Toxic Rain Pelting National Parks

(AP)  Pesticides, heavy metals and other airborne contaminants are raining down on national parks across the West and Alaska, turning up at sometimes dangerously high levels in lakes, plants and fish.

A sweeping, six-year federal study released Tuesday found evidence of 70 contaminants in 20 national parks and monuments - from Denali in Alaska and Glacier in Montana, to Big Bend in Texas and Yosemite in California.

The findings revealed that some of the Earth's most pristine wilderness is still within reach of the toxic byproducts of the industrial age.

"Contaminants are everywhere. You can't get more remote than these northern parts of Alaska and the high Rockies," said Michael Kent, a fish researcher with Oregon State University who co-authored the study.

The substances detected ranged from mercury produced by power plants and industrial chemicals such as PCBs to the banned insecticides dieldrin and DDT. Those can cause health problems in humans including nervous system damage, dampened immune system responses and lowered reproductive success.

Contaminants that accumulated in fish exceeded human consumption thresholds at the eight parks that researchers focussed on most: Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Gates of the Arctic and Denali national parks and Alaska's Noatak National Preserve.

Also, mercury levels at the eight parks and DDT levels at Glacier and Sequoia and Kings Canyon exceeded health thresholds for fish-eating wildlife. Kent said he found airborne contaminants are causing male fish to develop female organs in some parks.

Much of the contamination is thought to have come from overseas - traveling global air currents from Europe and Asia.

But researchers said they were surprised to find substantial contamination from the local use of legal pesticides, particularly in agricultural areas around Glacier, Rocky Mountain and Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks.

University of Washington atmospheric researcher Daniel Jaffe said scientists previously thought banning substances like DDT and dieldrin would lessen the persistence of chemicals in the environment.

"We replaced them with pesticides with much shorter lifetimes in the environment," Jaffe said. "But in places like the Central Valley of California, we are applying many, many tons of these every year. ... We now know they can move substantial distances."

A parks advocacy group called the federal report "a wake-up call" that should mobilize Congress to take a tougher stance on air pollution.

"We can take steps to reduce mercury emissions from power plants, steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming," said Will Hammerquist with the National Parks Conservation Association.

The $6 million study is known as the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project. It is the most comprehensive to date on the distribution and concentration of contaminants outside developed areas, according to the project's scientific director, Dixon Landers with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that remoteness means less pollution, Landers said many of the parks - particularly those at higher elevations and in colder climates - actually are at higher risk.

Mercury from power plants in China, for example, is borne across the Pacific in clouds that rise up when they hit West Coast mountains. That causes the mercury to drop out of the clouds attached to rain droplets or snowflakes, he said.

Release of the study, which was coordinated by the National Park Service, came after a delay of several months. A Park Service spokeswoman, Colleen Flanagan, said the delay was caused by the time needed to analyze the vast volumes of data collected, from 2002 to 2007.

The study also included researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Forest Service.

[rocksspeak]

pboskovich,

God promises to step in. Gods power- to solve- and our time period is the one marked. God says what true Christians would be doing is telling others of his Government by Christ Jesus and about the blessings it will bring to the earth. The good news of his kingdom, a government ruling from heaven -Matt 24:14, the same one Jesus talked about. It is free of greed, corruption, non partial, it has the power to stop and reverse all the bad done from the beginning.
Jesus gave a preview when he walked the earth of the kind of king he would be and what he would do earth wide, when he returned in kingdom power... heal the sick , raise the dead, feed the hungry, stop the storms... but it is our time that the Bible identifies as the time of his 2nd coming. So yes Gods power- to solve- not ours. Most people can not solve the problems of their own family much less the worlds. And it will get worse. We are not expected to solve the worlds problems -it will need super human intervention.... Jesus gave us what we were to do and it is detailed in Gods word. Tell others the solution- Gods kingdom, not mans. - Matt 24:14, Isaiah. 2:;2-4 good night all and thanks for the conversations.

[rf35]

rocksspeak, are you sure your cult leader allows you to be on the Internet? It might lead you to an original thought, after all. If there were a god, I doubt he would be very pleased with those who are ruining his creation. And since there isn''t, I''d recommend taking better care of your home.

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature...It is the opium of the people."

