Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by on Wednesday February 15 2017, @07:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-circle-of-liiiiiiiife dept.

Environmental pollutants have gathered in the deepest parts of Earth's oceans:

Chemicals banned in the 1970s have been found in the deepest reaches of the Pacific Ocean, a new study shows. Scientists were surprised by the relatively high concentrations of pollutants like PCBs and PBDEs in deep sea ecosystems. Used widely during much of the 20th Century, these chemicals were later found to be toxic and to build up in the environment.

[...] The team led by Dr Alan Jamieson at the University of Newcastle sampled levels of pollutants in the fatty tissue of amphipods (a type of crustacean) from deep below the Pacific Ocean surface. The animals were retrieved using specially designed "lander" vehicles deployed from a boat over the Mariana and Kermadec trenches, which are over 10km deep and separated from each other by 7,000km.

[...] In their paper, the authors say it can be difficult to place the levels of contamination found below the Pacific into a wider context - in part because previous studies of contamination gathered measurements in different ways. But they add that in the Mariana trench, the highest levels of PCBs were 50 times greater than in crabs from paddy fields fed by the Liaohe River, one of the most polluted rivers in China. Dr Jamieson commented: "The amphipods we sampled contained levels of contamination similar to that found in Suruga Bay [in Japan], one of the most polluted industrial zones of the northwest Pacific."

Also at Washington Post, USA Today, and KUNC (NPR).

Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0051) (DX)


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Redundant) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:58AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:58AM (#467310) Journal

    More realistic, the 'Us' I feel part of would currently be those with some sense of irony

    So you really are saying you have no idea how these chemical compounds found their way to the bottom of the oceans? I can see why you would be afraid that you might be blamed, then. Not ironic, just sad.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   -1  
       Redundant=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Redundant' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:12AM

    by q.kontinuum (532) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:12AM (#467314) Journal

    Since there are no known natural sources [nj.gov] of PCB, I'm certain humanity is to be blamed. Just as I'm certain that androgenic global warming is a real threat. Not sure if I'm personally to be blamed (probably, since as a member of an industrial society I very likely buy and discard too many electronic devices etc., but probably not more than the average person).

    With regards to my thread-start, I'm just curious

    - how many of the negative votes
    ---- spotted the irony and felt ridiculed
    ---- didn't spot the irony and thought I actually deny/question humans being responsible here
    ---- just didn't like the comment

    - how many of the positive votes (currently there are only two)
    ---- spotted the irony and agreed to make fun of climate-deniers etc.
    ---- didn't spot the irony and found it reasonable to question man-kinds responsibility

    --
    Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:31AM

      by BsAtHome (889) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:31AM (#467318)

      I did spot the ironic and sarcastic undertone of the post. However, it is written in such a way that it is more disturbing into the negative than a kick-in-the-ass "lets think about this, shall we" moment, to generate a positive feedback.

      If you want to use hyperbole, please go over the top. The limited span and depth of the post is easily mistaken for a troll or an ignorant or an agenda pusher.

      • (Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:29AM

        by q.kontinuum (532) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:29AM (#467334) Journal

        Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure, which level of hyperbole is most efficient, as a reader I usually prefer subtlety. And, as I wrote before, I don't mind too much losing a bit karma by those not getting it.

        --
        Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:15PM

          by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:15PM (#467501)

          You were clearly in Poe's Law territory right there. Those of us who haven't read your posts before, and don't know anything about PBDEs, could easily be fooled.
          I typically add an extra "you can't really be that dumb" adjective or two to help people decide that I'm parodying, and still manage to get misunderstood.

          • (Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Wednesday February 15 2017, @08:56PM

            by q.kontinuum (532) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @08:56PM (#467595) Journal

            I have to admit I didn't know Poe's law. Although I should probably have expected something like that. Do you know/remember shelleytherepublican.com? The site was hilarious, and still some people took it serious :-) (Unfortunately I can't find an archive of that website, and the less old address shelleytherepublican.blogspot.com is more or less dead.)

            --
            Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @02:58PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @02:58PM (#467803)

              There's an archive at the ... uhm Archive! https://web.archive.org/web/*/shelleytherepublican.blogspot.com [archive.org]

              • (Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Thursday February 16 2017, @03:55PM

                by q.kontinuum (532) on Thursday February 16 2017, @03:55PM (#467834) Journal

                Yes, from the blogspot page. I was mainly into the shelleytherepublican.com (without blogspot) and only found a hunt that it couldn't be archieved due to robot.txt. Thanks nevertheless

                --
                Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @01:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @01:24PM (#467366)

      Just as I'm certain that androgenic global warming is a real threat.

      I see, women don't contribute to global warming, it's all the fault of the men! ;-)