Toxic Mercury

It seems like every year we are presented with another study focusing on mercury levels in your favorite Atlantic Salmon or Yellowfin Tuna. With all this commotion, how safe is it to frequent your favorite sushi spot once a week? First, let’s start with the basics. Where does all this Mercury originate from?

Simply, human activities such as metal processing, burning of coal, and mining contribute to a high deposition of the toxic mercury. Naturally, mercury originates from volcanoes, geologic deposits, and ocean volatization. Cleaner mining practices and energy production are pivotal to curbing human disruption of mercury sources.

 A simplified flow chart of how mercury is absorbed into the human body by eating contaminated fish

Now the natural question arises, how does mercury enter the food chain? The answer to this question remains largely unknown, but what we do know, is that certain bacteria that process sulfate in the environment take up mercury and convert it to methyl mercury. These bacterial are consumed by the next tropic level, then so forth up the food chain, until your favorite fish now has toxic levels of methyl-mercury in its flesh from the bio-magnification of mercury.

The National Research Council stated in its 2000 report, that offspring of women who have consumed large amounts of fish and seafood are at the highest risk for toxicological effects of methyl-mercury. This report estimated that more than 60,000 children born each year are at risk for neurodevelopment effects due to methyl mercury exposure while in the uterus. With that said, you should not shun your favorite shushi bar. However, if you are a women and plan on bearing a child, you should limit your consumption of fish and seafood. Also, it is important to take note of where your fish is sourced, from known polluted waters or not, and to monitor how much fish you consume monthly.

The loon's, picture above, diet is highly composed of

fish making them extremely vulnerable to high levels of methyl-mercury

Growing Community

   There has been a big shift in America towards responsible food sources as food cost continually rises and land for crops become increasingly stressed. Take a trip through your local grocer and you're sure to be bombarded with words like "organic," "sustainable," and "locally sourced." Fueling this trend of local sources, are the countless community gardens and farmers' markets sprouting up around the country.  This revert back to traditional farming  is pivotal to healthy and engaged future communities.  There have been far too many studies showing adverse effects from industrial chemical pesticides used in our nation's food supply on humans. These effects run the gamut from increased cancer risk to early development trends in both males and females.
   No other community is a better example of sustainability than Hammond's Ferry, located in N. Augusta S.C, across the Savannah River from my hometown of Augusta, Ga. Here, the houses are modeled after the historic "beachy" houses of Savannah or Charleston, walking trails and tree-lined sidewalks are abundant, a community garden for the residents is live and growing, and in particular, Blue Clay Farm, the large farm you see when entering the neighborhood supplies all the produce and eggs to the neighborhood restaurant Manuel's Bread Cafe, which as gained praise from locals on both sides of the river.

A worker is seen picking zucchini in Blue Clay Farm N. Augusta, S.C. This farm supplies Mauels Bread Cafe (seen below), a French bistro located in the center of Hammond's Ferry Neighborhood located on the banks of the Savannah River, with their all of their fresh produce and eggs.

   Community gardens also benefit the community in a far more widespread way than just healthy, natural food. They encourage community engagement with neighbors and "green practices" in an age where social media has completely altered face to face conversations of old and the "convenience over sustainability" attitude of 1st world countries is having detrimental effects on the environment. Community gardens are great at being the hub of neighborhoods as seen with Hammond's Ferry. They provide a fresh and healthy food source to the community that can also be sold or traded with other communities and individuals. They also encourage people to take more concern in the environment and help educate people on the importance of composting and recycling. With that said, if you have an empty lot in your neighborhood, start a committee and build a garden. As your plants begin to take root, take a step back and watch  the entire community around you begin to grow.

 Check out Macon's own community garden blog!
/ Bealls Hill Garden Blog

 Rachel Carson, a Scientist, a Radical, and a Savior

Born: May 27, 1907
in Springdale, Pennsylvania

Died: April 14, 1964
in Silver Spring, Maryland

It’s no question in today’s age that chemical pesticides are toxic in human beings when used excessively and have been shown to increase hormonal aging in young adolescents. However, before the EPA and strict government over-watch, a radical at the time, alerted the world’s attention on the harmful effects of DDT and other chemical toxins used as pesticides.

Rachel Louise Carson, a graduate from Pennsylvania College for Women, and John Hopkins University, was hired by the U.S Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the Depression. She supplemented her income by writing articles of natural history as she began a fifteen-year career as a scientist and editor eventually rising to Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1952 Carson wrote The Sea Around Us and in 1955 The Edge of the Sea, both of which received large praise and made a name for Carson as a naturalist and science writer.