[pboskovich]

I believe in the limitless power of God, but what does any of this have to do with "Toxic Rain Pelting National Parks". God gave us brains to think. We can build things and we can destroy things. You cannot blindly turn your head and assume the earth will be preserved forever. We need to take care of it. All of us.

By the way, this does not mean I believe in the man made global warming hysteria. That is pretty much propaganda to control your life and to make you believe man is the root of all problems.

Lastly, the earth will not last forever. In 4-5 billion years the sun will swell to a red giant and either consume the earth or vaporize it surface. I don''t think you will survive.

[rocksspeak]

The Bible does say that problems like this will be growing much worse. -"there will be signs in the sun and the moon and stars, and on earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and {its} agitation, while men become faint out of fear in expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."-Luke 21:25; but it also says God - who cannot lie- will step in. And it says: "None that rest his faith on him will be disappointed.... For everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved."-Romans 10:11,13.

It is refreshing and comforting to have trust in the Universal Sovereign of whom the Bible says he cannot lie. His power is well beyond our comprehension. I recommend building a relationship with him "before" the great day of Jehovah, before that time comes, so you can call on him with confidence and trust. - Zephaniah 2;2-3

Only those who gladly accept and acknowledge his rightful rulership - the goodness of God - will be allowed to flourish.

[rocksspeak]

The unlimited power of the Universal Sovereign is very assuring and comforting, especially combined with his promises that the earth will not be destroyed. There will be right hearted individuals who are allowed to live on it forever on this grand planet as he promises. It is very kind of him to tell us what will happen next.
Our solar system being just like one blade of grass in a field of poppies. His unlimited power makes mans'' problems and schemes look very weak.
As our planet shreds to pieces. . The issue of Universal Sovereignty will be for all time established in creation. Who''s right to rule and who''s rule is best?

[oldpilot954]

I agree that we need to quickly address the ecology issues in our nation and put pressure on foreign nations as well. However, having lived in some relatively primitive areas, I also understand it is not as simple as it sounds. I can sit in my airconditioned house and eat my food and tell the guy in a third-world country that he should be more environmentally conscientous. But when it is MY child that is starving or sick, I find that I am not so nearly environmentally concerned. I''ll spray the crops, cut the tree, or work the job if it means keeping my child from starving a few more days.

[pboskovich]

demslie

Step away from the Koolaide. Take a deep breath and learn to meditate. Have you gone mad?

[rf35]

rocksspeak,
Too bad it''s just a fairy tale. The Bible is not an excuse to sit back and watch the planet being poisened to death. Recycle the Bible and plant a tree...that''s a better way to prepare for the future.

[rf35]

demslie,
If you can''t post an intelligent comment, don''t bother. I''m reporting that claptrap.

The fact that pollutants from across the Pacific can affect the US is the reason China and other so-called "developing countries" need to be held to the same standards as the rest of the world when it comes to environmental responsibility. The US should lead the way in reducing the toxins we put into the environment. We''re currently behind the curve in this area, but with some focused private investment and strictly enforced government standards, we can catch up and pass countries like France. Their use of nuclear power and banning of dangerous pestacides still used here are setting the example the US should be setting. It irks me to think that the French can do this, but America can''t. Let''s show them we have what it takes to become a world leader again.

[rocksspeak]

I did an article on the last days. The number of prophecies that point to our time as the one that will see the finale of men''s governments and the dawning of God''s Government by Christ Jesus... (It did not incorporate, the honey bees dying, the super bugs proliferating, the Pacific garbage patch the size of Texas, the deforestation of all the earth and so on... It did go into detail of the prophecies and the solution according to the Bible). Here was number five then ... another angle- that concerns many is this relatively new "ruining of the earth".... Never before in Human history is it possible to see we can and may totally destroy this planet if we are not stopped. Never before could we see our effects so clearly and not see so clearly how to undo them! The Bible points out that unless God stepped in- no flesh would be saved... But "on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short." So take heart all you faint hearted. The Bible goes on to say the time will come- even if many do not want it, the time will come "to bring to ruin those ruining the earth." Revelation 11:18. Greedy Commercialism, Corrupt Politics, and False religion (including Christendom) will be gone! Also all those who support them.

The real question for all needs to be, what is the first requirement of God, for protection through "the conclusion of the system of things"? ..