Tell me about some of those alternatives you speak of Digital Dan.
Specifically what legacy would you like to leave behind?
Jim, I'm silly enough to think if we went to the moon 50 years ago that maybe, just maybe, we have the wit to figure out how to leave the house near about as clean as it was when we arrived. One of the things obvious to me, and perhaps not to the average Joe, is the issues at play are interrelated and very complex. Being a simple minded sort I'd like to think the solutions are of the sort that somewhere along the way we can have one of those "why didn't I think of that?" moments.
Allow me to weave a path for the sake of discussion. OK, so we're in a social construct wherein profit is the holy grail and so forth. One of those supply meet demand and stockholders meet profit kind of things? Here's a scenario for ya. Multinational corporation moves into your back yard and starts mining phosphate. Why? Fertilizer. They dig so many holes it lowers the regional water table significantly. Where does the fertilizer go? 75% of America's demand and 25% of world demand, that's where. Never mind that that 25% of world demand is 75% of their production. Yeah, I know, it's confusing this early in the day. Hang on, it gets more funner as we go.
So, why do we need to fertilize the planet? Well hell, we got to feed the masses, right? Let's suppose that we here in the USA are obligated to do that, so we want to grow like there's no tomorrow. Part of the equation requires greater production for a given piece of dirt, so we fertilize it. Dayum.....where'd all them fuggin' weeds come from? Enter another multinational corporation that has a brilliant idea!!!!! We can phuoc with Ma Nature and make crops that are immune to herbicides and spray chitt out of them pesky weeds! And if that don't work we'll just keep inventing stuff until it does.
The fallout? Elevated nitrate levels in our waters and increasing concentrations of toxic chemicals. Never mind that when you increase the nitrate concentrations it causes proliferation of algae in our waters which leads to other biological aberrations such as flesh eating bacteria. Hey, it's your foot, not mine. And we don't give a chitt about algae, where da fug you think Soylent Green really came from, hey?
Here's the problem as I see it. Increasing nitrate levels cause proliferation of algae in our waters. It occurs because of fertilizer runoff from rain and leeching into the aquifer. The sources are many but primary among them are reliance upon septic tanks in some regions, and agriculture practices which contribute the majority load. The chemical cocktail we are fabricating with pesticide/herbicide application has implications that are to some degree understood, and otherwise a mystery. Nitrate levels have historic norms that are dependent upon region and setting. Here in Florida the prevailing 'natural background' is .05 mg/l. Many of our springs are currently discharging concentrations in the range of 3-8 mg/l. For reference, 5 mg/l is 100 times greater concentration than natural background in my neighborhood. Present day concentrations in more than a few areas of the state exceed the EPA allowable level of 10 mg/l. So, what's the big deal? Elevated NO2/NO3 levels are carcinogenic. Furthermore, there is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests clearly that levels below the EPA limit have the same characteristics and also promote blue baby syndrome. Somewhere in the 2-5 mg/l range is looking a little risky. Any of you fellas have even a vague idea what it will cost to put a water purification plant in your neighborhood to deal with elevated nitrate? I dunno either, but if you're thinking hundreds of millions you're on the right track.
OMG! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!
Not necessarily. Take a few minutes and read the article in the link below. If it pans out Mosaic and Monsanto can kiss my cracker ass. The article is about a year old and the grapevine tells me they have been successful in mating nitrogen fixing bacteria to over 50 different crop varieties that currently require fertilizer.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennys...itrogen-producing-microbes/#4ab47ed13d4bI don't know it will or will not work. What I do know is that our present path is suicidal. Let's say we're 4th and goal on the 2 yard line and there's 45 seconds left on the clock.
