Pollution Science 101 - Mexico
The Faults of Mexico
Edited by Michael James Ross
MonsantoInvestigation.com
Updated: November 26th, 2022
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Section 1: Gulf Coast Damage Report
Section 2: Uranium & Radiation
Section 3: Acid Rain
Section 4: Ocean Acidification
Section 5: Coral Reefs
Section 6: Algal Blooms
Section 7: Ocean Circulation & Temperature
Section 8: Magnetic Oceans
Section 9: Ocean Salinity - Salt and Dust pollution
Section 10: Illegal landfills and Illegal dumping
Section 11: Pesticides
Section 12: Sonora & Northwest Mexico area
Section 13: GMOs
Section 14: Ozone
Section 15: Sewage & Illegal dumping
Section 16: Deforestation
Section 17: Invasive Species
Section 18: Gulf of California
Section 19: Endangered Animals
Section 20: Air Pollution & Water Pollution
Section 21: Crimes
Section 22: China & Mexico
Section 23: Immigration Crisis & Border Crisis
Section 24: Illegal Immigration & Crimes
Section 25: Jews & Kidnapping
Section 26: Rothschilds
Section 27: Rockefellers
Section 28: Jews in Mexico
Section 29: The Mexican Mafia, The Italian Mafia & The Pope
Section 30: The Mexican Empire & Mexican Royal Families
Section 31: Solutions
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Section 1: Gulf Coast Damage Report
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Newly Discovered Hot Magma Plume Beneath Yellowstone Volcano Stretches To Mexico
2018
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/223457/20180322/newly-discovered-hot-magma-plume-beneath-yellowstone-volcano-stretches-to-mexico.htm
New
evidence on Yellowstone's volcanic activity might shed light on the
long-debated theory on the presence of magma plume beneath the national
park.
The Yellowstone caldera is a complex system of
rock formations that sprung after a series of volcanic eruptions some
630,000 million years ago. This is the widely accepted theory, although
there are some scientists who argue that the national park sits right on
top of a "hot spot."
Results of the investigation
conducted by Peter Nelson and Stephen Grand from the University of
Texas' Jackson School of Geosciences supports the latter theory
suggesting a massive magma plume beneath the park's surface. This plume,
which is the technical word for a magma foundation, appears to extend
as far as Mexico.
How Plumes Are Formed
In
a geographic sense, a plume is an abnormality that exists when the
earth's core rises through the mantle forming what it appears to be a
foundation of hot magma.
The study, which was published
in Nature Geoscience, reported that the probability of a magma plume
underneath Yellowstone could explain the heat that influences ground
activities such as the Boiling River. This latest claim debunks earlier
explanations that the heat source is a by-product of lithospheric
movements.
Nelson and Grand's team gathered seismic
data using EarthScope's USArray, which showed a "long, thin, sloping
zone" that measured about 72 kilometers long and 55 kilometers wide.
Because seismic patterns travel slower in this region of the mantle, it
is understandable that it can be up to 800 degrees Celsius higher than
its surrounding areas.
The emerging image revealed a 350-kilometer cylinder formation that runs all the way to the California-Mexico border.
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Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser Is Incredibly Active Right Now, and We Don't Know Why
June 26, 2019
https://www.livescience.com/65802-yellowstone-geyser-record.html
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Scientists Terrifying New Discovery At Yellowstone Volcano
May 7, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ6qOp4FDmg
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Yellowstone Scientists Have Just Discovered A Dome Shaped Uplift Inside The Volcano System
Oct 28, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQeExNd4ws
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A New Giant Hole in the Planet Earth!
Dec 4, 2019
{West Coast of America, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, Juan de Fuca Plate & the Demise of the Farallon Plate}.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDfLYQydl8M
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A tectonic plate is dying under Oregon. Here’s why that matters.
July 29, 2019
A peek into the curious geology of the Pacific Northwest helps tease apart what may happen when the last bits of an oceanic plate get swallowed up.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/07/tectonic-plate-dying-oregon-why-matters/
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Cascadia: The Earthquake that will Destroy Westcoast America
Jul 14, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR-8PZ_nCvE
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California supervolcano may be as dangerous as Yellowstone's
2018
https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/long-valley-caldera-supervolcano-California-13265467.php
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NASA Study Connects Southern California, Mexico Faults
2018
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-study-connects-southern-california-mexico-faults
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This Quiet Fault in Southern California Hadn't Moved in 500 Years. Now It's Slipping.
Oct 17, 2019
Earthquake Pre-cursors? 'Slow slip Monitoring' {Video}
https://www.livescience.com/earthquakes-cause-fault-to-slip-in-california.html
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Mexico Earthquake Zone Linked to California Faults
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Volcanoes of Mexico (42 volcanoes)
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/mexico.html
Mexico's
volcanoes are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and formed on the North
American continental tectonic plate under which the oceanic Pacific and
(in the south) Cocos plates are being subducted.
The most active
volcanoes of the country are Popocatepetl, Colima and El Chichon, which
had a major eruption in 1982 that cooled the world's climate in the
following year.
All active volcanoes of Mexico are listed.
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There are 48 active volcanoes in Mexico
2018
https://www.vallartadaily.com/volcanoes-in-mexico/
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List of volcanoes in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_volcanoes_in_Mexico
Impact on tree growth
Environmental effects on growth and survival of trees in Mexico from volcanic activity are significant. Using evidence from the effects of the 1855 - 1856 eruption of that Tacaná volcano and ash fall from the 1902 eruption of the Santa Maria volcano and the radial growth of trees at Tacaná. Because of these incidents, they caused two significant suppression events to happen. The first event took place from 1857 to 1868 which caused by the historic eruption of Tacaná, two years prior. A year later after the eruption of the Santa Maria volcano, the second suppression event started from 1903 to 1908, during which tree growth was affected by the thickness of ash fall from the eruption and deposited near each tree. Another example that the impact of volcano eruption‘s on forest ecosystems can be the 1913 Plinian eruption of Volćan de Fuego, 7.7 km to the south. This event was one of the largest explosive eruption‘s in Mexico and produced ash flow deposits up to 40 m thick. Also, this indicated extremely low growth in 1913 and 1914, radio growth reduction was over 30% in 75% of the sampled trees.
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Mexico's deadliest volcano
2018
https://theweek.com/articles/805797/mexicos-deadliest-volcano
On
the clear-sky morning of December 21st, 1994, Claus Siebe was standing
at the foot of Popocatépetl, watching as elephantine plumes of black
smoke and heaps of pyroclastic flow spewed out of Mexico's largest
active volcano. Siebe stood silently next to a group of mountaineers,
all of whom had their heads cocked upward. He'd never witnessed an
eruption on this scale before; he was floored. Recalling that day now,
nearly 24 years later, Siebe describes a scene of awe and confusion.
"Everybody was watching," Siebe says. "Nobody panicked. We were all just
kind of surprised that this was happening."
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1943-1952
The eruption of Parícutin
https://mashable.com/2017/06/24/eruption-of-paricutin/
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The Surprising Threat from Mexico's Awakened Volcano
2012
https://www.livescience.com/31391-popocatepetl-mudflow-threat.html
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Mexico raises alert level for Popocatepetl volcano as activity intensifies
March 28, 2019
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-volcano/mexico-raises-alert-level-for-popocatepetl-volcano-as-activity-intensifies-idUSKCN1R9256
Mexican volcano erupts multiple times in a day
The Popocatépetl volcano in central Mexico erupted three times on Nov. 24.
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The effects of volcanoes on health: preparedness in Mexico.
1996
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9170236
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Colima Volcano blasts ash, lava in western Mexico
2015
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/colima-volcano-blasts-ash-lava-western-mexico
MEXICO
CITY – A volcano in western Mexico has erupted, spewing ash more than 4
miles (7 kilometers) into the air and sending lava down its flanks.
The
activity at the Colima Volcano began Thursday and continued Friday
morning. The volcano is also known as the Volcano of Fire.
Luis Felipe Puente is director of Mexico’s civil protection agency. He tweeted Friday that preventive protocols were activated.
A
statement from Colima state’s civil protection agency on Thursday said
the initial eruption occurred just after 11 a.m. Ash was falling to the
southwest of the crater. People were advised to recognize a 3-mile
(5-kilometer) perimeter around the peak.
A state helicopter was making a reconnaissance flight Friday morning.
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Colima eruption is a reminder that Mexico is a land of volcanoes
2016
http://theconversation.com/colima-eruption-is-a-reminder-that-mexico-is-a-land-of-volcanoes-66478
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The possible influence of volcanic emissions on atmospheric aerosols in the city of Colima, Mexico.
2004
http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/14568726
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Mexico’s Popocatepetl Volcano Erupts, Residents Prepare for More Volcanic Activity
March 29, 2019
https://fox28spokane.com/mexicos-popocatepetl-volcano-erupts-residents-prepare-for-more-volcanic-activity/
Areas
in Central Mexico are preparing for the worst after Mexico’s
Popocatepetl volcano unleashed a powerful explosion Thursday evening.
Mexican
authorities had just raised the alert level for the volcano, indicating
an increase in the intensity of activity, when the volcano exploded.
Witnesses
in the area say they saw a large flash of light followed by
incandescent material spilling out from the crater and down the
mountainside. Reports show the explosion sent a massive column of gas
and ash 8,200 feet above the volcano’s crater.
Mexico’s
National Center for Disaster Prevention have warned residents to stay
away from the volcano. Scientists monitoring Popocatepetl have observed
more than 200 discharges from the volcano in the past 24 hours.
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TOP! Interactive Map Popocatepetl VOLCANO Mexico LAVA FLOW
05/11/2021
If
you are looking for the last News of the Mexico Volcano, here is the
Application with the location of the event of the volcano and an
Interactive Map Popocatepetl VOLCANO Mexico, the lava flow and the last
earthquakes produced. In the following text we make a compilation of
some of these web viewers. Mexico Popocatepetl Volcano is continuing
erupting and Spew Ash. Here you will find All information about
Popocatepetl lava flow live.
We can offer the status of the last
erupting volcanoes with date 15 October 2021. The information will be
updated periodically and the status of this volcano may have changed
during the update period.
https://world3dmap.com/interactive-map-popocatepetl-volcano-mexico/
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Three volcanoes simultaneously erupt in Guatemala
Feb 19, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTCUlRRJErE
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List of volcanoes in Guatemala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_volcanoes_in_Guatemala
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Scientists Warn Gulf Of Mexico ‘Supervolcano’ About To Erupt
March 15, 2018
https://newspunch.com/gulf-mexico-supervolcano-erupt/
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Recent explosive volcanism at the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
2012
http://www.appstate.edu/~zimmerbw/Carrasconunez%20et%20al%202012.pdf
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Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
The Trans-Mexican
Volcanic Belt (Spanish: Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the
Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the Sierra Nevada (Snowy Mountain
Range), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico.
Several of its highest peaks have snow all year long, and during clear
weather, they are visible to a large percentage of those who live on the
many high plateaus from which these volcanoes rise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Mexican_Volcanic_Belt
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Hydrometeorologic and geologic hazards at Pico de Orizaba volcano, Mexico
September 2021
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354316441_Hydrometeorologic_and_geologic_hazards_at_Pico_de_Orizaba_volcano_Mexico
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Enigmatic ice recession on a sub-tropical glacier, Pico de Orizaba, Mexico
February 2013
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258210750_Enigmatic_ice_recession_on_a_sub-tropical_glacier_Pico_de_Orizaba_Mexico
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Geoecological Investigations on the Timberline of Pico De Orizaba, Mexico
03 Jun 2018
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00040851.1975.12003843
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Climbers Find Third Mummified Body In 3 Months On Mexico's Highest Peak
December 6, 2017
Pico de Orizaba is home to some of Mexico's last remaining glaciers and the country's largest one, the Gran Glaciar Norte. The glaciers are melting away, and scientists continue to study the speed of the melting and the contribution from climate change. Glacier retreat may be one of the reasons the three mummified bodies were exposed this year...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mexico-mummy-pico-de-orizaba_n_7535722
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Area changes of glaciers on active volcanoes in Latin America between 1986 and 2015 observed from multi-temporal satellite imagery
28 May 2019
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-glaciology/article/area-changes-of-glaciers-on-active-volcanoes-in-latin-america-between-1986-and-2015-observed-from-multitemporal-satellite-imagery/99178DD00E13C9E7354BEBEA48AF85F4
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Increased seismic activity in Mexico is a sign of imminent eruption of the Michoacán-Guanajuato volcanic field
Jun 14, 2021
https://strangesounds.org/2021/06/increased-seismic-activity-mexicoimminent-eruption-michoacan-guanajuato-volcanic-field.html
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New satellite-based study of Latin America volcanoes could help researchers better predict eruptions
April 04, 2019
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/new-satellite-based-study-latin-america-volcanoes-could-help-researchers-better-predict
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Mud volcano
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_volcano#Yellowstone's_%22Mud_Volcano%22
Mud volcano in the Gulf of Mexico sea bottom
Two
seismic-reflection scans of a fault zone in the Gulf of Mexico. A.
Chirp seismic-reflection B. Water gun seismic-reflection. Chirp
seismic-reflection show a likely mud volcano adjacent to the fault zone
where near-surface seismic-reflection amplitudes are high and the
seafloor is disrupted. Water gun data illustrate that the high-amplitude
reflections extend downward in two zones, one that projects steeply
(i.e., the master fault with likely gas/fluid) and another that projects
laterally along apparent stratigraphy (i.e., a potential gas/fluid
charged stratal unit). The fault zone has high backscatter at the sea
floor, and is an area of likely upward migrating gases, fluids, and
mobilized sediment, with contributions from the two subsurface
high-amplitude zones.
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New evidence suggests volcanoes caused biggest mass extinction ever
April 15, 2019
Mercury found in ancient rock around the world supports theory that eruptions caused 'Great Dying' 252 million years ago.
The
mass extinction occurred at what scientists call the Permian-Triassic
Boundary. The mass extinction killed off much of the terrestrial and
marine life before the rise of dinosaurs. Some were prehistoric monsters
in their own right, such as the ferocious gorgonopsids that looked like
a cross between a sabre-toothed tiger and a Komodo dragon.
The
eruptions occurred in a volcanic system called the Siberian Traps in
what is now central Russia. Many of the eruptions occurred not in
cone-shaped volcanoes but through gaping fissures in the ground. The
eruptions were frequent and long-lasting and their fury spanned a period
of hundreds of thousands of years.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190415122249.htm
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Dinosaur asteroid hit 'worst possible place'
2017
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39922998
The researchers recovered rocks from under the Gulf of Mexico that were hit by an asteroid 66 million years ago.
The nature of this material records the details of the event.
It is becoming clear that the 15km-wide asteroid could not have hit a worse place on Earth.
The shallow sea covering the target site meant colossal volumes of sulphur (from the mineral gypsum) were injected into the atmosphere, extending the "global winter" period that followed the immediate firestorm.
Had the asteroid struck a different location, the outcome might have been very different.
"This is where we get to the great irony of the story – because in the end it wasn’t the size of the asteroid, the scale of blast, or even its global reach that made dinosaurs extinct – it was where the impact happened," said Ben Garrod, who presents The Day The Dinosaurs Died with Alice Roberts.
"Had the asteroid struck a few moments earlier or later, rather than hitting shallow coastal waters it might have hit deep ocean.
"An impact in the nearby Atlantic or Pacific oceans would have meant much less vaporised rock – including the deadly gypsum. The cloud would have been less dense and sunlight could still have reached the planet’s surface, meaning what happened next might have been avoided.
"In this cold, dark world food ran out of the oceans within a week and shortly after on land. With nothing to eat anywhere on the planet, the mighty dinosaurs stood little chance of survival."
Ben Garrod spent time on the drill rig that was stationed 30km off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in April/May last year, to better understand the aims of the project; Alice Roberts visited widely separated fossil beds in the Americas, to get a sense of how life was upended by the impact.
Rock cores from up to 1,300m beneath the Gulf were recovered.
The lowest sections of this material come from a feature within the crater called the peak ring.
This is made from rock that has been heavily fractured and altered by immense pressures.
By analysing its properties, the drill project team - led by Profs Jo Morgan and Sean Gulick - hope to reconstruct how the impact proceeded and the environmental changes it brought about.
They know now the energy that went into making the crater when the asteroid struck - equivalent to 10 billion Hiroshima A-bombs. And they also understand how the depression assumed the structure we observe today.
The team is also gaining insights into the return of life to the impact site in the years after the event.
One of the many fascinating sequences in the BBC Two programme sees Alice Roberts visit a quarry in New Jersey, US, where 25,000 fossil fragments have been recovered - evidence of a mass die-off of creatures that may have been among the casualties on the day of the impact itself.
"All these fossils occur in a layer no more than 10cm thick," palaeontologist Ken Lacovara tells Alice.
"They died suddenly and were buried quickly. It tells us this is a moment in geological time. That's days, weeks, maybe months. But this is not thousands of years; it's not hundreds of thousands of years. This is essentially an instantaneous event."
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Asteroid strike made 'instant Himalayas'
2016
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38019604
Scientists say they can now describe in detail how the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs produced its huge crater.
The reconstruction of the event 66 million years ago was made possible by drilling into the remnant bowl and analysing its rocks.
These show how the space impactor made the hard surface of the planet slosh back and forth like a fluid.
At one stage, a mountain higher than Everest was thrown up before collapsing back into a smaller range of peaks.
"And this all happens on the scale of minutes, which is quite amazing," Prof Joanna Morgan from Imperial College London, UK, told BBC News.
The researchers report their account in this week's edition of Science Magazine.
Their study confirms a very dynamic, very energetic model for crater formation, and will go a long way to explaining the resulting cataclysmic environmental changes.
The debris thrown into the atmosphere likely saw the skies darken and the global climate cool for months, perhaps even years, driving many creatures into extinction, not just the dinosaurs.
The team spent April to May this year drilling a core through the so-called Chicxulub Crater, now buried under ocean sediments off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula...
The analysis of the core materials now fits an astonishing narrative.
This describes the roughly 15km-wide stony asteroid instantly punching a cavity in the Earth's surface some 30km deep and 80-100km across.
Unstable, and under the pull of gravity, the sides of this depression promptly started to collapse inwards.
At the same time, the centre of the bowl rebounded, briefly lifting rock higher than the Himalayas, before also falling down to cover the inward-rushing sides of the initial hole.
"If this deep-rebound model is correct (it's called the dynamic collapse model), then our peak ring rocks should be the rocks that have travelled farthest in the impact - first, outwards by kilometres, then up in the air by over 10km, and back down and outwards by another, say, 10km. So their total travel path is something like 30km, and they do that in under 10 minutes," Prof Gulick told the BBC's Science in Action programme.
Imagine a sugar cube dropped into a cup of tea. The drink's liquid first gets out of the way of the cube, moves back in and up, before finally slopping down.
When the asteroid struck the Earth, the rocks it hit also behaved like a fluid.
"These rocks must have lost their strength and cohesion, and very dramatically had their friction reduced," said Prof Morgan. "So, yes, temporarily, they behave like a fluid. It's the only way you can make a crater like this."
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Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs caused a mile-high tsunami around the Earth
2019
The researchers noted that the impact tsunami in the Yucatán Peninsula was 2,600 times more energetic than the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, one of the largest tsunamis recorded in modern history.
https://www.foxnews.com/science/asteroid-that-killed-the-dinosaurs-caused-a-mile-high-tsunami-around-the-earth
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Animals in North Dakota Died from Chicxulub Asteroid in Mexico
April 2019
Fossils reveal the quick death of plants and animals from a massive surge of water after the impact 66 million years ago, which is thought to have spelled the demise of dinosaurs.
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/animals-in-north-dakota-died-from-chicxulub-asteroid-in-mexico-65684
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The buried secrets of the deadliest location on Earth
2018
Chicxulub Puerto, Mexico, is the centre of the impact crater that scientists believe was made when the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs smashed into the Earth’s surface.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181111-the-buried-secrets-of-the-deadliest-location-on-earth
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Chicxulub crater
The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named. It was formed by a large asteroid or comet about 11 to 81 kilometres (6.8 to 50.3 miles) in diameter, the Chicxulub impactor, striking the Earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater
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This Is Why The Earth Could Explode Soon
Feb 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP4e0Uh6lAg
{Is it true that the Earth's crust is currently cracking open slowly, while letting more water drain inside of the inner Earth. Water and oil act like lubrication to tectonic plates}.
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Trillions Of Tonnes Of Water Is Being Swallowed Into The Earth's Interior
November 24th, 2018
http://www.ladbible.com/news/interesting-trillions-of-tonnes-of-water-is-being-swallowed-into-earths-interior-20181124
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Earth is Eating Its Oceans Way Faster Than Originally Thought, Study Finds
November 19 2018
https://weather.com/news/news/2018-11-19-earth-eating-oceans-mariana-trench
Three
times more ocean water than originally thought is being swallowed by
the Earth as the planet's tectonic plates sink below one another, a new
study discovered.
Published in the journal Nature, a
team of researchers took an estimate of how much water is being sucked
into the Earth's interior through subduction zones — where two
continental plates meet and one is being drawn downward.
Researchers
used data recorded by seismographs along the Mariana Trench — a
subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is subducted beneath the
Philippine Plate — to analyze a year's worth of measurements that
enabled them to draw a better picture of just how much water the rocks
inside the plates could hold. The determination was made by recording
the speed at which seismic waves travel through the rocks.
Near the Mariana Trench, at least 4.3 times more ocean water is subducted than previously thought.
This
discovery bodes large in understanding the Earth's deep water cycle,
said Columbia University's Donna Shillington. A marine geology and
geophysics researcher, Shillington said the water beneath the Earth's
surface can aid in the development of magma and could lubricate faults,
making earthquakes more likely.
