Michael Snyder / ActivistPost & Erin Blakemore / The Smithsonian Magazine & Catherine J. Frompovich / ActivistPost – 2016-05-15 13:18:34
http://www.activistpost.com/2016/05/all-of-a-sudden-fish-are-dying-by-the-millions-all-over-the-planet.html
All Of A Sudden, Fish Are Dying By The Millions All Over The Planet
Michael Snyder / ActivistPost
(May 9, 2016) — Why are millions upon millions of dead sea-creatures suddenly washing up on beaches all over the world? It is certainly not unusual for fish and other inhabitants of our oceans to die. This happens all the time. But over the past month we have seen a series of extremely alarming mass death incidents all over the planet. As you will see below, many of these mass death incidents have involved more than 30 tons of fish.
In places such as Chile and Vietnam, it has already gotten to the level where it has started to become a major national crisis. People see their coastlines absolutely buried in dead sea creatures, and they are starting to freak out.
For example, just check out what is going on in Chile right now. The following comes from a Smithsonian Magazine article entitled “Why Are Chilean Beaches Covered With Dead Animals?” [See story below.]
Compared to other countries, Chile is almost all coast, and that geographical fluke means that the country is known for its beautiful beaches. But that reputation may be on the wane thanks to a new sight on Chilean shores: dead animals. Lots of them. Heaps of them, in fact. As Giovanna Fleitas reports for the Agence France-Presse, the South American country’s beaches are covered with piles of dead sea creatures — and scientists are trying to figure out why.
Tales of dead animals washing up on shore are relatively common; after all, the ocean has a weird way of depositing its dead on shore. But Chile’s problem is getting slightly out of hand. As Fleitas writes, recent months have not been kind to the Chilean coast, which has played host to washed-up carcasses of over 300 whales, 8,000 tons of sardines, and nearly 12 percent of the country’s annual salmon catch, to name a few.
Authorities in Chile are scrambling to come up with a reason for why this is happening, but nobody appears to be quite sure what is causing this tsunami of death.
In Vietnam, things are even worse. At this point, so many dead fish and clams have been washing up along the coast that soldiers have been deployed to bury them . . .
Millions of fish have washed up dead along a 125-kilometre stretch of the Vietnamese coast in one of the communist country’s worst environmental disasters .
Soldiers have been deployed to bury tonnes of fish, clams and the occasional whale that began dying in early April along the north-central coast, including some popular tourist beaches.
Vietnamese officials facing growing anger over the disaster have not announced the official cause of the deaths, which have affected the livelihoods of tens of thousands of families.
Elsewhere in Asia, there have been similar incidents. For example, CNN is reporting that one lake in southern China is currently dealing with 35 tons of dead fish . . .
At least 35 tons of dead fish appeared in a lake in southern China, leaving residents stunned. The piles of fish washed up in a lake in Hainan province on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported. Residents expressed concerns on pollution, but local authorities said the fish died as a result of salinity change.
On the other side of the world, similar incidents have also happened in major lakes. Here is one example from Bolivia:
Thousands of dead fish have washed up onto the shores of a lake in Bolivia. Just before they died, some of the fish had just hatched from their eggs in lake Alalay, in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba.
No one yet knows the number of dead fish, but they have stockpiled five cubic metres (177 cubic feet) so far, so it’s possible there is over a tonne of dead fish in the lake.
And here is an example from Brazil:
More than 200 tons of dead fish were removed from the Furnas Lake on Sunday (1st) in Alfenas (MG).According to the Military Police of the Environment, both fish raised in ponds, networks and those who are released, all of the tilapia species in the lake were affected. The damage to the psicultores is estimated at around R $ 900 thousand.
I could go on and on all day with examples such as these.
Just within the last month, 40 tons of fish died in India, 65 tons of fish died in Cambodia, 70 tons of fish died in Colombia, and millions of fish “suddenly died” in Indonesia.
So why is this happening?
I don’t know.
Could it be possible that these mass deaths are somehow related to the alarming earth changes that we see happening all around us?
Without a doubt, we have seen a dramatic rise in seismic activity during the early portions of 2016. There has been a series of very destructive earthquakes around the world in recent months, and once dormant volcanoes are coming to life all over the globe with distressing regularity.
Of course humanity has done much to destroy the planet as well, and we continue to deal with the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I do think that it is very interesting to note that most of these mass fish deaths have happened in nations that border the Pacific Ocean.
I am certainly not claiming to have an answer for why so many fish are dying. All I know is that millions upon millions of dead fish are washing up on shores all over the globe, and people are really starting to freak out about this.
We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and major disasters seem to be getting more frequent and more intense. Just look at what is happening up in Alberta right now.
I believe that we are entering the “perfect storm” that myself and so many others have been warning about for so long.
Or could it be possible that I am just being overly dramatic?
Also Read: What’s Causing All the Wildlife Die-offs Around the World? [See story below.]
Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
Why Are Chilean Beaches Covered With Dead Animals?
Erin Blakemore / The Smithsonian Magazine
(May 4, 2016) — Compared to other countries, Chile is almost all coast, and that geographical fluke means that the country is known for its beautiful beaches. But that reputation may be on the wane thanks to a new sight on Chilean shores: dead animals. Lots of them. Heaps of them, in fact. As Giovanna Fleitas reports for the Agence France-Presse, the South American country’s beaches are covered with piles of dead sea creatures — and scientists are trying to figure out why.
Tales of dead animals washing up on shore are relatively common; after all, the ocean has a weird way of depositing its dead on shore. But Chile’s problem is getting slightly out of hand. As Fleitas writes, recent months have not been kind to the Chilean coast, which has played host to washed-up carcasses of over 300 whales, 8,000 tons of sardines, and nearly 12 percent of the country’s annual salmon catch, to name a few.
