power, chose yours carefully. Al Jazeera is not bad for non-middle east topics.
     
  12. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    I think you are being a bit paranoid. The fact that Fukishima is still in trouble is well documented. Which bits sounded wrong to you ?
     

  13. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    They have been known about for a long time

    "Princeton researchers have discovered a colony of bacteria that lives more than 3 km (2 miles) underground. This bacteria lives completely cut off from the biosphere on the surface of the Earth, and derives its energy from the radioactive decay of rocks underground.

    Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/851/bacteria-found-deep-underground/#ixzz2wfkdPCtP
    "

    http://www.universetoday.com/851/bacteria-found-deep-underground/

    and


    http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S16/13/72E53/index.xml?section=newsreleases

    I first read about them in Bill Brysons book
    "A Short History of Nearly Everything - by Bill Bryson"

    one of the must read books of the century.
     
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