Using velocity
measurements stretching down to 18 miles below the surface in a
combination of known temperatures and pressures, researchers were able
to calculate that subduction zones swallow 3 billion teragrams of water
into the crust every million years. A teragram is one trillion grams.
Unlike
the old adage "what goes up must come down," the opposite applies here.
Most of the water being subducted into the Earth is believed to be
emitted back into the atmosphere as water vapor in volcanic eruptions,
according to a Washington University release.
The
amount of ocean water ingested by the Earth and the amount emitted isn't
equal. In fact, the amount going in wildly exceeds the amount coming
out.
There's no missing water in the oceans, Cai said,
so there must be something about the way water moves through the Earth's
interior that scientists don't understand.
"Many more studies need to be focused on this aspect," said Cai.
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Iron 'jet stream' detected in Earth's outer core
December 2016
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38372342
Scientists say they have identified a remarkable new feature in Earth’s molten outer core.
They
describe it as a kind of "jet stream" - a fast-flowing river of liquid
iron that is surging westwards under Alaska and Siberia.
The moving mass of metal has been inferred from measurements made by Europe’s Swarm satellites.
This trio of spacecraft are currently mapping Earth's magnetic field to try to understand its fundamental workings.
The
scientists say the jet is the best explanation for the patches of
concentrated field strength that the satellites observe in the northern
hemisphere.
"This jet of liquid iron is moving at about fifty
kilometres per year," explained Dr Chris Finlay from the National Space
Institute at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space).
“That
might not sound like a lot to you on Earth's surface, but you have to
remember this a very dense liquid metal and it takes a huge amount of
energy to move this thing around and that's probably the fastest motion
we have anywhere within the solid Earth,” he told BBC News.
Dr
Finlay was speaking here at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting
in San Francisco, just ahead of the official publication of the
research in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Most people will be
familiar with the atmospheric jet stream - the high-altitude, rapidly
flowing belt of air on which aeroplanes ride to get to their destination
more quickly.
Dr Finlay and colleagues want us to envision something similar but made of metal and 3,000km down, under our feet.
They assess the jet to be about 420km wide, and say it wraps half-way around the planet.
Its behaviour will be critical to the generation and maintenance of the global magnetic field, they add.
“It's
likely that the jet stream has been in play for hundreds of millions of
years," said Dr Phil Livermore from Leeds University, UK, and the lead
author on the journal paper.
In the paper, the team puts forward a model to explain the jet.
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NASA Explores Earth's Magnetic 'Dent'
Aug 17, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpdQcw_52iM
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Coastal erosion in Louisiana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_erosion_in_Louisiana
Coastal
Erosion in Louisiana is the process of steady depletion of wetlands
along the state's coastline in marshes, swamps, and barrier islands,
particularly affecting the alluvial basin surrounding the mouth of the
Mississippi River at the foot of the Gulf of Mexico on the Eastern half
of the state's coast. In the last century, Southeast Louisiana has lost a
large portion of its wetlands and is expected to lose more in the
coming years, with some estimates claiming wetland losses equivalent to
up to 1 football field per hour. One consequence of coastal erosion is
an increased vulnerability to hurricane storm surges, which affects the
New Orleans metropolitan area and other communities in the region. The
state has outlined a comprehensive master plan for coastal restoration
and has begun to implement various restoration projects such as fresh
water diversions, however certain zones will have to be prioritized and
targeted for restoration efforts, as it is unlikely that all depleted
wetlands can be rehabilitated...
Causes and factors
Man-made
levees, which were designed to protect residents and property adjacent
to the river, block spring flood water that would otherwise bring fresh
water and sediment to marshes. Swamps have been extensively logged,
leaving canals and ditches that allow saline water to move inland.
Canals dug for the oil and gas industry also allow storms to move sea
water inland, where it damages swamps and marshes. Rising sea levels
attributed to global warming have exacerbated the problem. Some
researchers estimate that the state is losing a land mass equivalent to
30 football fields every day.
An extensive levee system
aided by locks and dams has been developed in the waterways of the
lower Mississippi River. The levees, designed to prevent flooding
along the waterways, on one hand, prevent silt from draining into the
river yet also from being distributed into the marshes downriver. With
no new accretion and with steady subsidence, the wetlands slowly are
replaced by encroaching saltwater form the Gulf. As a result of this
apparent dilemma, large areas of marsh are being lost to the ocean.
Since 1930 water has consumed more than 1,900 square miles (4,900 km2)
of the state's land. This loss equates to the disappearance of 25 square
miles (65 km2) of wetlands each year or a football field sized area
every 30 minutes. This loss can be reversed, at least in some areas, but
only with large scale restoration, including the removal of levees to
allow the Mississippi River to carry silt into these areas.
Oil company canals
The
dredging of canals across the southern marshlands has long been blamed
for coastal erosion. What was then the Orleans Levee Board, now the
Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority operating as the East and
West divisions, filed a lawsuit in July 2013 against 97 oil and gas
companies for damages, claiming the 50 miles of marsh swamps, with
stands of cypress that buffered Gulf storms, were"shredded by oil
industry canals". It was considered to be an "entire ecosystem tanking",
the "largest ecological catastrophe in North America since the dust
bowl.", and "a wetland dying". “When you talk about dredging those
canals, yes, it now appears to have been a pretty stupid thing to do” . .
. . “But no one ever dreamed it would be an issue or that the coast
would waste away.” —John Laborde, Founder, Tidewater Marine, 2010. This
was not a new hypothesis as Percy Viosca, a Tulane graduate ultimately
fired by then Governor Long and brought back under another
administration, stated “Man-made modifications in Louisiana wetlands,
which are changing the conditions of existence from its very
foundations, are the result of flood protection, deforestation,
deepening channels[,] and the cutting of navigation and drainage
canals.”, and concluded with “Time is ripe for an enormous development
of the Louisiana wetlands along new and [more] intelligent lines.”, and
this was in 1925.
------------
Rising water is swallowing up the Louisiana coastline
2017
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisiana-coastline-disappearing-50-billion-dollars-to-save-climate-change-erosion/
The geography of the Louisiana coastline
is quickly changing. A state-commissioned report predicts rising water
could swallow more land along the Gulf of Mexico, if nothing is done to
address damage caused by climate change and commercial activity.
The
landscape and history of Plaquemines Parish are becoming overrun by
rising water, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor. This area was
hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina more than a decade ago, but the loss here continues to this day.
That
loss -- which on average amounts to a football field per hour --
affects just about every way of life: business, tourism, cultural
history, and perhaps most importantly, housing. Protecting much of it
are the estuaries and islands, and they are rapidly disappearing.
If you want to see what's happening to the coast of Louisiana, it's
hard to find a better spot than Adams Bay, about 50 miles southeast of
New Orleans.
We rode on water that was once lush with marshland, and arrived on a small piece of land that will soon be submerged.
"I
mean it's -- it's terrible. It's being eaten away and it's being eaten
away fast," said Brian Ostahowski, an archaeologist with the Louisiana
Archaeological Society.
Ostahowski showed us Lemon Tree Island,
which was inhabited from prehistoric times through the 1800s. Pieces of
pottery, glass and other ancient artifacts are everywhere, but not for
long.
"We are not doing excavations out here; we're doing like
emergency documentation. Within the next two years, all these sites are
going to be gone," Ostahowski said.
Time is running out. Rising
sea levels and commercial development have led to massive erosion
threatening not just Lemon Tree Island, but much of the coast.
A
new master plan released by the Coastal Protection and Restoration
Authority shows what's happened to Louisiana over the past 85 years.
From 1932 to 2010, Louisiana lost 1,900 square miles -- an area the size
of Delaware.
Another map shows what may be lost over the next 50
years due to erosion, if nothing is done. It's not just artifacts that
will be washed away.
"Coastal communities that are really
important to the offshore or the gas industry essentially become islands
out there in the middle of nowhere, in the Gulf of Mexico essentially,"
said Denise Reed, chief scientist of the Water Institute of the Gulf,
an organization that consults with state agencies and private enterprise
on where restoration is needed and how much that restoration will cost.
"That
means storm surge comes further in, water levels are deeper. That means
coastal communities are flooded. This has real impacts for people,"
Reed said. "Most of it is sea-level rise. It's coming home to roost.
Other systems are starting to experience increased high tides, flooding
in streets. Sea-level rise is becoming real for many, many coastal
communities. And so understanding what goes on here really is a great
way of not just sharing the problems in other systems, but also what
kind of hope they can have for the future."
The new master plan of
2017 calls for an investment of more than $50 billion over 50 years.
The money would be used to build barrier islands and improve wetland
habitats.
"Fifty billion dollars is a lot of money. Who pays for that?" Glor asked
"Fifty
billion dollars is a lot of money – this is a really huge problem,"
Reed said. "This is the delta of the sixth largest river in the world.
It's been a great resource for this nation for hundreds of years. Now
it's kind of time for payback."
Much of the money – about $9
billion so far – has come from settlements following the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill. It remains to be seen if and when the rest becomes
available.
The discussions are taking place and will only get more intense in the years ahead.
-------------------
How Dams Damage Rivers
https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/restoring-damaged-rivers/how-dams-damage-rivers/
------------------
The Mississippi Delta Is Disappearing Faster Than Any Other Land on Earth
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/the-mississippi-delta-is-disappearing-faster-than-any-other-land-on-earth
Scientists use cancer as an analogy to describe the erosion of the Gulf Coast — it aptly captures the pernicious process of degradation, as well as its ability to elude cures. When scientists describe the “Gulf Coast” in Louisiana, they are not referring merely to the line along which the land meets the Gulf of Mexico, but to the entire bottom third of the state, which is largely comprised of deltaic wetlands. This whole area is being eaten from within, and its disappearance will expose New Orleans’ flood protection system to storm surges stronger than it can withstand.
The causes of coastal erosion are elaborately interlinked — simplistically, they break down to sediment deficiency and saltwater intrusion. Sediment from upriver is what builds deltaic land. Levees constructed along the river for flood protection, navigation routes and other purposes trap sediment that would otherwise become part of the delta, shoring it up. Researchers are currently conducting a massive study to determine how much sediment Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts have to work with, but preliminary estimates suggests the amount is less than half of what would naturally occur. Many of these levees also cut off vital sources of freshwater to marshes, which are increasingly threatened by the intrusion of saltwater that seeps up the canals cut through the wetlands to facilitate pipelines for offshore oil extraction. The water’s heightened salinity kills the plants whose root systems literally hold the land together.
Sea-level rise induced by climate change threatens all coastal communities, but cities on river deltas are experiencing the effects first, because of the land subsidence that naturally occurs in delta systems. This subsidence, coupled with the deficiency of sediment, has made the Mississippi Delta region is the fastest-disappearing land on the planet. Unlike the millions-of-years-old rocky Eastern seaboard of the United States, however, land in river deltas is relatively new and malleable, and what disappears can be rebuilt — albeit only with massive amounts of resources and political will.
Among the most promising current approaches to rebuilding wetlands around New Orleans involves planting cypress forests grown with the help of wastewater. Hurricane Katrina knocked over approximately 320 million trees, but among the wreckage, numerous groves of upright cypress remained. Biologist Gary Shaffer, a leader of the project, says cypress roots create a tapestry so dense that the trees along the Gulf Coast have been able to weather generations of hurricanes.
“Time and time again,” he says, “the cypress swamps have stood strong.”
A digital model Shaffer and his team created illustrates the potential protective capacities of cypress forests for New Orleans. As they withstand a hurricane’s destructive forces, the trees function as buffers, slowing and weakening the storm’s effects as it moves inland. The more cypress trees a hurricane encounters on its way to New Orleans, the better the chances the city’s flood protection system will stand strong.
At the same time, Shaffer’s model shows the danger of creating nautical navigation routes without properly considering their effects on storm defense. In the 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers created the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO)—commonly called “Mr. Go,” a shortcut for ships sailing from the gulf to New Orleans. Mr. Go directly or indirectly killed about 63,000 acres of cypress-dense wetlands in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, and the channel acted as a funnel during Hurricane Katrina, sending its storm surge directly to New Orleans. Shaffer’s model reenacted Katrina’s landfall, but with conditions on the coast much as they were prior to the creation of Mr. Go. In that reenactment, the flooding in New Orleans during Katina was reduced by roughly 80 percent. Most dramatically, Shaffer’s team calculated that this amount of flooding would have resulted in zero loss of human life in the city.
In a recent TED Talk about the efforts to plant wastewater-fed cypress forests, Shaffer encouraged his audience to “take a few good shits on America’s delta.” The introduction of freshwater sources throughout the wetlands is crucial to rebuilding them, and while many scientists agree that removing levees and diverting branches of the river into marshes is the most important single step to creating a sustainable coast, toilet water will work in a pinch. In fact, Shaffer says, treated wastewater shares a lot of properties with river water that are important for wetland survival—it’s nutrient-rich, fresh and can be made to move in and out of marshes through outfall control. Currently, areas of the coast that are not connected to freshwater sources suffer a severe nutrient deficiency, up to 100 times lower than those connected to the river system, which results in widespread wetland death. But while opportunities to destroy levees to divert the Mississippi River are limited by human settlement, wastewater can be piped to any location in need of a rejuvenating drink.
In upcoming months, Shaffer’s team, along with Dr. John Day’s team at Louisiana State University, will plant 2,800 bald cypress and water tupelo seedlings in two seven-acre cells that have been created to test the efficacy of a new type of wastewater disinfection. In one of those cells, they are also building a wetland nursery to produce thousands of bald cypress and water tupelo that will be planted, in part, in assimilation wetlands with reliable sources of nutrient-rich fresh water. Another 10,000 trees are already being grown with the help of wastewater at a site Shaffer oversees in nearby Hammond, Louisiana.
Eight assimilation swamps currently exist in Louisiana — the oldest, near Breaux Bridge, dates back to the 1950s and is the only place in the state where soil rise is staying ahead of sea-level rise. With $10 million already secured from the federal Coastal Impact Assistance Program, investigators from Tulane, LSU and Southeastern University are embarking on what they hope will become a $60 million project to create the world’s largest assimilation wetland in the Central Wetlands Unit. The hope is that the marriage between cypress swamps and assimilation wetlands eventually is embraced in all of coastal Louisiana...
-----------------
‘The Great Flood’: Hauntingly Poetic Documentary Recounts the Worst Flood in U.S. History
Bill Morrison’s documentary chronicles the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 by stitching together lost footage of the historic disaster into an elegiac visual poem.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-great-flood-hauntingly-poetic-documentary-recounts-the-worst-flood-in-us-history
------------------
Louisiana is disappearing under water - can oysters save it?
2018
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180822-recycled-shells-of-louisiana-oyster-reef-protect-new-orleans
--------------------
Study shows toxic effects of oil dispersant on oysters following deepwater horizon spill
2018
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180913160039.htm
---------------------
Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Oil biodegradation inhibited in deep-sea sediments
July 19, 2018
Summary:
Degradation rates of oil were slower in the dark and cold waters of the
depths of the Gulf of Mexico than at surface conditions, according to
an international team of geoscientists trying to understand where the
oil went during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180719121748.htm
---------------------
Deepwater Horizon oil spill's dramatic effect on stingrays' sensory abilities
2018
Study first to measure physiological effects of crude oil on marine animals' olfactory system
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181113110353.htm
------------------
Deepwater Horizon disaster altered building blocks of ocean life
2019
This article is more than 9 months old
Oil spill disaster reduced biodiversity in sites closest to spill, report finds, as White House rolls back conservation measures
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/28/bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-report
---------------------
Dispersants can turn oil spills into toxic mist, research shows
2018
The dispersant chemicals used to clean up oil spills have the unintended effect of transforming crude oil into a toxic mist able to travel for miles and penetrate deep into human lungs, new research has found.
https://www.nola.com/environment/2018/03/dispersants_can_turn_oil_spill.html
---------------------
8 Important Updates, 8 Years After the Gulf Oil Disaster
2018
1) Timeline for Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion accelerated by two years
Perhaps no area was harder hit by the
oil spill than the Barataria Basin. In a place suffering some of the
worst land loss rates on the planet, crude oil coating the marshes added
insult to injury. Earlier this month, an update to the federal permitting dashboard
resulted in the timeline for the keystone Mid-Barataria Sediment
Diversion being shortened by 22 months. This is a huge victory for the
area, and will help deliver sediment into disappearing wetlands,
mimicking the natural process of the Mississippi River that built this
area in the first place. Without projects like this, the Barataria Basin
could lose an additional 550 square miles of land over the next 50
years.
(50 year land change in the Barataria Basin without restoration projects under the medium environmental scenario).
http://mississippiriverdelta.org/8-important-updates-8-years-after-the-gulf-oil-disaster/
--------------------
Nine Years Later, the BP Oil Spill’s Environmental Mess Isn’t Gone
2019
Gulf Coast ecosystems still have not fully recovered. Some may never recover.
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/04/deepwater-horizon-bp-oil-spill/
---------------------
Health consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_consequences_of_the_Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
-----------------------
There Were 137 Oil Spills in the US in 2018. See Where They Happened.
Feb 2019
https://blog.resourcewatch.org/2019/02/07/there-were-137-oil-spills-in-the-us-in-2018-see-where-they-happened/
Oil spills don’t make the news very often unless they are big, like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, which killed 11 people and spewed an estimated 205 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But spills happen frequently. According to data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there were 137 oil spills in 2018, about 11 per month.
NOAA updates their incident reports of oil and chemical spills every day through their Emergency Response Division. You can see where the reported spills occurred in the map below from Resource Watch.
The 148 incidents in the map includes incidents of spills and potential spills. From the descriptions of the spills, nine of the incidents didn’t actually detect any pollution (NOAA gets notified when there is a possible spill, when an oil-carrying boat breaks down, for example, but some incidents don’t result in spills) and two occurred outside U.S. territories. So the total number of U.S. oil spills in 2018 was 137.
Spills can happen onshore and offshore. NOAA tracks spills as they are reported, from direct observations (oil spilling from a container, a large fire at a refinery, etc.) or indirect observations (an oil sheen, a sinking boat containing oil, etc).
How Big Were the Spills?
NOAA estimated the size of 65 spills in 2018, in terms of the maximum potential gallons of petroleum released. Spills ranged in size from 2.1 million gallons to just 30 gallons. NOAA can’t estimate the size of a spill if its source is unknown, such as in the case of oil sheens like the one shown below.
The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) defines a large oil spill as more than 700 tonnes (219,000 gallons) of oil and a medium-sized spill as being between 7 and 700 tonnes (2,200 gallons to 219,000 gallons). Of the 137 oil spills tracked by NOAA, one was large and 25 were medium-sized.
-----------------
Oil Spill Kills More Than 2,400 Animals
2018
An unclear amount of oil has leaked into Colombia's waterways, and environmental activists are saying an oil company is to blame.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/oil-spill-colombia-animals-killed-spd/
-----------------
The biggest spills in history
2019
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/oil-spills-30-years-after-exxon-valdez/
Perhaps surprisingly, given its notoriety and impact on the shipping industry, the Exxon Valdez spill was only the 36th worst tanker oil spill yet recorded. The biggest between 1970 and 2018 happened in 1979, off the coast of Tobago in the West Indies when the Atlantic Empress lost 287,000 tons of crude in a collision with another tanker. For comparison, the Valdez lost 37,000 tons. (There is roughly 305 gallons in a metric ton of oil.)
The worst tanker accident in the past 25 years occurred in January 2018, when two tankers collided off the coast of China. An Iranian oil tanker, the Sanchi, lost 117,000 tons of highly toxic natural gas condensate. None of Sanchi's 32 crew members survived.
By far the biggest accidental spill into the ocean was from the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. At 35,000 feet, it was the deepest well ever drilled until the blow out that killed 11 workers. Over nearly 90 days the broken well pumped 680,000 tons (approximately 5 million barrels) of oil into the Gulf. The spill cost oil company BP an estimated $61.6 billion, and they still couldn’t contain or recover all the oil that was spilled, said Michel, who worked on the project to assess some of the impacts.
-----------------
List of oil spills
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_spills
-----------------
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
2019
https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill
-----------------
Environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_the_Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill
----------------
Meat industry blamed for largest-ever 'dead zone' in Gulf of Mexico
2017
A new report shows toxins from suppliers to companies like Tyson Foods are pouring into waterways, causing marine life to leave or die
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/01/meat-industry-dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-environment-pollution
-----------------
Deepwater Horizon oil spill updates
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bp-oil-spill
---------------------
Oil Spills News (Updates)
https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/oil_spills/
--------------------
BP Oil Spill Trashed More Shoreline Than Scientists Thought
2016
New evidence extends the size of the disaster that occurred six years ago this week.
Watch how the Gulf oil spill disintegrated this island. {Video}
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160420-bp-oil-spill-shoreline-affected-deepwater-horizon-anniversary/
------------------
The sinking islands of the Southern US
2018
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180904-the-sinking-islands-of-the-southern-us
The
rich traditions of the Gullah Geechee are at risk of being lost,
threatened by what is arguably one of the most harrowing issues the
world faces today.
--------------------------
Inside Panama’s Sinking Island | AJ+
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaBAZxXEe-E
---------------------------
'Sinking' Pacific nation is getting bigger: study
2018
https://phys.org/news/2018-02-pacific-nation-bigger.html
The
Pacific nation of Tuvalu—long seen as a prime candidate to disappear as
climate change forces up sea levels—is actually growing in size, new
research shows.
A University of Auckland study examined
changes in the geography of Tuvalu's nine atolls and 101 reef islands
between 1971 and 2014, using aerial photographs and satellite imagery.
It
found eight of the atolls and almost three-quarters of the islands grew
during the study period, lifting Tuvalu's total land area by 2.9
percent, even though sea levels in the country rose at twice the global
average.
