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It starts with dirty energy — the fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere. Dirty energy leads to dirty weather — more frequent and more extreme floods, storms and droughts. As storms become more intense and frequent, sewers overflow — washing sediment, pollutants and nutrients into our rivers and lakes. Rising sea levels can contaminate nearby freshwater with salt.
Now, scientists at Yale have found that hurricanes and other large rainfall events may alter the water quality of rivers and lakes by transporting large amounts of dissolved organic matter (carbon and nitrogen) downstream. In moderate amounts, dissolved organic matter provides important nutrients for the base of the food chain. But in excess, this organic matter can block pathogen-killing UV light, transport metal pollutants, and potentially lead to the formation of carcinogens.
In another recent study, scientists found that warming temperatures, thawing permafrost, and lower water tables are the underlying cause for increased concentrations of heavy metals in the Snake River watershed in Colorado. The metals, which can drain out of abandoned mines or through oxidation of sulfide minerals in rocks, are recognized as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the western United States. If the levels reach toxicity thresholds, the waters may become uninhabitable to fish and toxic to humans.
Toxic metals are bad news for our water. So that’s why we need to move away from dirty energy and stop the dirty weather in the first place. Be sure to tune in on November 14 for 24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report and join with millions of others across the world to learn more about how climate change is connected to extreme weather and what we can do about it.
Phaerisee
November 30th
Keep up the great work, guys! I try to spread your links as often as I can! Right now we have less than 24 hours to raise 250,000 bucks so David Axelrod will shave his mustache! I just wanted to let me fellow compatriots know this. I am not affiliated with him, but I really admire what he is doing. His daughter has Epilepsy and he is offering to shave it if he can raise 1 million bucks for the Epilepsy Foundation. We have about 24 hours left!
Doris A. Freed
December 20th
Thanks for being kind, thoughtful, Intelligent beings!
Grace Adams
January 17th
The price of reverse osmosis has come down enough to make it economically feasible to use reverse osmosis to clean dirty water enough to make it safe to drink, cook with, bathe in, wash both clothes and dishes with, etc. That doesn’t help fish, but at least it is feasible to clean the water enough to make it fit to drink. We should tax greenhouse gas emissions as CO2 eq. Roughly 85% of our emissions are from burning fossil fuel, and roughly 15% from other aspects of agriculture. The 15% of tax revenue from agriculture can be split between buying out farmers and keepers of livestock wanting to retire and helping those who remain to clean up their act.