At least some of the damage to fish appears to be due to fish farming, which encourages toxic algal blooms. But as with so many strange sea phenomena in the last year, El Nino, which warms the equatorial Pacific, appears to be at least partly to blame. The warm water brought on by the phenomenon put stress on coral reefs near Hawaii and appears to have delayed the arrival of whales to the islands.
Meanwhile, off the shores of Chile, the warm water appears to have provided great conditions for toxic algae. The blooming creatures poison fish and other marine life that eat them, and this year the bloom is blamed for losses of nearly a billion dollars among Chilean fishers.
Algae also suck oxygen from the water itself — a change to which Pacific Ocean creatures appear to be particularly vulnerable. In a newly published paper in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers warn that declining oxygen levels worldwide kill animals, but that the diversity of life in the Pacific Ocean is at particular risk. That long-term danger isn’t helped by algae that blooms in response to short-term phenomena like El Nino.
The rising tide of dead animals is raising health concerns, as when thousands of squid washed up on shore earlier this year. At the time, reports Latin Correspondent’s Steven James Grattan, health officials were criticized for not clearing coasts of about 10,000 rotting, dead squid sooner. (They eventually did so with the help of heavy equipment.)
So how should Chile get rid of the rest of the festering fish and withering whales on its once-pristine shores? WIRED‘s Sarah Zhang has some advice for those faced with a dead whale: “Don’t blow it up.” Instead, she recommends that scientists study the carcasses and take chunks back to their labs . . . or bury the whales on the beach
What’s Causing All the Wildlife Die-offs Around the World?
Catherine J. Frompovich / ActivistPost
(May 12, 2016) — Has anyone taken note of the numerous wildlife die-offs that have been reported over the past few years? If you think that may be an “off-the-wall” exaggeration question or statement, well, there’s an online website that painstakingly chronicles what’s been going on, which I’d like to introduce to you.
It’s the End Times Prophecy – Earth’s Final Warning, which very concernedly has prepared lists chronicling the following:
* Mass Bee Die-offs 2013 – 20016
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2016 217 Known MASS Death Events in 59 Countries (or Territory) January 2 to May 11, 2016
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2015 828 Known MASS Death Events in 96 Countries
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2014 651 Known MASS Death Events in 76 Countries
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2013 798 Known Mass Death Events in 93 Countries
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2012 465 Known Mass Death Events in 67 Countries
* Mass Animal Deaths for 2011
Additionally, there have been 970 million butterflies – the exquisite Monarchs, in particular – that have been killed since 1990, apparently from pesticides and herbicides. Are GMO farming practices to blame?
What’s causing this: “The Ocean is Dying”?
We need to become better stewards of flora, fauna, and soil, I truly believe, and not poison everything with chemicals.
What will Planet Earth be like when it becomes devoid of marine, land, and avian wildlife? Think about that, especially as you begin the new gardening season for 2016 and any temptations to use toxic chemicals for gardening, pest control, or whatever.
If you want a nutrient-rich vegetable garden, you need healthy soil to grow nutritious crops. The more worms in your garden, the healthier the soil is [1], I feel. For many years, I used to purchase Lady Bugs and Praying Mantises at garden centers, and then let them loose in a few areas of my garden.
I always included plants that would attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Here’s a resource of plants to grow that invite those lovely visitors to your garden. These plants attract beautiful song birds, especially Gold Finches! They love to feast on Echinacea flower heads.
Do we really need all those lawn chemicals, chemical fertilizers and plant enhancements?
How about pest control chemicals? What about buzzing, stinging insects and the numerous pesticides to deal with them?
To help readers get out from under toxic garden chemicals, I’ve prepared a beginner’s list to point you in a more Earth-friendly direction, which I hope can start you on the path to chemical-free gardening. Mother Earth will appreciate that, and so will your pets and kiddies, too.
Here’s a resource for dealing with ant infestations. “13 natural remedies for ant invasion”
Got termites? No problem! See “How to Kill Termites Naturally: 7 Effective Methods”
To deal with buzzing, stinging insects like mosquitoes, here are several resources:
http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/natural-mosquito-control-methods-zmez12jazmel.aspx
Personally, I’m exasperated with all of the above, who play havoc with my front and back patio gardens. What really works at keeping them out of the garden are two things: Dried Blood Meal and Dried Bone Meal. I sprinkle both around the perimeter of the flower beds and then sprinkle a little in the center.
However, after a few days of rain, I need to reapply the blood meal, which keeps the deer off my hostas. I even sprinkle a little blood meal into the large patio planters and pots filled with plants. That keeps the squirrels from tearing plants out of their pots. Plus, both act as organic plant supplements too.
Want to become a beekeeper, even in the city? Here’s how to go about it. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a hotel restaurant has rooftop gardens, which include beehives [2] too!
We and the planet can’t afford to lose our food crop pollinators: the bees, butterflies, and bird populations, or other wildlife. Nothing pleases me more than to sit on my back patio and see the deer on the back common or either the red or gray fox saunter by. Wildlife is a gift from above, so is the Earth below our feet.
One of the great saints of Christianity, St. Francis of Assisi, composed an exquisite canticle to Nature — The Canticle of the Sun, [3] in which he refers to the varied features of Nature, e.g., sun, moon, stars, wind, air, etc., as his sisters and brothers. What a lovely way of thinking about Nature, especially when Nature is being assaulted on all sides by technology and chemicals.
Oh! to see a crystal clear blue sky again!
References:
[1] http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/agriculture/resources/soils/biology/earthworms
[2] http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/04/22/center-city-hotel-adds-honeybees-to-its-rooftop-gardens/
[3] http://www2.webster.edu/~barrettb/canticle.htm
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