--------------------------
The Nation of Kiribati is Growing, Not Sinking
2013
https://stream.org/nation-kiribati-growing-not-sinking/
--------------------------
Headlines 'exaggerated' climate link to sinking of Pacific islands
2016
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/10/headlines-exaggerated-climate-link-to-sinking-of-pacific-islands
Report’s author says many media outlets have misinterpreted the science by conflating sea-level rise with climate change
Links
between climate change and the sinking of five islands in the Pacific
Ocean have been exaggerated, the author of a widely reported new study
has said.
The report, published on Friday, tracked the
shapeshifting of 33 reef islands in the Solomon Islands between 1947 and
2014. It found that five had been washed away completely and six more
had been severely eroded. The study blamed the loss on a combination of
sea-level rise and high wave energy.
Many media
outlets, including the Guardian, jumped to the conclusion that the
islands were lost to climate change. But this largely misinterprets the
science, according to the study’s author, Dr Simon Albert.
“All
these headlines are certainly pushing things a bit towards the ‘climate
change has made islands vanish’ angle. I would prefer slightly more
moderate titles that focus on sea-level rise being the driver rather
than simply ‘climate change’,” Albert told the Guardian.
The
major misunderstanding stems from the conflation of sea-level rise with
climate change. As a scientifically robust and potentially destructive
articulation of climate change, sea-level rise has become almost
synonymous with the warming of the planet.
However, as
Albert’s paper points out, the ocean has been rising in the Solomon
Islands at 7mm per year, more than double the global average. Since the
1990s, trade winds in the Pacific have been particularly intense. This
has been driven partly by global warming and partly by climatic cycles -
in particular the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
“These
trade winds have basically pushed water up into western Pacific and have
driven these exceptionally high rates of [sea-level rise] in the
Solomons,” said Albert. “The trade winds are partly a natural cycle but
also the recent intensification is related to atmospheric warming.”
The proportion of the extra rise driven by climate change was not considered by Albert’s study.
Areas
of the Pacific where seas are rising at closer to the global average
have not yet experienced the same loss of land as the Solomon Islands. A
few studies, based on comparing aerial photos of islands from world war
two with current satellite images, have thus far have been
inconclusive. There is even a suggestion that atolls in the central
Pacific are getting bigger.
The loss of land in the
Pacific is a totemic image of climate change. Residents of low-lying
nations see incursions of the sea where it did not use to be and blame
the burning of fossil fuels. This study shows that the issue is more
complex than this. But it also contains a dire warning.
By
the second half of this century the sea-level rise across the Pacific
will be close to the rate observed in the Solomon Islands in recent
decades. Albert’s team also observed a disturbing trend of wave energy
increasing along with local sea-level rise, meaning islands exposed to
high seas were trounced into oblivion.
In this respect,
the drowning of these lands is a window into the future. For the first
time, we can see clearly that the amount of sea-level rise we expect
from climate change will overwhelm entire landscapes.
--------------------------
What a sinking island can tell us about sea-level change and earthquakes
2018
https://earth.stanford.edu/news/what-sinking-island-can-tell-us-about-sea-level-change-and-earthquakes#gs.7gg46t
A
new analysis of marine fossils and seismic data offers keys to better
modeling of global sea levels and earthquake risk in Southern California
– plus the last word in a century-long debate over the motion of
Catalina Island.
One of the most striking
features of Santa Catalina Island, southwest of Los Angeles, is an
absence. Unlike much of the California coast and its closest islands,
Catalina lacks cliffs stepping up and back from the sea – remnants of
shorelines carved when the Pacific sloshed higher than it does today and
fault movements had yet to push this part of the continent beyond the
water’s reach.
Instead, Catalina’s ancient beaches lie
hidden beneath the surf. Now, new research led by Stanford University
geophysicists explains why: while most islands in southern California
are inching upward, Catalina is sinking.
Scientists
have debated whether Catalina is rising or sinking for more than 100
years. As recently as 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey published a paper
concluding that the island was rapidly uplifting. “We’re directly
contrary to their results,” said Chris Castillo, a graduate student in
geophysics at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental
Sciences (Stanford Earth) and lead author of the new paper.
“When
we stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense,” said Stanford
Earth geophysicist Simon Klemperer, the paper’s senior author. Picture a
giant, sideways-S shaped fold in the tectonic plate boundary off the
California coast. “When the faults are a little bit curved, then when
the plates slide past each other, some bits are pushed up and others
subside,” Klemperer said. “Half the time you should expect an island to
be going down. The reason we don’t see that is most of the subsiding
islands have already gone below sea level. Offshore, there are a bunch
of flat-topped, submerged seamounts that used to be islands.”
The
revelation is key to understanding plate tectonics and earthquake risk
in the area around the San Andreas fault. “If Catalina were to change
direction and start going up,” Castillo said, “that would imply a
significant reorganization of the distribution of tectonic stress in
southern California.” And when tectonic stress gets redistributed, it
can influence ground motion and earthquakes.
The
research, published in the peer-reviewed Geological Society of America
Bulletin, comes amid growing urgency to understand the details and
shifts of ancient shorelines, as low-lying coastal communities reckon
with more frequent floods and accelerating sea level rise. As Castillo
put it, “We’re living in a time when the shoreline is changing on us
again.”
Send in the robots
The great depths of
Catalina’s terraces have long kept them out of reach for scientists
seeking to understand movement of the Earth’s crust along the
continental borderland in Southern California. To overcome this
challenge, the researchers created a map of the marine terraces and
their internal geometry using seismic data, which involves measuring how
sound waves bounce off structures beneath the surface of the sea floor.
Then they deployed a pair of remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs,
tethered to the E/V Nautilus research vessel to verify their results.
--------------------
Losing Ground: Southeast Louisiana Is Disappearing, Quickly
2014
A football field–sized area of land is being washed away every hour, and lawsuits are being filed to hold oil and gas companies responsible for the destruction
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/losing-ground-southeast-louisiana-is-disappearing-quickly/
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"The entire community is now a toxic waste dump"
2005
The
Gulf Coast is drowning in a poisonous stew, people are dying from
waterborne bacteria, and federal funds have been drained by years of
pro-industry policies. Katrina is one of the worst environmental
catastrophes in U.S. history.
https://www.salon.com/2005/09/09/wasteland/
-------------------
Massive Sinkhole opens in Mexico City
2007
--------------------
In Mexican Town, Three Sinkholes Prompt Debate of Water Use
September 22, 2018
https://globalpressjournal.com/americas/mexico/mexican-town-three-sinkholes-prompt-debate-water-use/
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Three Sinkholes Drain Lagoon on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
2018
Nearly three-quarters of the water at Laguna de Chakanbacán drained within a matter of days.The opening of the sinkholes was preceded by a loud rumble that startled area residents.The phenomenon is not all that uncommon on the Yucatan, although it's always impressive.
https://weather.com/science/nature/news/2018-08-30-mexico-yucatan-peninsula-sinkholes-drain-lagoon
---------------------
Cenote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote#Mexico
A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. Especially associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings.
The term derives from a word used by the low-land Yucatec Maya—ts'onot—to refer to any location with accessible groundwater. Cenotes are common geological forms in low latitude regions, particularly on islands, coastlines, and platforms with young post-Paleozoic limestones that have little soil development.
(Radar topography reveals the 180 km (110 mi) ring of the crater; clustered around the crater's trough are numerous sinkholes, suggesting a prehistoric oceanic basin in the depression left by the impact (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech).
Notable cenotes
Mexico
Central and northern regions
Zacatón, Tamaulipas
Yucatan Peninsula
Dos Ojos, Municipality of Tulum
Dzibilchaltun, Yucatán
Ik Kil, Yucatan
Gran Cenote, Municipality of Tulum
Hubiku, Yucatan
Sacred Cenote, Chichen Itza
Xtacunbilxunan, Bolonchen
Cenote Azul, Playa del Carmen
Jardin Del Eden, Playa del Carmen
Choo-Ha, Coba
Zaci, Valladolid
--------------------
4K Cenotes Dive Relaxation Video - Mexican Underwater Caves - Incredible Underwater World - 3 HOUR
May 26, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Mr3NuHjaI
--------------------
List of sinkholes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sinkholes
--------------------
Did you know? Mexico has the deepest water-filled sinkhole in the world, in Tamaulipas
2008
https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3026-did-you-know-mexico-has-the-deepest-water-filled-sinkhole-in-the-world-in-tamaulipas/
--------------------
Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature
2010
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100603-science-guatemala-sinkhole-2010-humans-caused/
Human activity, not nature, was the likely cause of the gaping sinkhole that opened up in the streets of Guatemala City on Sunday, a geologist says.
A burst sewer pipe or storm drain probably hollowed out the underground cavity that allowed the chasm to form, according to Sam Bonis, a geologist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, who is currently living in Guatemala City (map).
The Guatemala City sinkhole, estimated to be 60 feet (18 meters) wide and 300 feet (100 meters) deep, appears to have been triggered by the deluge from tropical storm Agatha.
But the cavity formed in the first place because the city—and its underground infrastructure—were built in a region where the first few hundred meters of ground are mostly made up of a material called pumice fill, deposited during past volcanic eruptions.
----------------------
Guatemala's Sinkhole Staggers Minds And Neighborhood
2010
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/guatemalas_sinkhole_staggers_m.html
--------------------
Experts: Erosion caused Mexico sinkhole, not water pumping
July 5, 2021
https://phys.org/news/2021-07-experts-erosion-mexico-sinkhole.html
--------------------
Experts warn number of sinkholes in Florida have surged since Hurricane Irma hit
2018
400 reports of sinkholes since Irma hit
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pasco/experts-warn-number-of-sinkholes-in-florida-have-surged-since-hurricane-irma-hit
-------------
The Science Behind Florida’s Sinkhole Epidemic
2018
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-behind-floridas-sinkhole-epidemic-180969158/
Reports of these ground-chasms have been swelling in the past few years. Geology helps explain why
The main trigger for sinkholes is water—too much of it, or too little. The normally moist soil of Florida has a stabilizing effect on karst. But during a drought, cavities that were supported by groundwater empty out and become unstable. During a heavy rainstorm, the weight of pooled water can strain the soil, and the sudden influx of groundwater can wash out cavities. Central Florida was in a severe drought at the beginning of 2017, followed by the intense rainfall of Hurricane Irma that hit The Villages in September—and a deluge after a drought is the optimal condition for a sinkhole outbreak.
But those major events from Mother Nature in 2017 don’t account for the spate of sinkholes this year already. The weather in Sumter County has been pretty typical. So what’s going on?
Man-made development, it turns out, is the most persistent factor for increased sinkholes. Earth-moving equipment scrapes away protective layers of soil; parking lots and paved roads divert rainwater to new infiltration points; the weight of new buildings presses down on weak spots; buried infrastructure can lead to leaking pipes; and, perhaps most of all, the pumping of groundwater disrupts the delicate water table that keeps the karst stable. “Our preliminary research indicates that the risk of sinkholes is 11 times greater in developed areas than undeveloped ones,” says George Veni, the executive director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute who conducted a field study in Sinkhole Alley...
--------------------
13 of the Biggest, Strangest, and Most Devastating Sinkholes on Earth
2008
https://www.momtastic.com/webecoist/2008/08/26/incredible-strange-amazing-sinkholes/
---------------------
Mexico City could become the Aztec Waterworld if it keeps sinking every year
2015
https://splinternews.com/mexico-city-could-become-the-aztec-waterworld-if-it-kee-1793849159
MEXICO CITY — Seven hundred years ago, ancient Mexicans achieved an ancient engineering marvel: founding the city of Tenochtitlan on top of a lake surrounded by mountains.
They did not, however, anticipate that centuries later modern chilangos, as Mexico City residents are known, would have to deal with their complicated land choice. Mexico City, which now sits on top of Tenochtitlan, is sinking and it’s sinking fast
Today some of the capital’s churches are sinking into their foundation, seemingly swallowed up by sidewalks. Historic buildings are cracking, sagging, or tilting. Now, major restoration efforts are underway to help offset the damage.
--------------------
Mexico City is sinking – and it’s going to cause some real problems
Mexico City, a scant mile and a half above sea level, is sinking. It’s a turn of events that shouldn’t surprise anyone with a rudimentary grasp of history. Established by the Aztecs in 1325, the city formerly known as Tenochtitlán occupies what was once a plexus of interconnected lakes that were first drained by the Spaniards, then paved over with concrete and steel by modern engineers. As a result, Mexico City has to dig deep—literally—to obtain fresh water for its 21 million residents. But the drilling weakens the brittle clay beds that serve as the city’s foundation, according to the New York Times, hastening the collapse even further.
https://inhabitat.com/mexico-city-is-sinking-and-its-going-to-cause-some-real-problems/
--------------------
The Looming Crisis of Sinking Ground in Mexico City
22 April 2021
New research reveals the cause of Mexico City’s rapidly sinking and fracturing ground.
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/the-looming-crisis-of-sinking-ground-in-mexico-city
--------------------
Why Mexico City's Geography SUCKS
Aug 17, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAL1kYjsVHE
--------------------
Solving Mexico City’s cataclysmic cycle of drowning, drying, and sinking
2018
https://qz.com/1281506/solving-mexico-citys-cataclysmic-cycle-of-drowning-drying-and-sinking/
-------------------
Mexico City is drinking itself into the ground
https://www.citymetric.com/fabric/mexico-city-drinking-itself-ground-2838
-------------------
Mexico City: water torture on a grand and ludicrous scale
2014
A grossly inefficient sewage system makes the city's tap water filthy and consigns millions to disease, will it ever improve?
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/05/mexico-city-water-torture-city-sewage
----------------
Overgrazing accelerating soil erosion in northern Mexico
https://en.ird.fr/the-media-centre/scientific-newssheets/overgrazing-accelerating-soil-erosion-in-northern-mexico
In
the countries of the South, erosion is a process often exacerbated by
the high rainfall that affects these regions during the wet season.
Recent research conducted in Mexico by the IRD and its partners and
continued as an observation system by one of them since the end of the
IRD-CENID RASPA programme, has led to better informed assessment of the
role of overgrazing and tree clearance in soil degradation.
-----------------
396 - Rehabilitation of eroded land in Mexico
https://en.ird.fr/the-media-centre/scientific-newssheets/396-rehabilitation-of-eroded-land-in-mexico
More
than three quarters of the land in Mexico is suffering from erosion.
Desertification is accentuated partly by the aggressive climate and
rugged topography but mostly by human activity. The phenomenon has led
to much activity since 1995: politicians, authorities and local
communities have been working together to create sustainable management
of the natural resources in water, forests and soil.
The
drainage basin of Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, is emblematic of
the situation. A Franco-Mexican team of researchers from the IRD, UNAM,
UMSNH and ColPos( 1) have selected the region as a pilot study as part
of the REVOLSO, STREAMS and DESIRE( 2) programmes, to define the runoffs
and develop suitable strategies. Actions have included hydrological
monitoring, agronomic essays and socio-economic studies, with
participation from local communities, political bodies and the
authorities( 3). Cultivation of alternative crops such as agave – used
in the production of mezcal( 4) – has been initiated, enabling a
reduction in harm to the environment and also a improvement in revenue
and quality of life for local inhabitants.
Mexico is
faced with a serious problem of soil degradation: 80% of the land is
subject to erosion. The central state of Michoacán has one of the
highest levels of soil erosion, with more than 2 million hectares
affected, 70% of the surface area. An aggressive climate, rugged and
changeable topography and fragile soils indicate that nature has played a
part. But it is human activity that is the main cause, due to
overgrazing. The derisory prices of agricultural products has led to
crop cultivation becoming a secondary resource for farmers, who have
either turned to livestock farming or abandoned their land in order to
migrate to the cities or the United States.
---------------
An Assessment of Soil Erosion Costs in Mexico
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241009980_An_Assessment_of_Soil_Erosion_Costs_in_Mexico
----------------
Beach erosion in the tourist resort of Cancún, Mexico
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=3107
----------------
Coastal Erosion Along the Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico: An Overview
http://journals.fcla.edu/jcr/article/view/80720
---------------
Beach Erosion Driven by Natural and Human Activity at Isla del Carmen Barrier Island, Mexico
2014
https://www.jcronline.org/doi/abs/10.2112/SI71-008.1
----------------
Seafloor erosion now occurring like coastal land loss
2018
Summary:
Scientists
have discovered that the seafloor from the Mississippi River Delta to
the Gulf of Mexico is eroding like the land loss that is occurring on
the Louisiana coast.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180403124043.htm
------------------------
Hurricane-Induced Coastal Erosion Hazards
https://toolkit.climate.gov/tool/hurricane-induced-coastal-erosion-hazards
-------------
Even Weak Hurricanes Pose Gulf Coast Erosion Threat
2012
https://www.livescience.com/31489-hurricane-storm-surge-threat.html
------------
Like the Louisiana coast, the Gulf seafloor is rapidly eroding, research finds
2018
https://www.nola.com/environment/2018/04/like_the_louisiana_coast_the_g.html
--------------
Deepwater Horizon Spill Caused Shore Erosion in the Gulf of Mexico
http://science.unctv.org/content/deepwater-horizon-spill-caused-shore-erosion-gulf-mexico
--------------
Flooding, erosion risks rise as Gulf of Mexico waves loom larger
-------------
A fortune made of sand: How climate change is destroying Cancun...
2013
https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-11-11/fortune-made-sand-how-climate-change-destroying-cancun
-------------
Anthropogenic Soil Erosion around Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico, during the Preclassic and Late Postclassic-Hispanic Periods
-------------
Silent Hazards, Invisible Risks: Prehispanic Erosion in the Teotihuacan Valley, Central Mexico
2011
http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/McClung_deTapia2012.pdf
-------------
Mexican state of Guanajuato suffering poor water quality, erosion issues
2013
https://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/12/19/35199/mexican-state-of-guanajuato-suffering-poor-water-q/
The
Mexican state of Guanajuato is more than 1,500 miles from the border,
but it's long been one of the biggest sources of migrants to the U.S.
Most people are coming here for an obvious reason: Jobs. But there's
another potential factor at play: water, or the lack of it.
More
than 20% of Mexico’s wells are in Guanajuato, including thousands of
wells in the Silao-Romita aquifer. Now much of that land is sinking – as
much as two to three meters a year.
Dr. Francisco
Martínez González, a scholar of Geomatics and Hydrology at the
University of Guanajuato, visited Cal State Fullerton recently. He
presented research from a group of a dozen professors in Guanajuato, who
study among them surface hydrology, geohydrology, and water pollution
and treatment technologies.
He says aquifer pumping, reaching deeper and deeper into the earth, is pulling up water of worsening quality.
“Water
is deeper, we have problems with natural pollution because heavy metals
come from rock at that levels,” Martínez González says. “Now we are
researching how to take out that contaminant.”
Guanajuato’s
an agricultural region, with some industry. But Martínez González says
among those who have priority for pumping there are corporations from
outside the state.
“People from rural communities don’t have the ability or supply for water for making another economic activities,” he says.
“That’s
why this is a factor for migration,” says Martínez González. “I know
migration have many other factors but water is one of them.”
Immigration
in Mexico is well-studied territory, and Guanajuato’s a big part of the
story. That state has long contributed to northward migration from
Mexico to the United States.
But the stories Dr.
Martínez González and his team have heard, of people emigrating from
Guanajuato because of water shortages, are anecdotal.
Mikael
Wolfe is an environmental historian of modern Mexico. His book Watering
the Revolution, forthcoming from Duke University Press, deals with
agrarian reform in La Laguna, a region in the north of the country.
Through his studies of Laguna, he’s been able to assemble a pretty clear
picture of Mexico’s water management policies over the last century.
He
says demand from diverse sectors of Mexican society has long
outstripped supply. “By the 1930s you already have engineers working in
the government warning that there’s potential problems,” says Wolfe.
In
an article, he documents the close connection between public officials
managing water and the industry that exploited it. “The secretary of
agriculture got involved in the business of groundwater pumping,” Wolfe
says. “That is, setting up a company, a Mexican subsidiary of a major us
multinational of groundwater pumps, Worthington. And he himself proudly
talks about his access to the president because of his political
connections.”
Reform attempts, he says, met strong and
diverse thirsts from all sectors of water users. “Prohibitions were put
in place but they found ways to violate them or not comply with them,”
Wolfe says.
Wolfe concludes that social, economic,
political and ecological forces brewed together to render groundwater
conservation “almost impossible in twentieth-century Mexico – a legacy
that tragically persists to this day.”
-------------
Corrosion in Mexico
https://corrosion-doctors.org/AtmCorros/mapMexico.htm
Air Pollution in Mexico
Air
pollution in the large cities of Mexico is becoming a serious concern
for both local and national governments. Mexico City, Guadalajara and
Ciudad Juarez are the most polluted, with Mexico City's air quality
being among the worst in the world. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), Mexico City's air averages 179 mg per cubic meter of
suspended particulates, well above the WHO 90 mg maximum
recommendation.
Exhaust fumes from Mexico City's 3
million cars (approximately) are the main source of air pollutants.
Problems resulting from the high levels of exhaust are exacerbated by
the fact that Mexico City is situated in a basin. The geography prevents
winds from blowing away the pollution, trapping it above the city.
Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest urban center, exceeds pollution
limits 90% of the year, due largely to the large number of vehicles
operating in the city. Ciudad Juarez, a border city of 1.4 million
inhabitants, is home to many assembly plants ("maquiladoras") that are
responsible for the release of dangerous substances into the
environment.