            Carson’s most famous work by far was her book Silent Spring, which she authored in 1962. This novel challenged the widespread practice of chemical pesticides by agricultural scientist. At the time of publication, Carson was immediately attacked by those in the chemical industry and by some in the government. Nevertheless, she continued to push this issue of chemical safety to the American public. Through Carson’s perseverance, America now takes the issue of chemical pesticides, particularly in our food supply extremely serious. Without Silent Spring and the national discussion that followed, millions more could have been effected by the overuse of pesticides. Carson sadly lost her life to breast cancer after a long battle in 1964 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter.

Atlantis

Male, capital of the Maldives

It's no secret that the world is warming. The real debate lies in if this is another one of earth's climate cycles, increased solar activity, or the result of human activity. Let's just say, if climate change were solely a human created phenomena ad Al Gore wanted us to believe, we would all be living in a 130 degree world, gagging on smog and battered by constant wildfires and hurricanes. Don't get me wrong, the current warming trend is alarming. For instance, the island nation Maldives, located in the Indian Ocean, has much to worry about. This mountain chain island has the lowest natural high point of any country at only 2.4m (7ft 10in). During the 2004 Tsunami, only 9 of its islands escaped flooding, while fourteen had to be totally evacuated, and six were destroyed. This may sound bad, but it could have been much worse; the coral reefs surrounding the islands absorbed much of the energy from the waves. These are the same reefs now seeing widespread bleaching from increased ocean acidity due to absorption of atmospheric CO2. Besides natural disasters, the Maldivian government is acknowledging a scary reality. The president Mohammed Nasheed, has set up a special fund from tourism revenue to buy land for his people in either Australia, India, or Sir Lanka, in the event that rising water will force his nation of 350,000 to evacuate their homes. This scary reality brings many questions to the forefront on the topic of climate change and its effect on human populations. One such question is how will the world cope with mass migration of populations near rising oceans? 350,000 people is one thing, but what of millions, like in the area of New Orleans and lower Louisiana? The world's resources are already strained as is. Where would these people go and if they do find somewhere, do we have enough basic resources like food to support them? The grim reality is that it may be to late for the Maldives, however with the world's oceans rising, government's around the globe should begin to focus their energy platforms on green, sustainable energy to minimize the effect of human populations on the volatile changes in the earth's climate.

This Sept. 16, 2012, image released by NASA shows the amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic, at center in white, and the 1979 to 2000 average extent for the day shown, with the yellow line. Scientists say sea ice in the Arctic shrank to an all-time low of 1.32 million square miles on Sept. 16, smashing old records for the critical climate indicator.

Another Disaster

On August 29, 2005 the behemoth category 5 Katrina pounded the grand city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing from just a category 1 storm after passing of Florida in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it nearly blocked out the view of the Gulf from satellite imagery. New Orleans, simply did not stand a chance. In total over 1,836 people were killed in Louisiana and Mississippi. 80% of New Orleans was under water, some parts under 20ft. In the aftermath, the government was faced with an over $100 billion reconstruction project and hundred of thousands were left homeless. Now that Hurricane Issac has just passed over New Orleans, the people have many questions. Why did the government re-constuct the leeve system around the main city, where the historic and economic center is, but neglect to fortify the outskirts where the majority of the population resides? To them it seems like a job only halfway finished as they now evacuate their flooded houses 7 years after seeing them utterly destroyed. Hopefully, Issac will teach the officials their final lesson in storm protection for a metro population over a million in a city that sits under sea level.

Fertilizing Pollution?

Anyone lucky enough to enter the grounds of the famed Augusta National Golf Club knows what I mean when I say it is like the modern day Garden of Eden. Every spring when the golfing world turns its attention to the Masters tournament, it seems like mother nature opens her arms in greeting. The azaleas are in full bloom, the grass manicured and the purest of green, and the air a perfect temperature. However, this meticulous landscaping must have some side effect to nature itself. Little is known about the grounds keeping operation here. Trust me I know. The secrets behind that green grass might as well be a national treasure as far as they are concerned. However, one can expect that a fair amount of chemical fertilizer is used to keep the property pristine. We all know that when chemicals get involved, there are negative side effects. With Rae's creek running through the famed "Amens Corner" and depositing itself into the near Lake Olmstead. which is known to be polluted, the question arises, "Is Augusta National fertilizing pollution in Lake Olmstead?" Just some fish food for thought....