Poison ice As the sea ice melts, a toxic stew of mercury and synthetic chemicals is seeping into the

[EV_Ares]

Arctic food web, harming the area's people. We may be next.

April 30, 2008 | ARCTIC OCEAN -- Over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in the polar dark of a December morning, University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Jesse Carrie is out on the frozen Beaufort Sea, collecting ice samples to measure for mercury and pesticides. Lowered by crane from the deck of the icebreaking research vessel the CCGS Amundsen, and accompanied by a rifle bearer who keeps watch for polar bears, Carrie extracts ice cores and vials of frigid water. Carrie is part of a $40 million International Polar Year scientific expedition, the first ever to spend the winter moving through sea ice north of the Arctic Circle. The expedition's labor-intensive work is essential to understanding the impacts of global warming.

As the Amundsen cuts through ice across the top of the globe, Carrie and his fellow researchers are uncovering evidence of a disturbing fallout of climate change. They are finding toxic contaminants, some at remarkably high levels, accumulating in this remote and visually pristine environment. Although there are no industrial sources in the Arctic, residents of the Far North have some of the world's highest levels of mercury exposure, some well above what the World Health Organization considers safe. High levels of mercury -- a powerful neurotoxin -- are being found in Arctic marine wildlife, including ringed seals and beluga whales, both staples of the traditional Northern diet. Levels in Arctic beluga have increased markedly in recent years.

When coal is burned in power plants in the U.S., China and elsewhere, mercury is released into the atmosphere. Airborne, mercury can travel great distances before settling to the ground, or into lakes, rivers and oceans. Air and ocean currents, propelled by weather patterns and storm systems, sweep the mercury north. But the recent increases in Arctic mercury outpace and cannot be explained by smokestack emissions alone, says Gary A. Stern, a senior scientist with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, professor at the University of Manitoba and co-leader of the Amundsen expedition. Rather, signs point to global warming and other disruptive impacts of climate change.

As temperatures rise, causing sea ice, permafrost and snow to melt, the mercury that had been frozen in place is now being released, causing exposure up and down the food web. "Climate change alters exposure in the north and increases the system's vulnerability," says Robie Macdonald, a research scientist with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

* » Full Story on Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/30/arctic_pollutants/

[I Have A Dream]

1. The bad news in reference to climate change never stops, does it?

:(

[aquart]

2. No. And it won't.

And we still haven't faced it.

[Mabus]

4. The effects of what we've been doing to the environment aren't talked about

as a result what the backlash is, and it will be in the future, still isn't on the radar of most people. That song by The Carpenter's "We've only just begun..." sums it up nicely. Although Gore's reference to it being like a nature hike through the Book of Revelations may end up being more accurate.

[Perry Logan]

3. It's just a question of HOW MAD Mother Nature is.

[1776Forever]

5. And we wonder why so many children are becoming toxic & autistic?

I saw a family on CNN the other day that had themselves and their children checked out for toxin and the youngest who was around 2 years-old, had a very high count from his test. I have thyroid problems and cannot stand any mercury in my body. I had a terrible reaction to eating grouper which is an ocean fish a few years ago. Now I just eat fresh water fish.

Even though this article discusses mercury in vaccines I think it would be prudent to believe that mercury in our sea food is just as toxic or will be in the future.

Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning
S. Bernard, A. Enayati, L. Redwood, H. Roger, T. Binstock
ARC Research, Cranford, New Jersey, USA

http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/bernard.pdf

Summary:

Autism is a syndrome characterized by impairments in social relatedness and communication, repetitive
behaviors, abnormal movements, and sensory dysfunction. Recent epidemiological studies suggest that autism may
affect 1 in 150 US children. Exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral
dysfunctions similar to traits defining or associated with autism, and the similarities extend to neuroanatomy,
neurotransmitters, and biochemistry.

[bluesmail]

6. 'Love Your Mother'

older DUers remember.