Though automobiles still account for 90%
of air pollution, industrial growth is also causing increased
environmental damage to the area. Air pollution in northern Mexico also
impacts U.S. border areas. The Mexican government has presented several
innovative proposals for fighting air pollution, including incentives
for using cleaner fuels and smog control measures. In major urban
centers, private car drivers are required to have catalytic converters
or refrain from driving one day a week. The pollution fighting measures
put in place in the mid-1990s have already improved visibility and air
quality in the city. Mexican environmental initiatives include
developing clean taxis and small buses in order to reduce urban
emissions; improving environmental infrastructure; and strengthening the
northern border regions' environmental planning and administration.
--------------
Channel erosion in a rapidly urbanizing region of Tijuana, Mexico: Enlargement downstream of channel hardpoints
2016
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016EGUGA..1812493T
--------------
Wildfires Cause Surges In Erosion Rates On Forested Mountains
2016
https://www.fondriest.com/news/wildfires-cause-surges-erosion-rates-forested-mountains.htm
------------
Geology of the coastal Chiapas (Mexico) Miocene plutons and the Tonalá shear zone: Syntectonic emplacement and rapid exhumation during sinistral transpression
2015
Abstract
Late Miocene plutons in coastal Chiapas, Mexico, represent the roots of an extinct magmatic arc. Miocene granitoids of calc-alkaline composition and arc chemistry intruded into and were deformed within the Tonalá mylonite belt in the middle to upper crust. The mylonite belt is a crustal-scale shear zone extending along the western margin of the Chiapas Massif for ∼150 km. Deformation is characterized by a doinantly subhorizontal lineation and subvertical foliation along a strikingly linear zone that trends ∼310°. Mylonitic fabrics contain ambiguous but dominantly sinistral shear indicators. Intrusions are interpreted as syntectonic on the basis of similar U-Pb zircon crystallization age estimates (ca. 10 Ma) and the cooling age estimates obtained on neoformed micas in the mylonite. The plutons are elongated, their long axis is parallel to shear zone, and some plutons show markedly asymmetric outcrop patterns, with sheared tails that trail behind the intrusions and that are consistent with sinistral displacement. Parts of plutons were mylonitized by continuous deformation in the Tonalá shear zone, locally developing intricate pseudotachylyte and cataclasite veins slightly oblique to the mylonite foliation. Outside of the shear zone, plutons preserve magmatic fabrics. These observations are consistent with features common to syntectonic granites interpreted to have been emplaced along strike-slip shear zones in a transpressional setting. We interpret the Tonalá mylonites as representing a relict transform boundary that was slightly oblique to the Polochic-Motagua fault system, which accommodated over 100 km of sinistral displacement between the Chortis block (on the Caribbean plate) and Chiapas (on the North America plate) in late Miocene time.
--------------
Western Interior Seaway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interior_Seaway
(Many parts of Mexico and America were once underwater}.
----------------
Mexico’s Rivers
2013
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=9117
Mexican rivers are not well suited for navigation and thus have had only a minor influence on Mexico’s historical development. Their most important use has been as sources of irrigation water and hydroelectric power. Mexico’s annual flow of river water (roughly 410 km3) is about 25% more than the St. Lawrence River, but 25% less than the Mississippi River. Most of this flow is in southern Mexico which gets by far the most rainfall. Mexico’s dams have an installed capacity of about 11 gigawatts of electricity, roughly one fifth of the country’s total generating capacity; they don’t operate at full capacity, so they only generate about one eighth of total electricity. Only about a fifth of the total river water is consumed for other productive purposes. This proportion is far higher for rivers in drier northern Mexico where river flow is significantly smaller during the dry winter months.
The two longest rivers in Mexico, the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande north of the border) and Colorado, start in the US state of Colorado (see map). The Río Bravo is about 3000 km (1900 mi) long and forms the border between Mexico and the USA for about 2000 km (1250 mi). Occasionally floods shift its location resulting in border disputes. Though it drains about a quarter of Mexico’s total area, its drainage basin is arid and its total flow is less than 2% of Mexico’s total. The Colorado River, which is almost entirely in the USA, formed a vast delta in the otherwise arid Sonoran desert in northern Mexico. The amount of water reaching Mexico has declined dramatically as a result of the Hoover and Glen Canyon dams and other diversions in the USA (see here, here and here). As a result delta wetlands have been reduced to about 5% of their original extent, and the potential water supply for the rapidly-growing urban centers of Mexicali, Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito has been compromised.
-----------------
Speleogenesis: How were caves and cenotes formed?
2017
One of the distinctive features of the northern Yucatán Peninsula is its almost flat topography, lacking valleys or mountains, and altitudes that barely exceeds 30 meters. The soil type consists mainly of limestone, or saskab (Maya word for “white soil”), which contains calcium and magnesium carbonates that are slightly soluble in water.
Millions of years ago the Peninsula was very different from how we know it today, as it has undergone radical modifications due to climate and sea level changes on the planet. An example of these changes was during the Last Glacial Maximum at the peak of the Ice Age – about 22,000 years ago – when the sea level was 120 meters below its current level, and many of the cenotes in which we can snorkel and dive today were dry. Since then, the level of the sea has been progressively increasing more or less gradually and many caves were flooded.
Figure 6. Changes in
sea level at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, which began 2.5 million
years ago setting up the modern glacial periods. When the sea level
changes, the position of the halocline also changes and the cave systems
begin to form and extend.
https://sites.northwestern.edu/monroyrios/2017/12/26/speleogenesis/#.XMgtM6R7ldg
----------------
The Time Terror Birds Invaded
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0aDc6sBtg
----------------
Another huge impact crater under Greenland ice?
Feb 2019
https://earthsky.org/earth/another-huge-impact-crater-under-greenland-ice
----------------
Massive Crater Discovered Under Greenland Ice
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTr3VdGlFr8
---------------
Greenland's Ice Sheet Was Growing. Now It's in a Terrifying Decline
2019
https://www.livescience.com/65302-greenland-ice-melting-so-much-faster.html
----------------
Greenland Is Falling Apart
April 23, 2019
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/04/how-much-ice-has-greenland-lost-climate-change/587431/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Since 1972, the giant island’s ice sheet has lost 11 quadrillion pounds of water.
-----------------
New Research Suggests Earth Lost 9.6 Trillion Tons of Ice... Here's Why
April 22, 2019
Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk
about a recent report that suggests our planet lost about 9 trillion
tons of ice in the last 57 or so years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbK_fLNJJWw
------------------
Dreaded Polar Vortex May Be Shifting
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dreaded-polar-vortex-may-be-shifting/
-----------------
Magnetic north just changed. Here's what that means.
2019
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/magnetic-north-update-navigation-maps/
The
foundation of many navigation systems, the World Magnetic Model finally
got a much-needed update with the end of the U.S. government shutdown.
-------------------------------
Scientists explain magnetic pole's wanderings
May 6, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43720024
-------------------------------
Midwest Polar Vortex in Pictures: Niagara Falls, Lake Michigan and Chicago River Frozen
2019
https://www.newsweek.com/polar-vortex-weather-chicago-niagara-falls-lake-michigan-1312678
Images that illustrate the extreme weather, from frozen eyebrows in Chicago to snow-caked pedestrians in New York.
--------------------------------
Is sea level rising?
Yes, sea level is rising at an increasing rate.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevel.html
Global
sea level has been rising over the past century, and the rate has
increased in recent decades. In 2014, global sea level was 2.6 inches
above the 1993 average—the highest annual average in the satellite
record (1993-present). Sea level continues to rise at a rate of about
one-eighth of an inch per year.
Higher sea levels mean
that deadly and destructive storm surges push farther inland than they
once did, which also means more frequent nuisance flooding. Disruptive
and expensive, nuisance flooding is estimated to be from 300 percent to
900 percent more frequent within U.S. coastal communities than it was
just 50 years ago.
The two major causes of global sea
level rise are thermal expansion caused by warming of the ocean (since
water expands as it warms) and increased melting of land-based ice, such
as glaciers and ice sheets. The oceans are absorbing more than 90
percent of the increased atmospheric heat associated with emissions from
human activity.
With continued ocean and atmospheric
warming, sea levels will likely rise for many centuries at rates higher
than that of the current century. In the United States, almost 40
percent of the population lives in relatively high-population-density
coastal areas, where sea level plays a role in flooding, shoreline
erosion, and hazards from storms. Globally, eight of the world's 10
largest cities are near a coast, according to the U.N. Atlas of the
Oceans.
Sea level rise at specific locations may be
more or less than the global average due to local factors such as land
subsidence from natural processes and withdrawal of groundwater and
fossil fuels, changes in regional ocean currents, and whether the land
is still rebounding from the compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers. In
urban settings, rising seas threaten infrastructure necessary for local
jobs and regional industries. Roads, bridges, subways, water supplies,
oil and gas wells, power plants, sewage treatment plants,
landfills—virtually all human infrastructure—is at risk from sea level
rise.
--------------------------------
Sea level rise, explained
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/
Oceans are rising around the world, causing dangerous flooding. Why is this happening, and what can we do to stem the tide?
As
humans continue to pour greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, oceans
have tempered the effect. The world's seas have absorbed more than 90
percent of the heat from these gases, but it’s taking a toll on our
oceans: 2018 set a new record for ocean heating.
Many
people think of global warming and climate change as synonyms, but
scientists prefer to use “climate change” when describing the complex
shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems.
Rising
seas is one of those climate change effects. Average sea levels have
swelled over 8 inches (about 23 cm) since 1880, with about three of
those inches gained in the last 25 years. Every year, the sea rises
another .13 inches (3.2 mm).
The change in sea levels is linked to three primary factors, all induced by ongoing global climate change:
Thermal expansion: When water heats up, it expands. About half of the
sea-level rise over the past 25 years is attributable to warmer oceans
simply occupying more space.
Melting glaciers: Large ice
formations such as mountain glaciers naturally melt a bit each summer.
In the winter, snows, primarily from evaporated seawater, are generally
sufficient to balance out the melting. Recently, though, persistently
higher temperatures caused by global warming have led to
greater-than-average summer melting as well as diminished snowfall due
to later winters and earlier springs. That creates an imbalance between
runoff and ocean evaporation, causing sea levels to rise.
Loss
of Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets: As with mountain glaciers,
increased heat is causing the massive ice sheets that cover Greenland
and Antarctica to melt more quickly. Scientists also believe that
meltwater from above and seawater from below is seeping beneath
Greenland's ice sheets, effectively lubricating ice streams and causing
them to move more quickly into the sea. While melting in West Antarctica
has drawn considerable focus from scientists, especially with the 2017
break in the Larsen C ice shelf, glaciers in East Antarctica are also
showing signs of destabilizing.
How high will it go?
Most
predictions say the warming of the planet will continue and is likely
to accelerate, causing the oceans to keep rising. This means hundreds of
coastal cities face flooding. But forecasting how much and how soon
seas will rise remains an area of ongoing research.
The
most recent special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change says we can expect the oceans to rise between 10 and 30 inches
(26 to 77 centimeters) by 2100 with temperatures warming 1.5 °C. That’s
enough to seriously affect many of the cities along the U.S. East Coast.
Another analysis based on NASA and European data skewed toward the
higher end of that range, predicting a rise of 26 inches (65
centimeters) by the end of this century if the current trajectory
continues.
If all the ice that currently exists on
Earth in glaciers and sheets melted it would raise sea level by 216
feet. That could cause entire states and even some countries to
disappear under the waves, from Florida to Bangladesh. That’s not a
scenario scientists think is likely, and it would probably take many
centuries, but it could eventually happen if the world keeps burning
fossil fuels indiscriminately.
In the meantime,
scientists keep refining their models of sea-level changes. They also
point out that the extent to which countries work together to limit
release of more greenhouse gases may have a significant impact on how
quickly seas rise, and how much.
--------------------------------
Undersea gases could superheat the planet
Feb 2019
Carbon reservoirs on ocean floor caused global warming before -- and could do it again
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190213090812.htm
------------------------------
Explainer: Why sea levels aren't rising at the same rate globally
2019
A spinning planet, melting ice sheets and warmer waters all contribute to sea level rise
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/explainer-why-sea-level-rise-rate-varies-globally
---------------------------------
Tides may regularly swamp many U.S. cities
2015
As sea levels climb, even Washington, D.C., could see more frequent and more widespread flooding at high tide
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/tides-may-regularly-swamp-many-us-cities
-----------------------------
World's Tallest Tsunami {On Record}
https://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml
A tsunami with a record run-up height of 1720 feet occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska
On
the night of July 9, 1958, an earthquake along the Fairweather Fault in
the Alaska Panhandle loosened about 40 million cubic yards (30.6
million cubic meters) of rock high above the northeastern shore of
Lituya Bay. This mass of rock plunged from an altitude of approximately
3000 feet (914 meters) down into the waters of Gilbert Inlet (see map
below). The impact force of the rockfall generated a local tsunami that
crashed against the southwest shoreline of Gilbert Inlet.
The
wave hit with such power that it swept completely over the spur of land
that separates Gilbert Inlet from the main body of Lituya Bay. The wave
then continued down the entire length of Lituya Bay, over La Chaussee
Spit and into the Gulf of Alaska. The force of the wave removed all
trees and vegetation from elevations as high as 1720 feet (524 meters)
above sea level. Millions of trees were uprooted and swept away by the
wave. This is the highest wave that has ever been known.
----------------------------
Sea level rise
Since
at least the start of the 20th century, the average global sea level
has been rising. Between 1900 and 2016, the sea level rose by 16–21 cm
(6.3–8.3 in). More precise data gathered from satellite radar
measurements reveal an accelerating rise of 7.5 cm (3.0 in) from 1993 to
2017,[3]:1554 which is a trend of roughly 30 cm (12 in) per century.
This acceleration is due mostly to human-caused global warming, which is
driving thermal expansion of seawater and the melting of land-based ice
sheets and glaciers. Between 1993 and 2018, thermal expansion of the
oceans contributed 42% to sea level rise; the melting of temperate
glaciers, 21%; Greenland, 15%; and Antarctica, 8%. Climate scientists
expect the rate to further accelerate during the 21st century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise
--------------------------------
Megatsunami
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami#Historic
Contents
1 Overview
2 Recognition of the concept of megatsunami
3 Analysis of mechanism
4 List of megatsunamis
4.1 Prehistoric
4.2 Historic
4.2.1 c. 2000 BC: Réunion
4.2.2 c. 1600 BC: Santorini
4.3 Modern
4.3.1 1792: Mount Unzen, Japan
4.3.2 1883: Krakatoa
4.3.3 1958: Lituya Bay, Alaska, US
4.3.4 1963: Vajont Dam, Italy
4.3.5 1980: Spirit Lake, Washington, US
5 Potential future megatsunamis
5.1 British Columbia
5.2 Canary Islands
5.3 Hawaii
5.4 Cape Verde Islands
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
List of megatsunamis
Prehistoric
The
asteroid linked to the extinction of dinosaurs, which created the
Chicxulub crater in Yucatán approximately 66 million years ago, would
have caused an over 100 metres (330 ft) tall megatsunami. The height of
the tsunami was limited due to relatively shallow sea in the area of the
impact; in deep sea it would be 4.6 kilometres (2.9 mi) tall.[4]. A
more recent simulation of the global effects of the megatsunami showed
initial wave height of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi), with later waves up to
100 metres (330 ft) height in the Gulf of Mexico, and up to 14 metres
(46 ft) in the North Atlantic and South Pacific.
A series of
megatsunamis were generated by the bolide impact that created the
Chesapeake Bay impact crater, about 35.5 million years ago.
During the Messinian the coasts of northern Chile were likely struck by various megatsunamis.
A
megatsunami affected the coast of south–central Chile in the Pliocene
as evidenced by the sedimentary record of Ranquil Formation.
The
Eltanin impact in the southeast Pacific Ocean 2.5 million years ago
caused a megatsunami that was over 200 m (660 ft) high in southern Chile
and the Antarctic Peninsula; the wave swept across much of the Pacific
Ocean.
The northern half of the East Molokai Volcano suffered a
catastrophic collapse and likely megatsunami about 1.5 million years ago
and now lies as a debris field scattered northward across the ocean
bottom,[9] while what remains on the island are the highest sea cliffs
in the world.
The existence of large scattered boulders in
only one of the four marine terraces of Herradura Bay south of the
Chilean city of Coquimbo has been interpreted by Roland Paskoff as the
result of a mega-tsunami that occurred in the Middle Pleistocene.
A
massive collapse of the western edge of the Lake Tahoe basin, which
formed McKinney Bay around 50,000 years ago, is thought to have
generated a tsunami/seiche wave with a height approaching 330 ft (100
m).
In the North Sea, the Storegga Slide caused a megatsunami
approximately 8,200 years ago. It is estimated to have completely
flooded the remainder of Doggerland.
Approximately 8,000 years
ago, a massive volcanic landslide off Mt. Etna, Sicily caused a
megatsunami which devastated the eastern Mediterranean coastline on
three continents. Wave heights on the coast of Calabria are estimated to
have reached a maximum of 40m.
-------------------------------
Submarine canyons
https://www.mbari.org/submarine-canyons/
Geologist
Charles Paull studies submarine canyons, trying to figure out how they
form, and how much sediment and organic material they carry into the
deep sea.
--------------------------------
Unknown submarine landslides discovered in Gulf of Mexico
May 18, 2020
https://www.climatechange.ie/unknown-submarine-landslides-discovered-in-gulf-of-mexico/
--------------------------------
Study identifies 85 previously unknown submarine landslides in Gulf of Mexico from 2008 to 2015
May 24, 2020
Researchers from Florida State University have found 85 previously unknown submarine landslides in the Gulf of Mexico from 2008 to 2015. The discovery raised concerns about the stability of structures, such as oil rigs and pipelines, built in the region.
https://watchers.news/2020/05/24/study-identifies-85-previously-unknown-submarine-landslides-in-gulf-of-mexico-from-2008-to-2015/
--------------------------------
Chalk reveals greatest underwater landslide
October 26, 2004
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chalk-reveals-greatest-underwater-landslide
--------------------------------
Swept Away — Deep-sea robot, caught in underwater avalanche, yields new scientific insights {Video}
2015
https://www.mbari.org/swept-away-deep-sea-robot-caught-in-underwater-avalanche-yields-new-scientific-insights/
-------------------------------
A Vault of Glass and the Deepest Volcanic Eruption Ever Detected
2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/science/deep-sea-volcano.html
Close
to the Mariana Trench and nearly three miles below sea level,
scientists found evidence of an underwater eruption that was only months
old.
In 2015, an international team of researchers
sent robotic submersibles beneath the waves north of Guam. They had set
out to study an area south and west of the Mariana Trench — the deepest
groove in Earth’s oceans — and an arc of volcanoes, hoping to spy hidden
hydrothermal vents.
Instead, they discovered a spectacular glassy
labyrinth, nearly three miles below sea level. It was recently cooled
lava, the product of the deepest underwater volcanic eruption ever
recorded by scientists.
The researchers reported their discovery
last week in Frontiers in Earth Science. The identification of deep-sea
eruptions happens very rarely, said Bill Chadwick, a seafloor geologist
at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Oregon and lead
author of the new study, and discovering one “is an opportunity to learn
about a fundamental Earth process that we know little about.”
The
finding wasn’t just notable for its extraordinary depth. The extremely
young age of the lava deposit offers scientists a window into the very
beginnings of what happens when a volcanic outburst occurs beneath the
seas. So often, they just see an epilogue.
-------------------------------
MBARI engineers create “smart boulders” to understand how sand moves in submarine canyons
2015
https://www.mbari.org/mbari-engineers-create-smart-boulders-to-understand-how-sand-moves-in-submarine-canyons/
--------------------------------
Earth could warm by 14°C as growing emissions destroy crucial clouds
Feb 2019
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2194781-earth-could-warm-by-14c-as-growing-emissions-destroy-crucial-clouds/
--------------------------------
Egypt’s Nile River Delta Is Sinking Into the Sea
2015
So why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
https://medium.com/climate-desk/egypt-s-nile-river-delta-is-sinking-into-the-sea-629c0b78b2f8
--------------------------------
How Fast Is the Nile Delta Sinking?
2018
New study calculates the delta’s subsidence on the basis of satellite data.
https://eos.org/research-spotlights/how-fast-is-the-nile-delta-sinking
The Nile Delta makes up just 2% of Egypt’s total area, but it’s home to 41% of its population—roughly 95 million people. These communities are under threat, however; much of the northern delta is gradually sinking into seawater, drowning rich agricultural land and communities. But just how quickly is it going under? A new study based on satellite data provides an estimate: If sea level rise, oil and gas drilling, and groundwater pumping continue unchecked, nearly 3,000 square kilometers of the delta will sink by 2100.
The delta’s subsidence can be traced to many factors. One key contributor is the upstream Aswan High Dam, built in the 1960s, which has reduced the amount of sediment that reaches the delta by more than 98%. Unable to replenish sediment lost to erosion, the delta has been gradually starved of its fertile mud. Simultaneously, over the past 30 years, Egypt has been pumping groundwater for agricultural, industrial, and urban use at an exponential rate, causing large areas to subside. In addition, Egypt has rapidly become Africa’s second largest producer of natural gas, extracting much of that fuel from the thick layers of sand and shale underlying the delta and exacerbating subsidence.
Although scientists have long known that large swathes of the delta are caving in and will be flooded by seawater, other regions appear to be uplifting because of flex in the sedimentary basin’s geology. To track the region’s deformation, Gebremichael et al. decided to take a bird’s-eye—or, rather, a satellite’s— view of the entire >40,000-square-kilometer delta and surroundings. They obtained a series of 84 highly detailed images taken between 2004 and 2010 and used a technology called persistent scatterer interferometry to reveal subtle changes in its topography.
-------------------------
Ancient Egypt’s perfectly preserved underwater cities, and how they were discovered
2016
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/africa/2016/06/ancient-egypt-s-perfectly-preserved-underwater-cities-and-how-they-were
Two sunken cities have been found at the mouth of the river Nile.
--------------------------
The secrets of a lost Egyptian city were underwater
2016
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sunken-cities-exhibition-egypt-greece-london/
Until 1996, two of Egypt's greatest cities were missing. Then along came French archeologist Franck Goddio, who made an extraordinary discovery underwater.
For 1,000 years, Thonis-Heracleion was completely submerged. Fish made their homes among the rubble of mighty temples; hieroglyphs gathered algae. Gods and kings sat in stasis, powerless, their statues slowly withdrawing from the world, one inch of sand at a time. Goddio spent years surveying this find, as well as neighboring Canopus, which was rediscovered by a British RAF pilot in 1933 who noticed ruins leading into the waters.
Thanks to a new exhibition at the British Museum, Goddio's incredible finds will soon be open to the public.
Sunken Cities: Egypt's Lost Worlds opens May 19, and according to museum curator, Aurelia Masson-Berghoff, the exhibition pulls back the curtain on what was once one of archeology's greatest mysteries.
"(Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus) were known from Greek mythology, Greek historians and Egyptian decrees, and now we know where they were."
------------------------
If Climate Change Doesn’t Sink Alexandria, Egypt’s Official Incompetence Will
2016
It's not alone among World Heritage Sites facing encroaching seas.
http://www.takepart.com/feature/2016/02/26/sea-level-rise-alexandria
--------------------------
Risk of Coastal Flooding Badly Underestimated Because Models Forgot Sinking Cities
2018
Land subsidence plus rising sea levels equals big problem for 2 billion people living on or near the coast, especially those in megacities such as San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo
https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/MAGAZINE-risk-of-coastal-flooding-worse-because-models-forgot-sinking-cities-1.5885691
----------------
Ancient climate change triggered warming that lasted thousands of years
2019
https://phys.org/news/2019-01-ancient-climate-triggered-thousands-years.html
----------------
Climate Change Likely Caused Migration, Demise of Ancient Indus Valley Civilization
2018
https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/climate-change-likely-caused-migration-demise-of-ancient-indus-valley-civilization/
-----------------
Ice Age climate caused sediment sourcing in Gulf of Mexico to switch dramatically
Jan 2019
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116185224.htm
Summary:
The onset of the most recent ice age about 2.6 million years ago changed where the western Gulf of Mexico gets its supply of sediments. The finding adds new insight into how extreme climate change can directly impact fundamental geological processes and how those impacts play out across different environments.
-----------------
Ancient Poop Reveals Role of Climate Change in Cahokia’s Downfall
Feb 2019
https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/02/poop-lessons-ancient-cities-cahokia-climate-change/583633/
The decline of the famed prehistoric city near modern-day St. Louis is at least partially a story of climate change.
This story was originally published by Atlas Obscura and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Never underestimate the power of poop. After more than 1,000 years, it can still have a lot to offer.
Just ask the authors of a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which discusses how fecal remains can teach us about the rise and fall of Cahokia, an ancient city less than 10 miles outside of present-day St. Louis, Missouri. According to UNESCO, Cahokia was “the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico.”
Previous excavations of houses in the area, said co-author Sissel Schroeder in a press release, had found that the city’s population began to grow around the year 600, peaking by 1100 with tens of thousands of residents. Things began to change around 1200, with the city emptying out by 1400. AJ White, lead author of the new study and a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, set out with his colleagues to fuse data from both the archaeological and environmental records, in hopes of clarifying what drove out Cahokia’s residents.
Naturally, the researchers turned to poop. More of it was deposited, of course, when more people were living in the area—so, they wondered, would poop dating from the time of the downturn contain any clues as to what was going on then? To investigate, White and his colleagues examined two sediment cores taken from Cahokia’s Horseshoe Lake. (One was newly cored by White, the other by the environmental scientist Samuel Munoz in 2015.) These cores contain “fecal stanols,” traces of the human poop that drifted off from the land and into the lake. Researchers are able to date the cores because as they get newer, they appear higher up within the lake.
The team compared the levels of fecal stanols to those of other stanols that come from bacteria in the soil. They found that, the younger the sediments got, the heavier their oxygen concentrations—meaning that water was evaporating along with lighter forms of oxygen. In other words, there was probably less precipitation during Cahokia’s later years—when we know from excavations that fewer people were living there—thus impeding local agriculture and causing the population to thin out. The fall of Cahokia, it seems, is at least partially a story of climate change. It’s a tale that’s been told by other poops as well, such as those of Incan llamas in the Andes.
-----------------
Climate Change Threatens Mexico’s Atlantic Coast
Jan 2019
https://reliefweb.int/report/mexico/climate-change-threatens-mexico-s-atlantic-coast
-----------------
Climatic history study suggests pre-Columbian Mesoamerican society's demise was more complex than just weather
2015
https://phys.org/news/2015-01-climatic-history-pre-columbian-mesoamerican-society.html
-----------------
Ancient Maya civilisation was destroyed by massive drought, scientists find
2018
New research confirms theory about how great society collapsed 1,000 years ago
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/mayan-temples-civilisation-drought-climate-change-mexico-university-cambridge-a8475121.html
------------------
How 650 Years of Drought Killed an Ancient City in Mexico
2015
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/how-650-years-drought-killed-ancient-city-mexico-n298661
-------------------
Finding signs of climate change and adaptation in the ancient Maya lowlands
2015
https://news.yale.edu/2015/04/20/finding-signs-climate-change-and-adaptation-ancient-maya-lowlands
------------------
Possible role of climate in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization
1995
https://www.nature.com/articles/375391a0
------------------
Forest Razing by Ancient Maya Worsened Droughts, Says Study
2012
Human-Influenced Climate Change May Have Contributed to Society's Collapse
https://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/3001
------------------
Climate Change and Violence in the Ancient American Southwest
2002
http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-18-4-c-climate-change-and-violence-in-the-ancient-american-southwest
-----------------
The perfect storm: climate change and ancient Maya response in the Puuc Hills region of Yucatán
2017
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/perfect-storm-climate-change-and-ancient-maya-response-in-the-puuc-hills-region-of-yucatan/1D9B985878D872EE50502655CE3401B4
Climatic fluctuation is often cited as a major factor in the collapse of Maya civilisation during the Terminal Classic Period (e.g. Luzzadder-Beach et al. 2016). Evidence of how people dealt or failed to deal with it has only recently become a more widespread focus for archaeologists. Investigations at Xcoch in the Puuc Hills show the various ways in which resident populations sought to manage water stores when faced with a climate prone to drought and other meteorological extremes. The study also presents results from the analysis of nearby speleothem laminae, which indicate that severe episodes of flooding and droughts may have contributed to a collapse in the population around AD 850.
------------------
Climate change and the rise and fall of civilizations
2014
https://climate.nasa.gov/news/1010/climate-change-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-civilizations/
------------------
Ancient Cold Period Could Provide Clues About Future Climate Change
2015
Researchers at UT Austin have found that a well-known period of abrupt climate change 12,000 years ago occurred rapidly in northern latitudes but much more gradually in equatorial regions, a discovery that could prove important for understanding and responding to future climate change.
https://news.utexas.edu/2015/09/02/ancient-cold-period-could-provide-clues-on-climate-change/
------------------
What does past climate change tell us about global warming?
https://skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period.htm
Abrupt vs slow change.
Life flourished in the Eocene, the Cretaceous and other times of high CO2 in the atmosphere because the greenhouse gasses were in balance with the carbon in the oceans and the weathering of rocks. Life, ocean chemistry, and atmospheric gasses had millions of years to adjust to those levels.
But there have been several times in Earth’s past when Earth's temperature jumped abruptly, in much the same way as they are doing today. Those times were caused by large and rapid greenhouse gas emissions, just like humans are causing today.
Those abrupt global warming events were almost always highly destructive for life, causing mass extinctions such as at the end of the Permian, Triassic, or even mid-Cambrian periods. The symptoms from those events (a big, rapid jump in global temperatures, rising sea levels, and ocean acidification) are all happening today with human-caused climate change.
So yes, the climate has changed before humans, and in most cases scientists know why. In all cases we see the same association between CO2 levels and global temperatures. And past examples of rapid carbon emissions (just like today) were generally highly destructive to life on Earth.
------------------
What does past climate change tell us about global warming? (Intermediate)
https://skepticalscience.com/climate-change-little-ice-age-medieval-warm-period-intermediate.htm
------------------
Scientists: Long-Buried Ice Age Forest Offers Climate Change Clues
2018
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/09/584116280/scientists-long-buried-ice-age-forest-offers-climate-change-clues
About 10 miles off the Alabama coast, Ben Raines gently falls backward from a boat into the Gulf of Mexico, a scuba tank strapped to his back and handsaw on his belt. He's on a mission to collect cypress samples from 60 feet below.
"We're going to cut some pieces as if we were in a forest on land," says Raines, an environmental reporter with AL.com.
A fellow diver first brought Raines here after a local fisherman discovered the site. He had hit a sweet red snapper spot that spread over a wider area than the artificial reefs and sunken ships where anglers typically find fish. When divers explored further, they found a half-mile stretch of stumps running along a trench that was likely once a river bed.
"It's just a forest transplanted to the bottom of the ocean," Raines says.
It reminds him of the swampy forests in the river delta above Mobile Bay.
"The placement of the trees, how far apart they are and everything, as you're swimming, is just like in a forest," Raines says. They're about 5 feet apart. And you'll see the knees around the cypress."
A preserved ice age forest
Scientists say it's a remarkable discovery.
"The underwater forest is like the Garden of Eden underwater," says Kristine DeLong, a paleo-climatologist at Louisiana State University. She says tests date the forest to be between 50,000 and 70,000 years old.
"It's a huge deal," DeLong says. "Because here we have this like perfectly preserved time capsule of an ice age forest."
Most forests from that time period were bulldozed by ice sheets, or flooded by melting glaciers, she says, so having an intact forest like this is rare.
The theory is that it was buried in mud and sand and protected until waves from a powerful hurricane uncovered it in 2004. Now scientists are trying to learn more before the wood deteriorates from exposure to the salt water.
DeLong says they're looking at pollen, seeds and insects found in sediment cores taken from the site. And they're learning what happens during periods of climate change.
"We know during the ice age we get these really rapid fluctuations and sea level rise," DeLong says. "And that's very similar to what the coastline is experiencing today — we're going through rapid sea level rise. So what happens to these forest ecosystems?"
She says the information could be useful to Gulf states like Louisiana, dealing with a coastal land loss crisis.
She says students often ask her if she believes in climate change.
"And I'm like yeah," she says. "It's like I'm sitting on a boat 10 miles offshore with 5-foot diameter tree stumps underneath me. The only way that happens is climate change."
"It captivates people"
Out on the Gulf, Ben Raines is back from his dive with a wet and muddy chunk of wood he heaves onto the boat deck.
"You can see the grain in the wood, and it's hard as a rock," he says, rapping his knuckles on the piece of cypress and pointing out holes in the tree trunk, likely tunneled by ancient beetles or worms. "It's like you just cut it down in the forest."
Marine scientist Brian Jones is also on this dive and comes up with fish in his net.
He's collecting specimens to include in a display about the underwater forest at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab on the Alabama coast.
His net yields a belted sandfish, a band tail puffer and an arrow crab, a creature that looks more like a praying mantis than a crustacean.
"It's got really long, skinny legs," Jones says. "They like to live around rocks and structure and sunken forests."
Jones also brought up sponges and anemones that had burrowed into the old wood. He says the northern Gulf floor for the most part is flat and sandy, so finding an area like this with the kind of sea life you might find on a coral reef is a treat – one that he will try to re-create in an aquarium.
"Hopefully by putting some of the wood, and some of these animals on display, we can really tell the story," Jones says. "It captivates people — being able to touch one of these pieces of wood and actually see the fish and crabs that live there will be really special."
Ben Raines has produced a documentary about the underwater forest, and he is working to have the site declared a national marine sanctuary.
"It's like any of our national treasures," says Raines. "You know you can go to the Grand Canyon or whatever. That's what this is. This is a natural wonder. And it really ought to get to stay here rather than be turned into coffee tables and electric guitars."
Raines says salvage companies have already been calling trying to get the GPS coordinates for the site, hoping to harvest the bald cypress wood.
------------------
11,000 years ago, our ancestors survived abrupt climate change
2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/health/climate-change-hunter-gatherers/
------------------
Meet the architect who wants to return Mexico City to its ancient lakes
2015
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/13/alberto-kalach-return-mexico-city-ancient-lakes
For the largest commissions, our government only trusts architects who speak English,” says Alberto Kalach, sitting in the verdant roof garden above his office, Taller de Arquitectura X. “And as you can see, mine is very bad...”
“Our plan is not radical,” the architect protests, “because the lakes were really there for thousands of years, whereas they have only been disappearing very slowly over the last 500 years...”
------------------
Warming pulses in ancient climate record link volcanoes, asteroid impact and dinosaur-killing mass extinction
2016
https://news.umich.edu/warming-pulses-in-ancient-climate-record-link-volcanoes-asteroid-impact-and-dinosaur-killing-mass-extinction/
------------------
Volcanic carbon dioxide drove ancient global warming event
https://www.us-ocb.org/volcanic-carbon-dioxide-drove-ancient-global-warming-event/
------------------
Mud from the Deep Sea Reveals Clues about Ancient Monsoon
2018
The Sonoran Desert is one of the world's most biodiverse deserts, thanks to the monsoon rains. With clever analytics, UA researchers were able to access untapped clues about the monsoon's activity during the last ice age, with implications that may help predict the monsoon's future.
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/mud-deep-sea-reveals-clues-about-ancient-monsoon
----------------
Not Your Expected Climate Impact: Arizona Flooded by a Tropical Storm
2018
https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/10/02/climate-impact-flooding-arizona-rosa/
----------------
The Geologic Oddity in New Mexico; White Sands National Park
Aug 12, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3EZlz8f7_c
----------------
Zone of Silence: Anomalies in the Mexican Desert
2017
https://www.historicmysteries.com/zone-of-silence-mexico/
Our planet may not be very big on a planetary scale, but it is home to many weird and wonderful things. Majestic sights, spectacular landscapes, icy tundra, and mountain ranges can all take one’s breath away or offer inspiration. Some natural wonders on this planet also possess reputations of an eerie nature. One place that springs to mind is the Bermuda Triangle. But there is another less well-known location with legends that rival those of the famous Devil’s Triangle: the Zone of Silence, also known as the Mapimi Silent Zone.
Where is the Zone of Silence?
Not far from Bolsón de Mapimí in Mexico, there is a 50-kilometer area of desert that has earned the name La Zona del Silencio, or the Zone of Silence. It lies in the Trino Vertex. This is where the Chihuahua, Durango, and Coahuila states meet, roughly 400 miles south of El Paso, Texas. A prominent mountain range borders the zone on its east side.
Other Strange Phenomena
In addition to stories about loss of radio signals and communication, countless reports of anomalous events have surfaced about the Zone of Silence. Few of the reports are credible, and the overwhelming majority of them have not received an adequate explanation..
There have been enough reports of activity that some people have drawn
parallels between the Zone of Silence and other areas of the world, such
as the Dragon’s Triangle close to Japan and the famed Bermuda Triangle.
Perhaps they arrived at these conclusions because the Zone runs in
near-longitudinal alignment to the Giza Plateau and the Bermuda Triangle
– between 25° and 29° North...
----------------
Mexico: The Zone of Silence
2013
https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/mexico-zone-silence-00287
----------------
The Zone of Silence: An Ancient Mystery of Old Mexico
October 22, 2020
https://www.gaia.com/article/the-zone-of-silence-an-ancient-mystery-of-old-mexico
----------------
The Powerful Vortexes of Sedona
https://sedonavortexsites.com/sedonas-seven-vortexes/
----------------
Geography of Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Mexico#Seismic_activity
Environmental conditions
Mexico faces significant environmental challenges damaging nearly all sections of the country. Vast expanses of southern and southeastern tropical forests have been denuded due to mineral resource extraction, and then, far behind in second place, for cattle-raising and agriculture. For example, tropical forests covered almost half of the state of Tabasco in 1940 but less than 10% by the late 1980s. During the same period, pastureland increased from 20 to 60% of the state's total area. Analysts reported similar conditions in other tropical sections of Mexico. Deforestation and desertification has contributed to serious levels of soil erosion nationwide. In 1985 the government classified almost 17% of all land as totally eroded, 31% in an accelerated state of erosion, and 38% demonstrating signs of incipient erosion. Mexico has developed a Biodiversity Action Plan to address issues of endangered species and habitats that merit protection.
Soil destruction is particularly pronounced in the north and northwest, with more than 60% of land considered in a total or accelerated state of erosion. Fragile because of its semiarid and arid character, the soil of the region has become increasingly damaged through excessive cattle-raising and irrigation with waters containing high levels of salinity. The result is a mounting problem of desertification throughout the region.
Mexico's vast coastline faces a different, but no less difficult, series of environmental problems. For example, inadequately regulated petroleum exploitation in the Coatzacoalcos-Minatitlán zone in the Gulf of Mexico has caused serious damage to the waters and fisheries of Río Coatzacoalcos. The deadly explosion that racked a working-class neighborhood in Guadalajara in April 1992 serves as an appropriate symbol of environmental damage in Mexico. More than 1,000 barrels (160 m3) of gasoline seeped from a corroded Mexican Petroleum (Petróleos Mexicanos—Pemex) pipeline into the municipal sewer system, where it combined with gases and industrial residuals to produce a massive explosion that killed 190 persons and injured nearly 1,500 others.
Mexico City confronts authorities with perhaps their most daunting environmental challenge. Geography and extreme population levels have combined to produce one of the world's most polluted urban areas. Mexico City sits in a valley surrounded on three sides by mountains, which serve to trap contaminants produced by the metropolitan area's 15 million residents. One government study in the late 1980s determined that nearly 5 million tons of contaminants were emitted annually in the atmosphere, a tenfold increase over the previous decade. Carbons and hydrocarbons from the region's more than 3 million vehicles account for approximately 80% of these contaminants, with another 15%, primarily of sulfur and nitrogen, coming from industrial plants. The resulting dangerous mix is responsible for a wide range of respiratory illnesses. One study of twelve urban areas worldwide in the mid-1980s concluded that the residents of Mexico City had the highest levels of lead and cadmium in their blood. The volume of pollutants from Mexico City has damaged the surrounding ecosystem as well. For example, wastewater from Mexico City that flows north and is used for irrigation in the state of Hidalgo has been linked to congenital birth defects and high levels of gastrointestinal diseases in that state.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, the government enacted numerous antipollution policies in Mexico City with varied degrees of success. Measures such as vehicle emissions inspections, the introduction of unleaded gasoline, and the installation of catalytic converters on new vehicles helped reduce pollution generated by trucks and buses. In contrast, one of the government's most prominent actions, the No Driving Day program, may have inadvertently contributed to higher pollution levels. Under the program, metropolitan area residents were prohibited from driving their vehicles one day each work week based on the last number of their license plate. However, those with the resources to do so purchased additional automobiles to use on the day their principal vehicle was prohibited from driving, thus adding to the region's vehicle stock. Thermal inversions reached such dangerous levels at various times in the mid-1990s that the government declared pollution emergencies, necessitating sharp temporary cutbacks in vehicle use and industrial production.
----------------
Fracking in Mexico gets green light during 2014
Mexico
is shaping up to become the latest battleground in the fight to stop
hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a technique used to extract shale gas
and oil. While many countries and provinces across the globe have banned
or halted fracking, Mexico has boldly declared its shale reserves open
for business.
http://contributoria.com/issue/2014-12/5436bea3580ab6832300006c.html
----------------
Newly Elected President of Mexico to Ban Fracking
Aug, 2018
https://www.ecowatch.com/mexico-bans-fracking-2592125998.html
{They
lied, the President of Mexico claims that Mexico will ban fracking,
then Mexico starts up fracking less than 8 months after this statement}.
--------------
Mexico Opens Door to Hydraulic Fracturing, but Water a Worry
Feb 2019
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/mexico-opens-door-to-hydraulic-fracturing-but-water-a-worry
------------
CNH gives Pemex fracking approval in Mexico
Feb 2019
https://www.theoilandgasyear.com/news/cnh-gives-pemex-fracking-approval-in-mexico/
-------------
Report: Fracking operations dumping toxic chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico
07/15/2021
https://fracking.news/2021-07-15-fracking-operations-dump-toxic-chemicals-gulf-mexico.html
-------------
Fracking and Poverty in Mexico
2015
https://borgenproject.org/fracking-and-poverty-in-mexico/
In
the poverty discussion, it is easy to forget Mexico. Although less than
two percent of the country lives below the international poverty line
set by the World Bank, poverty and lack of economic and educational
opportunity is very prevalent throughout the country. It is estimated
that 42 percent of the population lives in some degree of poverty in
Mexico.
Under President Enrique Peña Nieto’s
administration, efforts to provide economic and educational
opportunities have been made and the country has also instituted
universal healthcare during his time in office.
One of
Mexico’s newest ambitions is to extract the oil and gas reserves in the
Eagle Shale Ford. The massive shale field starts in Texas and runs south
along Mexico’s eastern corridor into Veracruz.
According
to the Mexican government, the Eagle Shale Ford holds approximately 90
billion barrels of untapped oil and natural gas reserves. This makes
Mexico one of the biggest hydrocarbon controlling countries in the
world.
Officials believe that the rise of hydraulic
fracturing in the United States can be applied in Mexico. Hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” involves drilling into shale and blasting a
mixture of water, sand and a litany of chemicals against the rock. This
fractures the rock, allowing the gas or oil to be extracted.
This method has recently enabled Texas to ramp up oil operations. The state now produces as much oil annually as Mexico does.
President
Nieto passed legislation last year that ended Pemex, the state-owned
energy monopoly, and opened up foreign investment to private energy
companies.
The difference between oil exploitation in
Texas and Mexico is striking. Texas has over 8,000 wells operating in
the shale field. In northern Mexico, there were only 25 by the end of
2014.
-------------
Illegal Mining a Golden Opportunity for Mexico Crime Groups
-------------
Cartel culture – Mexico’s war against illegal mining
https://www.mining-technology.com/features/featurecartel-culture-mexicos-war-against-illegal-mining-4276223/
-------------
Mexican conservation success threatened by wave of mining concessions
2016
https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/mexican-conservation-success-threatened-wave-mining-concessions/
--------------
Mining in Mexico: activity and expectation is high in 2018
https://www.mining-technology.com/features/mining-mexico-activity-expectation-high-2018/
--------------
Dirty gold is the new cocaine in Colombia — and it’s just as bloody
January 16, 2018
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/colombia/article194188034.html#storylink=cpy
------------------
Illegal gold mining fuels violence in Colombia
2017
Local miners say they feel caught between exploitative armed groups and a government crackdown on informal mining.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/10/illegal-gold-mining-fuels-violence-colombia-161005063014208.html
------------------
Illegal Gold Mining in Colombia Is Destroying the Rainforest
11/16/16
https://www.newsweek.com/2016/11/25/colombia-illegal-gold-mining-521717.html
------------------
How I found a mythical boiling river in the Amazon | Andrés Ruzo
Feb 23, 2016
(The river boils because of fault-fed hotsprings).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4N2SxUZwiU
-------------------
66% of Colombia’s gold is mined illegally: UN study
June 19, 2018
https://colombiareports.com/66-of-colombias-gold-is-mined-illegally-un-study/
------------------
Why Colombia has taken in 1 million Venezuelans
Nov 27, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU0RqwweuWY
--------------
Blood and Oil MEXICO'S DRUG CARTELS AND THE GASOLINE INDUSTRY
2018
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/drug-war-mexico-gas-oil-cartel-717563/
Mexico’s
drug cartels are moving into the gasoline industry — infiltrating the
national oil company, selling stolen fuel on the black market and
engaging in open war with the military. Can the country’s new populist
president find a way to contain the chaos?
In
her book Los Zetas Inc., the Mexican academic Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
documents the many ways the cartel has invaded the energy industry in
northeastern Mexico. “They were never really a drug cartel,”
Correa-Cabrera tells me. The original Zetas were -special-forces
veterans, and she describes the organization as a “criminal paramilitary
in transnational business” like a hybrid of Halliburton and Blackwater.
As she explains it, Los Zetas’ competitive advantage was not in growing
marijuana and poppy or coming up with innovative ways to sneak drugs
across the border — it was in taking control of strategic territory with
overt military force. Once in control of a city or state, Los Zetas
would diversify, branching out into criminal activities including
pimping, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, gunrunning and even digital
piracy, but nothing proved so profitable as stealing gasoline.
-------------
Eyes are on Mexico’s untapped potential
Drilling plans offer hope, but cartels are only one obstacle
http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/border_energy/
-------------
Mexico's Huge, Untouched Shale-Oil Fields Lure Wildcatters and Criminals
2016
https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2016/01/mexicos-huge-untouched-shale-oil-fields-lure-wildcatters-and-criminals
-------------
Organized crime and illegal gold mining in Latin America
2018
https://theglobalamericans.org/2018/01/organized-crime-illegal-gold-mining-latin-america/
-------------
How Chinese Mining Companies Sustain Organized Crime in Mexico
2014
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/mbwk88/how-chinese-mining-companies-sustain-organized-crime-in-mexico
-------------
Ambitious Mexican Drug Cartels Have Started Exporting Iron Ore To China
2013
https://www.businessinsider.com/illegal-mining-isnt-the-only-industry-that-mexican-cartels-are-taking-over-2013-11
-------------
Mexico cracks down on illegal iron ore mining
March 4, 2014
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mexico-cracks-down-illegal-iron-ore-mining-165318212.html
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of Mexican police, soldiers and government inspectors raided 11 iron ore yards at one of the country's largest seaports, following revelations that drug cartels had been exporting ore to China.
Authorities seized almost 120,000 tons of ore as well as 124 bulldozers, backhoes, milling equipment and trucks as a result of Monday's raid on at the Pacific coast seaport of Lazaro Cardenas.
Six Chinese citizens were also found at the yards; they are being investigated to determine whether they were in the country legally.
Alfredo Castillo, the federal security commissioner for western Michoacan state, said late Monday that the ore is being tested to determine which mines it came from and whether they were legally registered.
-------------
Dragon on the Border: Mexican and Chinese Transnational Criminal Networks and Implications for the United States
------------
The U.S. Fentanyl Boom and the Mexican Opium Crisis: Finding Opportunities Amidst Violence?
2019
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-us-fentanyl-boom-and-the-mexican-opium-crisis-finding-opportunities-amidst-violence
------------
Illegal gold mining has supplanted cocaine trafficking as Latin America’s criminal endeavor of choice
2016
https://qz.com/867104/illegal-gold-mining-has-supplanted-cocaine-trafficking-as-latin-americas-criminal-endeavor-of-choice/
-------------
Mexican drug cartel moves from meth to iron ore mining
2014
https://nypost.com/2014/03/17/mexican-drug-cartel-moves-from-meth-to-iron-ore-mining/
-------------
Treaty Does Not Stop Illicit Mercury Trade in South America
https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/treaty-does-not-stop-illicit-mercury-trade-south-america
-------------
How U.S. demand for gold jewelry and bullion is poisoning children in the Amazon
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article196933579.html
-----------
Peru’s Militarized Response to Illegal Mining Isn’t Enough to Protect the Amazon
2019
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/27679/peru-s-militarized-response-to-illegal-mining-isn-t-enough-to-protect-the-amazon
-------------
Peru park’s biodiversity at risk from illegal mining, drug production
------------
Caracas' Push for Illegal Mining Is Creating Problems for Its Neighbors {Venezuela}
2018
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/caracas-push-illegal-mining-creating-problems-its-neighbors
-------------
Potosí Mines {Bolivia}
2015
http://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-2
This
article examines the long history of Potosí, Bolivia, home of the
world’s most productive silver mines. The mines, discovered in 1545 and
still active today, are discussed in terms of their geology, discovery,
productivity, labor history, and technological development. The article
also treats the social and environmental consequences of nearly five
hundred years of continuous mining and refining.
Mining and the Environment
Mining
is an inherently destructive activity, and even without mercury
amalgamation silver mining is itself a producer of numerous toxic
byproducts. Mines disrupt subterranean water flows, and the water that
comes out of mines almost always fouls streams and upsets pH balance.
More toxic still is the runoff from refineries, where mercury, salt, and
other solvents are typically added and rarely filtered. Little has
changed since colonial times. Burst sedimentation ponds around Potosí
have fouled the Pilcomayo and other rivers as recently as 2014.
In
colonial times the vaporizing of mercury after amalgamation was
probably the most insidious form of mining-related pollution, as mercury
vapor was invisible and could be borne by the wind. For centuries, it
condensed and settled over large parts of the city of Potosí and its
environs, fouling soils, food, clothing, cooking gear, and practically
everything else. Breathing mercury vapor was known to be highly
hazardous at the time, and the proverbial saying for “scared to death”
was “shaking like a victim of mercury poisoning” (temblando como un
azogado). Other major hazards came from lead, which was used as a flux
in silver smelting, and zinc, which occurs alongside silver in sulfide
ores.
The environmental effects of Potosí’s long
history of silver mining and refining go far beyond immediate toxins
like mercury, zinc, and lead, and the extent of the damage is difficult
to measure. Deforestation is a case in point. The demand for fuel and
construction materials both above and underground led to deforestation
even at great distances from the Cerro Rico. Colonial observers
commented on this from the earliest days of bonanza. The nearer
hinterland was immediately stripped of brush, ichu grass, and the
soil-stabilizing yareta moss. Overgrazing likely resulted as well,
despite the fact that llamas are well adapted to highland environments.
In short, the environmental costs of Potosí’s enormous productivity
remain nearly impossible to calculate.
-------------
Mining and Lack of Governance Threaten Arctic Freshwater Supplies
2017
https://www.fairobserver.com/more/environment/mining-arctic-drilling-environmental-climate-change-global-warming-latest-news-today-54780/
------------
How the sapphire trade is driving lemurs toward extinction {Africa}
2019
A rush for Madagascar’s gemstones is destroying remaining habitat for imperiled lemurs and other wildlife.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/sapphire-mining-fuels-lemur-deaths-in-madagascar/
-------------
The Price of Mining Wealth in Chiapas
2017
https://worldpolicy.org/2017/10/12/the-price-of-mining-wealth-in-chiapas/
-------------
Canadian Mining has Caused Thousands of Conflicts in Mexico: NGO
2018
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Canadian-Mining-has-Caused-Thousands-of-Conflicts-in-Mexico-NGO-20180227-0031.html
-------------
Waste overflows at Canadian mine in Mexico, threatening dozens of communities
2018
Indigenous
and farming communities say Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines is
responsible for environmental contamination and increased violence in
the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexic
https://intercontinentalcry.org/waste-overflows-at-canadian-mine-in-mexico-threatening-dozens-of-communities/
-------------
Canadian Mining Company Dumps Toxic Waste into Mexican River
2015
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Canadian-Mining-Company-Dumps-Toxic-Waste-into-Mexican-River-20150620-0012.html
While
the company has denied the spill is toxic, a state environmental body
says the corporation will face fines for contamination.
A
Canadian mining company has spilled an estimated 1,200 gallons of toxic
waste into a river in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, Mexican
media reported Saturday.
The leak into the Cata River
in Guanajuato City at the site of Great Panther Silver's mining
operations was caused by a rupture of an eight-inch pipe transporting
mining tailings, leaking the toxic mud-like mining waste into the river.
-------------
Canadian Mining Companies Are Destroying Latin America
2015
Throughout
Latin America, Canadian mining companies are acting with impunity and
may have used paramilitary criminal organizations to dispose of anyone
in their way.
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7b7ned/canadian-mining-companies-are-destroying-latin-america-924
-------------
Canadian mine company says Mexico crime ring stole $2M-$3M
MEXICO
CITY — A sophisticated criminal gang in Mexico stole an estimated $2
million to $3 million in metal concentrates through a subtle scheme that
went on for months, a Canadian mining company said Tuesday.
Telson
Mining Corp. President Ralph Shearing said compromised truck drivers
worked with thieves who foiled security measures while the material was
being transported from the company's Campo Morado mine in the southern
state of Guerrero to the port of Manzanillo on the Pacific coast.
Shearing
said additional safety measures have resolved the problem. He said the
theft appears to have occurred over a period of four to five months
while the Vancouver-based company investigated why the quality of its
product was measured at a lower level on arrival than it was when it
left the mine.
http://www.startribune.com/canadian-mine-company-says-mexico-crime-ring-stole-2m-3m/505745482/
----------------
Canada mining murder in Mexico
2018
A
petition filed with public sector integrity commissioner alleges
diplomats at the Canadian embassy in Mexico City intervened on behalf of
Calgary mining company implicated in the murder of activist Mariano
Abarca
https://nowtoronto.com/news/canadian-diplomats-target-of-complaint-mexico-murder/
----------------
Pollution Science 101 - Texas
PollutionScience101TexasVsBpOil.BlogSpot.com
--------------
Blame humans for starting the Amazon fires, environmentalists say
August 23, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/americas/amazon-fires-humans-intl-hnk-trnd/index.html
The Amazon is burning -- and humans are likely to blame.
Environmental organizations and researchers say the wildfires blazing in the Brazilian rainforest were set by cattle ranchers and loggers who want to clear and utilize the land, emboldened by the country's pro-business president.
"The vast majority of these fires are human-lit," said Christian Poirier, the program director of non-profit organization Amazon Watch. He added that even during dry seasons, the Amazon -- a humid rainforest -- doesn't catch on fire easily, unlike the dry bushland in California or Australia.
-----------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
Section 2: Uranium & Radiation
------------
------------
------------
------------
---------------
Uranium Exposure on Tribal Lands in Mexico
November 22, 2022
The race to develop nuclear weapons has had wide-reaching impacts on many communities in North America. However, few countries have suffered more from the United States’ eagerness to develop nuclear weapons than Mexico has. Let’s examine the impact of uranium exposure on tribal lands in Mexico.
Uranium was one of the primary ingredients used to create nuclear weapons during the nuclear race of the 1940s. This compound was heavily extracted in regions in North America such as Mexico well into the 1990s.
The United States employed thousands of workers in Mexico for this purpose while disregarding the potential impact that Uranium dust would have on them and their families. The Laguna Tribe that resides near Squirrel mountain is just one of many tribal communities that have been affected by this.
The various Uranium mining activities produced many tons of Uranium dust that entered the miners’ lungs, bones, and kidneys. This radioactive compound led to many lung issues as well as the development of cancer in these miners. It also transferred such issues to the miners’ families.
Young kids who would hug their fathers as they came home after a long day of mining activities would inadvertently inhale this Uranium dust and develop health issues of their own. The people residing in such regions still remain in poverty today and are forced to work at local mining companies such as the Anaconda Copper company in the region...
https://jillianhishaw.com/uranium-exposure-on-tribal-lands-in-mexico/
---------------------------------------------
Ciudad Juárez cobalt-60 contamination incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_contamination_incident
A radioactive contamination incident occurred in 1984 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, originating from a radiation therapy unit illegally purchased by a private medical company and subsequently dismantled for lack of personnel to operate it. The radioactive material, cobalt-60, ended up in a junkyard, where it was sold to foundries that inadvertently smelted it with other metals and produced about 6,000 tons of contaminated rebar. These were distributed in 17 Mexican states and several cities in the United States. It is estimated that 4,000 people were exposed to radiation as a result of this incident.
---------------------------------------------
The Mexican Chernobyl, The Biggest Nuclear Accident In The American Continent
July 2, 2021
https://culturacolectiva.com/history/cobalt-60-ciudad-juarez-mexico-nuclear-accident/
---------------------------------------------
1962 Mexico City radiation accident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Mexico_City_radiation_accident
In March–August 1962, a radiation incident in Mexico City occurred when a ten-year-old boy took home an unprotected industrial radiography source. Four people died from overexposure to radiation from a 5-Ci cobalt-60 capsule, an industrial radiography orphaned source that was not contained in its proper shielding. For several days, the boy kept the capsule in his pocket, then placed it in the kitchen cabinet of his home in Mexico City. Having obtained the source on March 21, the boy died 38 days later on April 29. Subsequently, his mother died on July 10; his 2-year-old sister died on August 18, and his grandmother died on October 15 of that year. The boy's father also received a significant dose of radiation; however, he survived. Five other individuals also received significant overdoses of radiation.
---------------------------------------------
Mexico to destroy milk reportedly contaminated by Chernobyl
Jan. 29, 1988
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/01/29/Mexico-to-destroy-milk-reportedly-contaminated-by-Chernobyl/4177570430800/
---------------------------------------------
The Nuclear Option: Technology to Extract Uranium From the Sea Advances
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/06/28/the-nuclear-option-technology-to-extract-uranium-from-the-sea-advances
---------------------------------------------
Hydrogeochemical behavior of uranium and thorium in rock and groundwater samples from southeastern of El Bajío Guanajuatese, Guanajuato, Mexico
2018
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-018-7749-z
Abstract
To evaluate the hydrogeochemical processes related to the presence, mobility, and transport of uranium and thorium in the southeastern Sierra de Guanajuato of the Bajio Guanajuatense, Mexico, the concentration of these elements in volcanic rocks and in groundwater were determined. Acidic volcanic rocks contained uranium concentrations of 1.04–6.88 ppm and thorium concentrations of 3.13–15.58 ppm. A basalt rock sample contained 2.58 and 4.07 ppm of uranium and thorium, respectively, and an andesite rock sample contained 4.07 and 8.7 ppm of uranium and thorium, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that U and Th are disseminated throughout the matrix of felsic rocks; in addition, phosphate minerals (probably monazite) containing both elements are present. The concentration of uranium in water samples ranged from 2.23 to 10.3 ppb and of thorium ranged from 0.33 to 0.39 ppb. Geochemical modeling indicated that uranium was mobilized through the transport of the uranyl ions (UO22+) and their complexes, especially carbonates, although other elements such as Fe, Mg, HCO3, and Ca could also be involved in the mobility and transportation of uranium. The obtained results suggest that the mobilization of thorium is very low, almost negligible in some cases, so this element did not present a quantifiable hydrogeochemical pattern. In spite of the low concentrations of U and Th, the existence of high radon concentrations in several samples indicates that additional radioactive species could be naturally present in the hydrogeological environment.
---------------------------------------------
Uranium-238 and thorium-232 series concentrations in soil, radon-222 indoor and drinking water concentrations and dose assessment in the city of Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico.
2004
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15312704
Abstract
-------------------------------------------
List of countries by uranium reserves
Country: Mexico
Uranium Reserves as 2015 - 3400
Historical Uranium Production to 2014 - 49 Tonnes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_uranium_reserves
------------------------------------------
Mexico and weapons of mass destruction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
Mexico
is one of the few countries which has technical capabilities to
manufacture nuclear weapons. However it has renounced them and pledged
to only use its nuclear technology for peaceful purposes following the
Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1968. In the 1970s Mexico's national
institute for nuclear research successfully achieved the creation of
highly enriched uranium which is used in nuclear power plants and in the
construction of nuclear weapons. However the country agreed in 2012 to
downgrade the high enriched uranium used on its nuclear power plants to
low enriched uranium, the process was realised with the assistance of
the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is unknown if Mexico
ever created or possessed nuclear or any other kind of mass destruction
weapons.
Official attitude to nuclear weapons
In
1961 the Mexican government argued that use of nuclear weapons could
not be justified under the right to self-defence in the UN charter.[6]
Six years later the country would sign the Treaty of Tlatelolco in which
Mexico and several other Latin American countries agreed not to
manufacture nuclear weapons and to limit its nuclear technology for
peaceful purposes only.
In 2000, Mexico was one
of 7 nations launching a declaration "Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free
World: The Need for a New Agenda" calling for further action to
implement the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons.
In April 2010, the Mexican
government reportedly reached an agreement to turn over its highly
enriched uranium to the United States. The US would help convert highly
enriched uranium stored at Mexican research facilities into a less
enriched form unsuitable for weapons, thus eliminating all highly
enriched uranium in Mexico.[9] Later in March 2012 Rachel Maddow
reported that all highly enriched uranium had been removed from
Mexico.
In October 2010 Mexico signed a
contract with the Russian uranium supplier Rosatom, which will supply
low enriched uranium (3%, a level of enrichment unsuitable for weapons)
for the Mexican nuclear power plant Laguna Verde.
In
2012 Mexico was admitted into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as an
observer state, which the US claimed as an achievement in preventing
nuclear proliferation.
------------------------------------------
Nation’s biggest uranium mine planned in New Mexico
2013
https://grist.org/business-technology/nations-biggest-uranium-mine-planned-in-new-mexico/
-----------------------------------------
Uranium import probe threatens U.S. nuclear power industry -group
2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-uranium/uranium-import-probe-threatens-u-s-nuclear-power-industry-group-idUSL2N1WC1O4
Sept
26 (Reuters) - U.S. nuclear power generators urged the federal
government against taking action in a dispute over imported uranium,
arguing tariffs or quotas would increase costs for the struggling
industry and possibly cause some reactors to shut, according to a
statement emailed on Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of
Commerce launched a “Section 232” investigation into uranium imports in
July following complaints by two U.S. uranium mining companies,
Ur-Energy Inc and Energy Fuels Inc, that subsidized foreign competitors
have caused them to cut capacity and lay off workers.
The
move is a double-edged sword for President Donald Trump. While it helps
domestic uranium producers by targeting importers, it undercuts the
administration’s efforts to give a boost to U.S. nuclear power
operators, who would see their fuel costs increase.
“Imposing
additional regulatory burdens on the already struggling nuclear energy
industry will put 100,000 good paying domestic jobs and careers at risk
and is inconsistent with President Trump’s and the Department of
Energy’s policy pronouncements,” David Tamasi, spokesperson for nuclear
group, called the Ad Hoc Utilities Group (AHUG), said in a statement.
The
White House has been trying to find a way to prevent additional coal
and nuclear plants from shutting, which the administration see as vital
for national energy security, as they struggle to compete with cheaper
alternatives like natural gas and renewable generation.
Uranium
is used in the U.S. nuclear arsenal and powers the Navy’s nuclear
aircraft carriers and submarines, along with 98 U.S. commercial nuclear
reactors that produce 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the
country.
The nuclear industry said a diverse uranium supply is essential to keep that power flowing.
In
2017, about 58 percent of the U.S. uranium supply came from the United
States, Canada and Australia, with the rest coming from Russia (16
percent), Kazakhstan (11 percent), Uzbekistan (5 percent), Namibia (5
percent), South Africa (2 percent) and Niger (2 percent), according to
the nuclear power group.
Officials at Ur-Energy and Energy Fuels Inc were not immediately available for comment.
The
investigation, which the Commerce Department said on Wednesday is still
ongoing, is one of several launched by the Trump administration under
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, previously a
seldom-invoked Cold War-era law.
Probes on steel and
aluminum imports have led to tariffs and quotas on the metals, prompting
retaliation from trading partners including Canada, Mexico and the
European Union.
-------------------------------------------
Uranium concentrations in marine sediments
1973https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016703773902421
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Section 3: Acid Rain
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--------------
--------------
-----------------
Acid rain over Mexico City valley and surrounding rural areas.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297329967_Acid_rain_over_Mexico_City_valley_and_surrounding_rural_areas
-----------
Acid rain in a Mexican site on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
https://www.revistascca.unam.mx/atm/index.php/atm/article/view/ATM.2018.31.04.01
------------
Acid rain study in Gulf of Mexico
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/EO065i024p00393-05
------------
Acid Rain In Mexico Case: Maya
https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/28/7117
------------
Chronology of acid rain in Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico.
http://nadp.slh.wisc.edu/conf/2014/pptpdf/sosa.pdf
{Nitrate, Sulfate and Potential of Hydrogen (pH) maps and charts 2004-2012}.
------------
Mexico: Acid rain damages mango crops
https://www.freshplaza.com/article/133829/Mexico-Acid-rain-damages-mango-crops/
------------
Does Acid Rain Have an Effect on Agriculture?
https://sciencing.com/acid-rain-effect-agriculture-20667.html
Acid
rain affects plants directly and decreases soil quality to reduce
yields from agriculture. Its effects are particularly severe in
locations near sources of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. In the
United States, about two-thirds of sulfur dioxide and one-quarter of
nitrogen oxides come from power generation plants burning fossil fuels,
while the rest is from industrial and transportation sources.
Sources
Acid
rain comes from chemical reactions in the atmosphere among oxygen,
water and sulfur or nitrogen oxides. When sulfur dioxide dissolves in
small droplets of water in clouds, it reacts with the hydrogen and
oxygen of the water to form a weak solution of sulfuric acid. Similarly,
nitrogen oxides form weak nitric acid in water droplets. The clouds can
drift over hundreds of miles carrying their acid droplets. When
conditions are right for rain, the droplets grow and fall to the ground.
In many areas of the United States, such as the great plains, the acid
rain falls mostly on land used for agriculture.
Plants
Acid
rain influences both the quality and yield of agricultural products.
Acid rain can damage the leaves of vegetables such as spinach and cause
blemishes on delicate products such as tomatoes. The production and
quality of root vegetables is reduced. The damage depends on the
strength of the acids in the acid rain and the frequency with which the
crops are exposed. In addition to cosmetic damage, there is the
possibility that crops grown under acidic conditions have lower
nutritional value with fewer minerals.
Soil
The
acidic nature of acid rain leaches plant nutrients out of the soil and
can make it less productive for agriculture. Soils with high alkaline
content, such as those containing calcium carbonate or limestone, can
neutralize the acids and are less sensitive. Other soils normally
contain the minerals that plants need, but the acid in acid rain
dissolves them and replaces the metallic ions with hydrogen. When the
plants absorb water that normally contains the minerals, they get
hydrogen instead and can't grow as large or as quickly as before. In
severe cases, this lack of minerals can kill the plants.
------------
Mexico acid leak leaves orange river, toxic water
2014
https://phys.org/news/2014-08-mexico-acid-leak-orange-river.html
Ramona
Yesenia stood in her town square with two empty jugs, waiting for water
to replace the municipal supply contaminated by a chemical spill that
turned Mexico's Sonora river orange.
Yesenia is one of
20,000 people left without water since a massive sulfuric acid leak last
week at the Buenavista copper mine in northwestern Mexico, one of the
largest in the world.
She waited in the sweltering heat
with her mother and two daughters for water brought into the town of
Arizpe by a tanker truck, but left empty-handed after the truck ran dry,
unable to meet the demand from the seven affected towns.
The housekeeper and farm laborer said she was afraid to even eat local food.
"If
they kill a cow, we don't know if we can eat it... They say if the
(cattle) drink just a little water (from the river), they get infected,"
she said.
An estimated 40,000 cubic meters (10.6
million gallons) of sulfuric acid, which is used to dissolve copper from
ore for processing, leaked out of a holding tank at the mine, owned by
leading Latin American mining company Grupo Mexico.
The spill happened on August 6, but the authorities say the company only informed them 24 hours later.
Executives,
who blame the spill on "abnormal rains" that caused the acid to
overflow its holding tank, insist the government was alerted by email.
Juan Rebolledo, Grupo Mexico's vice president for international relations, downplayed the impact.
"The content of these acids is not toxic in itself," he said on radio network Formula.
------------
Air pollution and forest decline near Mexico City
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00396728
-------------
The Ups and Downs of Sulfur Dioxide in North America
2017
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/90276/the-ups-and-downs-of-sulfur-dioxide-in-north-america
For
more than a decade, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s
Aura satellite has observed changes in a critical air pollutant: sulfur
dioxide (SO2). In addition to harming human health, the gas reacts with
water vapor to produce acid rain. Sulfur dioxide also can react in the
atmosphere to form aerosol particles, which can contribute to outbreaks
of haze and influence the climate.
Natural sources
(volcanoes, fires, phytoplankton) produce sulfur dioxide, but burning
sulfur-rich fossil fuels—primarily coal, oil, and petroleum—is the main
source of the gas. Smelter ovens, which are used to concentrate metals
found in ore, also produce it...
------------
Fears untraceable ACID RAIN to obliterate ancient 4,000-year-old temples
2022
ACID rain is slowly destroying ancient monuments and temples, experts have revealed.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/683805/Acid-rain-mayan-temples-mountains-destroyed-4000-year-old-experts-Mexico-untraceable
Priceless
Mayan inscriptions around four-millennia-old face total obliteration
within the next century by the polluted rain, as protective options are
limited.
Pablo Sanchez, from the Centre of Atmospheric
Studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, fears his
country’s culture could be washed away as the rain erodes the precious
artefacts.
He said: "In 100 years' time all the inscriptions and writing on the walls and pillars could be lost."
Ruins face being destroyed because the Mayans built them from limestone, which contains calcium carbonate.
Rain clouds mix with the acidic mixture and can travel large distances before dropping their toxic contents.
When acid rain hits the limestone, it starts to dissolve.
Experts are baffled by the process, and are unable to find a solution as they cannot use protective film.
Sanchez
said: "The limestone has to be breathe, absorbing humidity and water
and, if you cover it with a sealing layer, it provokes an acceleration
of the erosion."
He told reporters that the pollution that causes the acid rain may not necessarily be from Mexico.
The pollution is untraceable and can travel thousands of miles before affecting rain.
The
Mayan temples are one of Mexico’s main tourist attractions, with many
of the 11.4million annual visitors flocking to catch a glimpse before
they disappear.
Mayan civilisation is thought to have begun around 1800 BC and lasted until 1697, when it was conquered by Spanish invaders.
------------
Acid Rain Destroying Mexico’s Cultural Heritage
http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2451292&CategoryId=14091
------------
ACID RAIN SPREADS ITS CLOUD TO WEST
1985
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-04-14-8501210616-story.html
The lake doesn`t even have a name. But now that it`s dying, the scientists have given it a number: L-12.
Colorado
lake L-12, one of 20 beautiful but tiny alpine lakes dotting a mountain
waterway called Mexican Cut near this resort town, is dying just as
surely as 2,000 other lakes in the Northeast and Upper Midwest already
have died.
The looming cause of death, researchers
said, is acid rain, an environmental nightmare once thought to be
confined to the densely populated Northeast-Midwest corridor but now
emerging as a major environmental quandary facing the West.
In
the so-called Northeast-Midwest Rust Belt, the nation`s smokestack
industries--power plants, steel mills, foundries--send vast quantities
of sulfur dioxide gas into the air, where it mixes with rain and becomes
lake-killing sulfuric acid.
In the Western Sun Belt,
scientists have found that the same acid comes boiling out of clouds of
sulfur dioxide from copper smelters in Arizona and from smokestacks
across the border in Mexico, whose government does not require
antipollution equipment.
A scientist who has been
studying acid rain, noting the complaints the United States has been
receiving from its neighbor to the north, said wryly,
''What we are doing to Canada, the Mexicans are doing to us.''
In
the West, the clouds of sulfur dioxide are blown across the arid
deserts of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah, where they mix with
rain clouds over the Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Mountains in the
Pacific Northwest and the Sierra Nevada in California.
The
result, say scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
university campuses and private think tanks, is that acid rain now is
falling out of the once-untroubled skies of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana,
Washington, Oregon and California.
They note that it is
indistinguishable from the acid rain that has fallen in Maine, Vermont,
New Hampshire, upper New York State, northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, a
rain that has left hundreds of lakes filled with lifeless cocktails of
stagnant moss and tart water.
Of particular concern are
Mexico`s plans to open in November a huge copper smelter in Nacozari,
just 60 miles south of the Arizona border.
That single
smelter, the country`s largest, will emit more sulfur dioxide than the
biggest single source of the gas in the U.S., Ohio`s gigantic Gavin
electric power plant, EPA officials said.
According to a
major acid rain study by Robert Yuhnke and Michael Oppenheimer of the
Environmental Defense Fund, most of the acid-causing sulfur in the
atmosphere over Western states soon will be coming from Nacozari and
another smelter already on line in Cananea, 24 miles from the border.
Data
are being collected at sites as diverse as Yellowstone National Park,
Mt. St. Helens and forests such as Colorado`s Gunnison National Forest,
the site of L-12.
In Yellowstone Park, researchers
found lakes with acidity (pH) readings of 5.3, significantly below the
EPA standard of pH 6 set for fisheries and the optimum standard of pH
6.5, which denotes a perfect balance between acid and alkaline.
The
Environmental Defense Fund, in a report last November, found several
Rocky Mountain lakes in which scientists discovered no fish younger than
2 years old, indicating symptoms similar to those recorded in the
Adirondacks just before lakes there ''died'' as a result of acid rain.
The
most recent warning about the spread of acid rain into the
once-pristine lakes of the mountain West came in a report issued in
early April by the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute, a
think tank financed by the MacArthur Foundation.
''We
are seeing the same sort of acid rain appear in the West as has ruined
so many lakes in Canada just across the border from American industrial
states,'' said Mohamed El-Ashry, a scientist at the institute who
specializes in the global problem of acid rain.
Students
of the environmental hazard are quick to note that though Canadian
officials bitterly complain that the U.S. isn`t doing enough to stop the
acid rain that hits their country, Mexican authorities have been
reluctant to even discuss the matter with American diplomats.
The
Mexicans, for example, canceled a meeting last month at which the U.S.
planned to ask that the new smelter be required to install the sort of
costly scrubbers the EPA requires U.S. companies to use.
The U.S. instead is forcing facilities in Arizona to remove 90 percent of all sulfur emissions.
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Section 4: Ocean Acidification
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--------------
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SEMARNAT & TOF Confront Ocean Acidification in Mexico
https://www.oceanfdn.org/blog/semarnat-tof-confront-ocean-acidification-mexico
-------------
Live! Science at Sea: Gulf of Mexico Ocean Acidification Cruise
https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/keynotes/keynotes_0717_gomecc3.html
July, 2017
View the cruise blog here: GOMECC-3 Blog
On July 18, NOAA AOML and partner scientists will depart on the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Carbon Cycle (GOMECC-3) research cruise in support of NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Monitoring Program. This isn’t the first time researchers will head to sea in this region. Previous cruises have taken place along the east and Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coasts of the US in both 2007 and 2012. Together, these cruises provide coastal ocean measurements of unprecedented quality that are used both to improve our understanding of where ocean acidification (OA) is happening and how ocean chemistry patterns are changing over time. This will be the most comprehensive OA cruise to date in this region, set to include sampling in the international waters of Mexico for the first time. Ocean acidification is a global issue with global impacts, and international collaboration like this is vital to understanding and adapting to our changing oceans.
Science at Sea:
This large-scale survey of OA trends and dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico will take place on board to NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. The cruise track is designed to obtain a snapshot of key parameters as they relate to ocean acidification in the coastal realm, where marine life and those that depend on it thrive. During this cruise, scientists will assess environmental conditions, as well as the abundance, diversity, and health of marine organisms along the Gulf coast.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) content of the ocean closely mirrors the ever-increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2. Although carbon sequestration by ocean surface waters helps to regulate atmospheric levels of CO2, it comes at a cost to oceans and the life within. Ocean chemistry is changing in response to increased inputs of CO2, becoming more acidic from pole to pole.
Coastal waters are particularly vulnerable, as they experience a varying level of acidification due to both atmospheric inputs of carbon dioxide and anthropogenic influences, in addition to freshwater inputs from rain and influential rivers in the area. Coastal ecosystems are of great socioeconomic value, and changing ocean chemistry will have an impact on the ecosystems that support tourism and fishing industries throughout the Gulf. Consistent monitoring is necessary to equip NOAA with the tools to better prepare society to respond to changing ocean conditions and resources.
--------------
Ocean acidification along the Gulf Coast and East Coast of the USA
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278434315000473
--------------
Researchers Find Pollution from Cosmetics in Gulf Waters
2017
https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2017/07/researchers-find-pollution-cosmetics-gulf-waters/
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Section 5: Coral Reefs
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In Mexico, Greed Kills Fish by the Seaful
2002
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/10/world/in-mexico-greed-kills-fish-by-the-seaful.html?mtrref=undefined&gwh=AE5079BE1CA75562630B5DC01AAD91EA&gwt=pay
-------------
With no-fishing zones, Mexican fishermen restored the marine ecosystem
August 2018
https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-08-17/no-fishing-zones-mexican-fishermen-restored-marine-ecosystem
------------
Sea cucumbers are being eaten to death
November 2018
The marine animals are pricey status foods in China, fueling disastrous overfishing
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/11/sea-cucumber-eaten-to-death/
---------
Fighting Ocean Acidification With Underwater Forests
2018
As the ocean’s pH drops, scientists are studying whether kelp and seagrass can create refuges that could help marine life survive acidifying waters.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/04/20/fighting-ocean-acidification-with-underwater-forests
---------
Conservation and Sustainability of Mexican Caribbean Coral Reefs and the Threats of a Human-Induced Phase-Shift
2013
https://www.intechopen.com/books/environmental-change-and-sustainability/conservation-and-sustainability-of-mexican-caribbean-coral-reefs-and-the-threats-of-a-human-induced-
-------------
Scientists try to regrow a dying coral reef 25 times faster than nature
2015
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/scientists-try-regrow-dying-coral-reef-25-times-faster-nature
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OUTBREAKS OF CARIBBEAN CORAL DISEASE ON THE RISE
2018
http://www.agrra.org/front-page-news/outbreaks-caribbean-coral-disease-rise/
----------------
Dead zones may threaten coral reefs worldwide
2017
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170321122521.htm
---------------
Murky Waters
What is killing the Gulf of Mexico’s majestic coral reefs?
{Mexicans are responsible}
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/gulf-of-mexico-coral-reefs/
-------------
Mysterious disease threatens Mexico's coral reefs
2019
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/mysterious-disease-threatens-mexicos-coral-reefs
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-------------
Quintana Roo’s coral reef under threat from sargassum and disease
2019
In Puerto Morelos National Reef Park, 30% of coral has died in just four months
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/coral-reef-under-threat-from-sargassum-and-disease/
Coral reefs off the coast of Quintana Roo are under threat from an aggressive bleaching phenomenon and sargassum, experts warn.
María del Carmen García Rivas, director of the Puerto Morelos National Reef Park, said that 30% of coral colonies in the park have died over the past four months due to bleaching, a phenomenon that occurs when water is too warm.
However, she warned that the expected invasion of sargassum later this year will also pose a threat to the reef’s health, explaining that when the seaweed decomposes it emits sulfuric acid which could have a catastrophic effect on the marine ecosystem.
García said that she hoped that all three levels of government will take strong action to combat the arrival of sargassum and avoid what could be an environmental disaster.
Lorenzo Álvarez Phillips, head researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology at the National Autonomous University (UNAM), said that coral bleaching and sargassum are affecting the entire reef system from Isla Contoy, located off the north coast of Quintana Roo, to Sian Ka’an, a biosphere reserve in the municipality of Tulum.
Reefs located off the coast of Cozumel as well as Mahahual and Xcalac in the south of Quintana Roo have also been affected by the bleaching disease.
Álvarez said the bleaching phenomenon off the coast of Quintana Roo is so aggressive that an entire coral colony which took thousands of years to form can be killed in a single month.
The phenomenon has spread quickly, he added, explaining that reefs in “practically the whole state” have been affected.
The reefs are part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System that stretches over 1,000 kilometers from Isla Contoy to the Bay Islands in Honduras.
--------------
Mexico Caribbean Beaches May See Worst Sargassum Since 2018
April 30, 2022
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-04-30/mexico-caribbean-beaches-may-see-worst-sargassum-since-2018
--------------
Rapid tourism growth and declining coral reefs in Akumal, Mexico
2015
--------------
Chemical and mechanical bioerosion of boring sponges from Mexican Pacific coral reefs
2008
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/211/17/2827
--------------
Is Your Sunscreen Killing the Coral Reef?
2018
Recent studies have discovered that certain sunscreen chemicals are harming our beloved coral—find out what to do, just in time for National Sunscreen Day.
https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2018/05/24/sunscreen-killing-coral-reef/
--------------
Some Coral Reefs Need Poop, Study Finds
2018
https://earther.gizmodo.com/some-coral-reefs-need-poop-study-finds-1827490600
-------------
Parrotfish: The fish that can save coral reefs
https://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/leadership-and-advocacy/parrotfish-the-fish-that-can-save-coral-reefs
-------------
To keep corals healthy, we must protect herbivorous fish
2018
https://aida-americas.org/en/blog/keep-corals-healthy-we-must-protect-herbivorous-fish
-------------
'Coral bleaching is getting worse ... but the biggest problem is pollution'
2017
---------------
Great Barrier Reef saw huge losses from 2016 heatwave
2018
One-third of reefs in the world’s largest coral system were transformed by warmed waters, finds comprehensive underwater and aerial survey.
The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef is the largest barrier reef in the western
hemisphere – an underwater wilderness stretching over 700 miles along
the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.
One of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the Americas, the reef is home
to a dazzling variety of coral and more than 500 species of fish, and
provides a livelihood for more than a million people. But now, a
combination of mass tourism and poor waste management has left the reef
increasingly vulnerable to climate change, placing this natural wonder
in serious trouble.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04660-w
--------------
Coral in the Gulf of Mexico are facing an extreme threat. Here’s how Moody Gardens is trying to help. – Houston Chronicle
November 23, 2021
https://www.euvolution.com/prometheism-transhumanism-posthumanism/mars-colony/coral-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-are-facing-an-extreme-threat-heres-how-moody-gardens-is-trying-to-help-houston-chronicle/
--------------
Can the Gulf of Mexico’s Largest Coral Reef Survive a Massive New Port?
2018
Environmentalists in Mexico have fought the recent relocation of a coral reef to make way for bigger ships in the Port of Veracruz. They worry about the ecosystem impacts of the port expansion and the precedent it sets for uprooting corals.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/04/12/can-the-gulf-of-mexicos-largest-coral-reef-survive-a-massive-new-port
-------------
In Tulum, those expanding the eco-friendly beach paradise are also destroying it
2018
'The problem is corruption'
'Open-air landfill'
'This is a sanitary emergency'
'Coral reef collapse'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/04/04/landfills-polluted-drinking-water-tiny-town-tulum-mexico-environment/485068002/
-------------
A paradise at risk, Tulum is an ‘eco-destination’ that will soon face irreversible damage
2018
Can a documentary help save this coastal city that is growing faster than urban infrastructure can keep up?
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Section 6: Algal Blooms
---------------
---------------
---------------
---------------
------------------
Marine biotoxins and harmful algal blooms in Mexico’s Pacific littoral
http://www.monae.org/documents/HAB_Mexico.pdf
--------------
Researchers Discover Direct Link Between Agricultural Runoff And Massive Algal Blooms In The Sea
2004
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041208202518.htm
Scientists have found the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive blooms of marine algae that are potentially harmful to ocean life and fisheries.
Researchers from Stanford University's School of Earth Sciences made the discovery by analyzing satellite images of Mexico's Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California-a narrow, 700-mile-long stretch of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Mexican mainland from the Baja California Peninsula. Immortalized in the 1941 book Sea of Cortez, by writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Edward Ricketts, the region remains a hotspot of marine biodiversity and one of Mexico's most important commercial fishing centers.
The results of the Stanford study will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco on Dec. 13.
Algal blooms
Algal blooms occur naturally when cold-water upwellings bring from the seafloor to the surface nutrients that stimulate the rapid reproduction and growth of microscopic algae, also known as phytoplankton. These events often benefit marine ecosystems by generating tons of algae that are consumed by larger organisms.
But several phytoplankton species produce harmful blooms, known as red or brown tides, which release toxins in the water that can poison mollusks and fish. Excessively large blooms can also overwhelm a marine ecosystem by creating oxygen-depleted "dead zones" in the ocean. Scientists have long suspected that many harmful blooms are fueled by fertilizer runoff from farming operations, which in many regions pour tons of excess nitrogen and other nutrients into rivers that eventually flow into coastal waters. However, some agricultural industry groups contend that there is not enough evidence to link farm runoff to red tides or dead zones.
Satellite imagery
To assess the impact of agriculture on marine algae, Stanford scientists turned their attention to one of Mexico's most productive coastal farming regions-the Yaqui River Valley, which drains into the Sea of Cortez.
"The Yaqui Valley agricultural area is 556,000 acres [225,000 hectares] of irrigated wheat," said Pamela A. Matson, the dean of Stanford's School of Earth Sciences and co-author of the AGU study. "The entire valley is irrigated and fertilized in very short windows of time during a six-month cycle. The excess water from irrigation runs off through streams and channels into the estuaries, and then out to sea."
Matson and her colleagues wondered if each fertilization and irrigation event would trigger a noticeable phytoplankton bloom near the mouth of the Yaqui River, which is located on the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez. To find out, the researchers analyzed a series of images from an orbiting NASA satellite called SeaWiFS, which is equipped with special light-sensitive instruments that can detect phytoplankton floating near the surface of the sea. "These instruments measure the level of greenness in the water," explained Kevin R. Arrigo, an associate professor of geophysics at Stanford and co-author of the AGU paper. "The greener the water, the more phytoplankton there are."
Dramatic results
Stanford doctoral candidate Mike Beman carefully analyzed dozens of SeaWiFS images taken over the Sea of Cortez from 1998 through 2002. The results were dramatic.
"I looked at five years of satellite data," said Beman, lead author of the study. "There were roughly four irrigation events per year, and right after each one, you'd see a bloom appear within a matter of days."
Each bloom was enormous, he said, covering from 19 to 223 square miles (50 to 577 square kilometers) of the Sea of Cortez and lasting several days. "Sometimes eddies actually pulled the plumes across the gulf, from the mainland side all the way to the Baja Peninsula," Beman added.
"Mike found that immediately following each one-week window in which much of the valley was irrigated, there was a response in the ocean off the coast of the Yaqui Valley," Matson explained.
"We were quite surprised," Arrigo added, noting that the AGU paper marks the first time that scientists have documented a "one-to-one correspondence between an irrigation event and a massive algal bloom."
Red tides and dead zones
According to the researchers, artificially induced algal blooms could have major impacts on recreational and commercial fishing, major industries in the Sea of Cortez. Red tides, for example, can cause outbreaks of life-threatening diseases, such as paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can shut down mussel and clam harvesting for long periods of time.
Another concern is hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, which is caused by excessive algae growth. As the algal mass sinks, it is consumed by bacteria, which use up most of the oxygen in the water as they multiply. The result is an oxygen-depleted dead zone at the bottom of the sea where few creatures can survive. A massive dead zone appears every summer in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Scientists believe that agricultural runoff from the Mississippi River plays a pivotal role in creating this annual dead zone, which measured 8,500 square miles (22,000 square kilometers) in 2002-an area bigger than the state of Massachusetts.
"In the Sea of Cortez, there's the possibility that hypoxia could occur at a local scale, which could be devastating to the shrimp and shellfish industries," Matson said. "Shrimp fisheries are very important economically, and they're already under a lot of stress from overfishing and aquaculture. It is possible that agricultural runoff could cause additional stress if it does lead to toxic blooms or hypoxia." She and her colleagues plan to conduct follow-up studies to assess the ecological impact of Yaqui Valley runoff events.
"The availability of high-resolution satellite data has opened up a whole new opportunity to look at the importance of what's going on on land in the sea," Matson added. "This study shows that you have to pay attention to the land-sea connections."
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Harmful Algal Blooms (HABS) along Mexican coast
2018
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/201812.0352/v1/download
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Gulf of Mexico/Florida: Harmful Algal Blooms
2022
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/hab/gulf-mexico.html
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A Toxic Tide is Killing Florida Wildlife
2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/climate/florida-red-tide-algae.html
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Why Is Florida Experiencing Its Most Toxic Algae Bloom In A Decade?
2018
https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2018/08/10/why-is-florida-experiencing-its-most-toxic-algae-bloom-in-a-decade/#174d3eb587e1
Between October and April of every year, a "red tide" emerges along the southwest Florida coast. Red tides have occurred as far back as the 1500s, when Spanish explorers recorded periodic incidences of fish kills and fumes that caused respiratory irritation. And, they are different from the oxygen-depleted "dead zones" that form in the Gulf of Mexico on an annual basis. These red tides are brought about by single-celled microscopic algae known as "dinoflagellates" which can cause the water to turn red in color. While these algae are always present in the coastal waters of Florida, a perfect storm of warm water, sunlight and nutrient availability can cause their populations to explode into a red tide like the one that is currently sitting on the southwest coast of Florida.
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Toxic algal bloom continues to suffocate Florida’s Gulf Coast
2018
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/toxic-algal-bloom-continues-suffocate-floridas-gulf-coast
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Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force
Hypoxia means low oxygen and is primarily a problem for estuaries and coastal waters. Hypoxic waters have dissolved oxygen concentrations of less than 2-3 mg/L. Hypoxia can be caused by a variety of factors, including excess nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, and waterbody stratification (layering) due to saline or temperature gradients. These excess nutrients can promote algal overgrowth and lead to eutrophication. As dead algae decompose, oxygen is consumed in the process, resulting in low levels of oxygen in the water.
https://www.epa.gov/ms-htf/hypoxia-101
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Gulf of Mexico Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast
2018
https://www.wkgc.org/2018/11/28/gulf-of-mexico-harmful-algal-bloom-forecast/
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Persistent algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico is killing Sea Turtles
https://www.earth.com/news/algae-bloom-killing-sea-turtles/
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Why Florida’s red tide is killing fish, manatees, and turtles
2018
Where the red tide is, and why it’s so dangerous for marine life.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/8/30/17795892/red-tide-2018-florida-gulf-sarasota-sanibel-okeechobee
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Toxic 'red tide' algae blooms are killing fish, turtles, and manatees in Florida — here's what it looks like and why it's happening
2018
https://www.businessinsider.com/red-tide-in-florida-toxic-algae-bloom-2018-8
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After 16 Months Of Dead Fish, Manatees And Dolphins, Florida's Red Tide Ebbs
Feb 2019
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/694479180/after-16-months-of-dead-fish-manatees-and-dolphins-floridas-red-tide-ebbs
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Harmful algal blooms and eutrophication along the mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem
2017
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211464516302287
Abstract
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been the subject of many reports released by Mexican Federal Authorities along the Mexican Coast of the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem (MC-GoM-LME), but extensive research that delves deeply into this issue is lacking. Although Karenia brevis blooms have appeared in all Mexican states (except Quintana Roo) and blooms of Cladophora spp., Chattonella marina, Chattonella subsalsa, Glenodinium pseudostigmosum and Chaetoceros holsaticus are fairly new to the MC-GoM-LME, their spatial and temporal variations are largely unknown. It appears that anthropogenic nutrient over-enrichment is the main driver of eutrophication along the MC-GoM-LME. Trophic conditions based on physicochemical parameters, phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation along the northern coast of Yucatan show the influence of Gulf of Mexico LME and Caribbean Sea LME waters, seasonal upwelling and polluted inputs from submarine groundwater discharges. Meso-eutrophic and oligo-mesotrophic conditions on the coast are associated with human activities such as domestic sewage discharges from septic tanks, harbor effluents and brackish waters from artificial inlets. Coastal lagoons in Veracruz have been impacted by urbanization expansion leading to wastewater discharges, fertilizer runoff and changes in land use. Overall, trophic conditions in Veracruz have improved relative to historic trophic index values. At least for the Yucatan State and the Quintana Roo State, there are sites that appear to link the occurrence of HABs and anthropogenic eutrophication. Additional research over inshore, estuarine, coastal and offshore environments requires future monitoring efforts and collaboration with the international community (especially the U.S.).
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Comparison of Cadmium and Phosphate Concentrations During Red Tide Versus no Red Tide Conditions
2009
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25737695
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Nitrogen and carbon uptake kinetics and the
influence of irradiance for a red tide bloom off
southern California
2000
https://www.int-res.com/articles/ame/21/a021p031.pdf
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It’s a Bioluminescent Red Tide!
April 29, 2020
https://latzlab.ucsd.edu/2020/04/29/its-a-bioluminescent-red-tide/
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Red Tide, Blue Waves Crash On Orange County Coastline
May 4, 2020
https://patch.com/california/newportbeach/red-tide-blue-waves-crash-orange-county-coastline
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Dead fish turning up on Southern California coast amid red algae bloom
June 4, 2020
https://www.thelog.com/local/dead-fish-turning-up-on-southern-california-coast-amid-red-algae-bloom/
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'Red Tide' Turns Gulf of Mexico Rust-Colored
2015
https://www.livescience.com/53180-red-tide-gulf-of-mexico.html
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Red tide spreading by Bay County beaches along Gulf of Mexico
Oct 2021
https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/2021/10/20/panama-city-beach-mexico-beach-bay-county-report-red-tide-exposure/8523796002/
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Red tide affects South Padre Island, Mexico
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Red_tide_affects_South_Padre_Island,_Mexico
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How red tide knocks out its competition
June 4, 2014
Summary: New research reveals how the algae behind red tide thoroughly disables – but doesn’t kill – other species of algae. The study shows how chemical signaling between algae can trigger big changes in the marine ecosystem. The algae that form red tide in the Gulf of Mexico are dinoflagellates called Karenia brevis, or just Karenia by scientists. Karenia makes neurotoxins that are toxic to humans and fish. Karenia also makes small molecules that are toxic to other marine algae, which is what the new study analyzed.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140604123426.htm
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Climate-driven golden tides are reshaping coastal communities in Quintana Roo, Mexico
2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666900521000332
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Epipelagic zooplankton diversity in the deep water region of the Gulf of Mexico: a metabarcoding survey
17 May 2021
https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-abstract/78/9/3317/6277126?redirectedFrom=fulltext
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Gulf of California Fish Found Thriving in One of the Most Extreme Low Oxygen Underwater Habitats on Earth
2019
https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2019-01-22-gulf-of-california-low-oxygen-fish
Researchers found thriving species of fish in one of the most extreme low oxygen underwater habitats on Earth.
A team of scientists used an underwater robot to explore the Cerralvo Trough in the Gulf of California.
Oxygen levels where the fish were found were up to one-fortieth the level that other low-oxygen fish can live in.
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The ocean is losing its breath
2018
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/ocean-losing-its-breath
In the past 50 years, the amount of water in the open ocean with zero oxygen has gone up more than fourfold. In coastal water bodies, including estuaries and seas, low-oxygen sites have increased more than 10-fold since 1950. Scientists expect oxygen to continue dropping even outside these zones as Earth warms.
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The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, Scientists Warn
2019
Widespread
and sometimes drastic marine oxygen declines are stressing sensitive
species—a trend that will continue with climate change
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ocean-is-running-out-of-breath-scientists-warn/
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Scientists build new atlas of ocean's oxygen-starved waters
December 27, 2021
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-scientists-atlas-ocean-oxygen-starved.html
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The Gulf Of Mexico's Dead Zone Is The Biggest Ever Seen
2017
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/03/541222717/the-gulf-of-mexicos-dead-zone-is-the-biggest-ever-seen
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Marine Dead Zones in Gulf of Mexico Are Expected To Last Decades
2018
https://www.aaas.org/news/marine-dead-zones-gulf-mexico-are-expected-last-decades
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Very large dead zone forecast for the Gulf of Mexico
June 10, 2019
https://www.usgs.gov/news/very-large-dead-zone-forecast-gulf-mexico?qt-news_science_products=4#qt-news_science_products
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World's largest 'dead zone' discovered, and it's not in the Gulf of Mexico
2018
https://www.nola.com/environment/2018/05/worlds_largest_dead_zone_disco.html
The Gulf of Mexico's dead zone is bigger than ever. Recent surveys put it at an enormous 8,776 square miles, large enough to cover New Jersey.
But another massive zone of low dissolved oxygen confirmed recently in the Arabian Sea is seven times larger. At 63,000 square miles -- the size of Florida -- it ranks as the world's largest.
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Possible link between oil spill clean ups and harmful algal blooms
2018
https://envirobites.org/2018/06/01/possible-link-between-oil-spill-clean-ups-and-harmful-algal-blooms/
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Why are there so many toxic algae blooms this year
2016
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/26/why-are-there-so-many-toxic-algae-blooms-this-year.html
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Florida algae crisis: What's the difference between red tide and blue-green algae?
-----------
Researchers discover direct link between agricultural runoff and massive algal blooms in the sea
2004
https://news.stanford.edu/pr/2004/agugulf-0112.html
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Scientists Work to Predict and Prevent Algae Blooms
2011
https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/scientists-work-predict-and-prevent-algae-blooms
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Hunting Dangerous Algae from Space
https://earthdata.nasa.gov/user-resources/sensing-our-planet/hunting-dangerous-algae-from-space
On April 2, 2002, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff found millions of small dead and dying menhaden fish along a 15-mile stretch of beach on North Padre Island. During February 2002, approximately 1,000 tons of rock lobsters beached themselves at Elands Bay in South Africa. And in 1996, almost 150 Florida manatee — over five percent of the estimated population — died over a two-month period, beset by a pneumonia-like respiratory syndrome. What caused these deadly events?
In each case, the cause was a microscopic aquatic plant known as phytoplankton, or algae. But not just one, or even a few, renegade algae could have been responsible for this level of destruction. Rather, millions of phytoplankton proliferated to form a harmful algal bloom (HAB), commonly referred to as red tide.
Algae red tide
Red tides can kill large numbers of fish. (Images courtesy of Mote Marine Laboratory).
Harmful algal blooms occur around the world — from Florida to Maine, Norway to Africa, Japan to Oregon — and can create health problems for both animals and humans. When ocean temperature, salinity, nutrients, and light conditions are optimal, phytoplankton reproduce quickly to form blooms of millions of organisms.
Some phytoplankton, such as Karenia brevis (K. brevis) found off the Florida coast, contain potent toxins that are harmful to marine organisms and humans. Harmful algal blooms can kill fish, poison humans and other organisms, and cause respiratory problems in humans and marine mammals. Many of the manatees that died in 1996 had brevetoxins in their nasal and lung tissue, according to the Florida Marine Research Institute.
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Latest Developments in Chile’s Algal Bloom
2017
https://www.aquaculturealliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Day3_AdolfoAlvial.pdf
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Southern California’s coast emerges as a toxic algae hot spot
2018
https://news.usc.edu/147515/southern-californias-coast-emerges-as-a-toxic-algae-hot-spot/
New research by USC scientists shows domoic acid from ocean algae is a chronic problem with natural and man-made origins
Among the key findings:
Pseudo-nitzschia is the culprit behind domoic acid. It’s been present along the Southern California coast for decades, but its role in wildlife mortality is recent and increasing.
The world’s highest domoic acid measurement in water occurred near San Pedro in March 2011. It was 52.3 micrograms per liter — about five times higher than a level of concern.
Through the years, researchers found a strong correlation between domoic acid in the water and impaired marine wildlife on shore.
Domoic acid is ever-present offshore, either in shellfish or the water. Some years it’s abundant, while other years it’s scarce.
Conditions are worse in the spring, due to seasonal upwelling of nutrients that spur plankton growth. The toxin is less abundant in the summer and winter.
Domoic acid in shellfish can occur at high concentrations off the coast of San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties, but it tends to be more prevalent in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties due to local environmental conditions.
Man-made sources of nutrients contribute to algal blooms, but that doesn’t explain disparities in time and location of some of the domoic acid outbreaks. Other environmental factors are likely in play.
The algae and its toxin diminish on the West Coast when water temperatures exceed 68 degrees Fahrenheit, apparently due to temperature sensitivity of the microorganisms.
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Section 7: Ocean Circulation & Temperature
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Ocean circulation is changing, and we need to know why
2018
Long-term monitoring is essential for working out how alterations in the Atlantic Ocean current system will affect the planet.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04322-x
-----------------------
Thermohaline circulation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation
Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo- referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water. Wind-driven surface currents (such as the Gulf Stream) travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling en route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes (forming North Atlantic Deep Water). This dense water then flows into the ocean basins. While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean, the oldest waters (with a transit time of around 1000 years) upwell in the North Pacific. Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins, reducing differences between them and making the Earth's oceans a global system. On their journey, the water masses transport both energy (in the form of heat) and mass of substances (solids, dissolved substances and gases) around the globe. As such, the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth.
The thermohaline circulation is sometimes called the ocean conveyor belt, the great ocean conveyor, or the global conveyor belt. On occasion, it is used to refer to the meridional overturning circulation (often abbreviated as MOC). The term MOC is more accurate and well defined, as it is difficult to separate the part of the circulation which is driven by temperature and salinity alone as opposed to other factors such as the wind and tidal forces. Moreover, temperature and salinity gradients can also lead to circulation effects that are not included in the MOC itself.
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Two Kinds of Bad Data
2008
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/OceanCooling/page3.php
When scientists mistrust their data, they do they same thing you do when you think your watch is off: they check another clock. To diagnose the problem in the Atlantic, Willis needed to compare ocean temperature measurements from multiple sources. The first source he turned to was sea level data from satellite altimeters.
Because water expands when it absorbs heat, and contracts when it cools, sea level is physically connected to heat content in the upper ocean. Satellite altimeters measure sea surface height with radar. The radar sends a pulse of energy toward the Earth’s surface and listens for the echo. The time delay and intensity of the echo reveal the altitude of the sea surface.
Willis also had ocean-based data sets, including temperature profiles from the Argo robot fleet as well as from expendable bathythermographs, called “XBTs” for short. XBTs are the equivalent of a disposable razor. A temperature sensor is spooled out behind a ship by thin copper wire. It sinks, making measurements at increasing depths, transmitting them back to the ship via the wire until the line snaps and the sensor sinks to the bottom of the ocean, discarded...
“So the new Argo data were too cold, and the older XBT data were too warm, and together, they made it seem like the ocean had cooled,” says Willis. The February evening he discovered the mistake, he says, is “burned into my memory.” He was supposed to fly to Colorado that weekend to give a talk on “ocean cooling” to prominent climate researchers. Instead, he’d be talking about how it was all a mistake.
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The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat
2008
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025
Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.
This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming.
In fact, 80 percent to 90 percent of global warming involves heating up ocean waters. They hold much more heat than the atmosphere can. So Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments called the Argo system. The buoys can dive 3,000 feet down and measure ocean temperature. Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has recorded no warming of the global oceans.
"There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant," Willis says. So the buildup of heat on Earth may be on a brief hiatus. "Global warming doesn't mean every year will be warmer than the last. And it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming."
In recent years, heat has actually been flowing out of the ocean and into the air. This is a feature of the weather phenomenon known as El Nino. So it is indeed possible the air has warmed but the ocean has not. But it's also possible that something more mysterious is going on.
That becomes clear when you consider what's happening to global sea level. Sea level rises when the oceans get warm because warmer water expands. This accounts for about half of global sea level rise. So with the oceans not warming, you would expect to see less sea level rise. Instead, sea level has risen about half an inch in the past four years. That's a lot.
Willis says some of this water is apparently coming from a recent increase in the melting rate of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica.
"But in fact there's a little bit of a mystery. We can't account for all of the sea level increase we've seen over the last three or four years," he says.
One possibility is that the sea has, in fact, warmed and expanded — and scientists are somehow misinterpreting the data from the diving buoys.
But if the aquatic robots are actually telling the right story, that raises a new question: Where is the extra heat all going?
Kevin Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research says it's probably going back out into space. The Earth has a number of natural thermostats, including clouds, which can either trap heat and turn up the temperature, or reflect sunlight and help cool the planet.
That can't be directly measured at the moment, however.
"Unfortunately, we don't have adequate tracking of clouds to determine exactly what role they've been playing during this period," Trenberth says.
It's also possible that some of the heat has gone even deeper into the ocean, he says. Or it's possible that scientists need to correct for some other feature of the planet they don't know about. It's an exciting time, though, with all this new data about global sea temperature, sea level and other features of climate.
"I suspect that we'll able to put this together with a little bit more perspective and further analysis," Trenberth says. "But what this does is highlight some of the issues and send people back to the drawing board."
Trenberth and Willis agree that a few mild years have no effect on the long-term trend of global warming. But they say there are still things to learn about how our planet copes with the heat.
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Oceans Are Warming Faster Than Predicted
Jan 2019
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oceans-are-warming-faster-than-predicted/
Earth’s seas are absorbing excess heat 40 percent faster than previous estimates
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Ocean Warming Continues To Break Every Record
Jan 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/01/16/ocean-warming-continues-to-break-every-record/#123a0f556d8f
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Climate myths: The oceans are cooling
2007
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11664-climate-myths-the-oceans-are-cooling/
One study in 2006 suggested that the upper layers of the ocean had cooled between 2003 and 2005. The apparent cooling was very slight – just 0.02°C – but needless to say, this should not be happening if the planet is getting warmer (see Cooling oceans buck global trend).
The study was based on measurements taken by a worldwide array of floats (the Argo Network) that monitor the upper 2 kilometres of the ocean. The finding was surprising because other studies have concluded that the oceans are warming very much as predicted.
Now the authors of the 2006 study have submitted a correction (pdf format). It turns out that a fault in the software on some of the floats led to some temperature measurements being associated with the wrong depth.
Meanwhile, work by other teams suggests that the past warmth of the oceans has been overestimated. The problem was due to expendable sensors that are thrown overboard and take measurements as they sink. Some did not sink as fast as expected.
While there is still some doubt about precisely how much the oceans have warmed, they are warming. In particular, there is a strong warming trend from the 1990s onwards – just as the models predict.
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Parts of the ocean are still cooling, study suggests
Jan 2019
"The close correspondence between the predictions and observed trends gave us confidence that this is a real phenomenon," researcher Jake Gebbie said.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2019/01/04/Parts-of-the-ocean-are-still-cooling-study-suggests/7631546621230/
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The Atlantic Is Entering A Cool Phase That Will Change The World’s Weather
2015
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/atlantic-entering-cool-phase-will-change-world-s-weather/
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Once we adjust for overall global warming trends, an oscillation in Atlantic sea-surface temperatures emerges. The ocean went through a warm period in the 1930s/1940s and again in the 1990s/2000s. However the 1970s/1980s were much cooler and there are hints of a transition to a relatively cold period at the moment.
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The Icy Fire Beneath Norway’s Seabed
2017
Trapped by deep ocean pressure and cold temperatures along continental shelves, methane hydrates could be an energy windfall or a looming disaster. Norway is spending millions to discover whether this ice-like form of natural gas will prove boon or bane.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/05/12/the-icy-fire-beneath-norways-seabed-2
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Dramatic shift to Atlantic climate in Arctic warming hotspot
2018
https://phys.org/news/2018-06-shift-atlantic-climate-arctic-hotspot.html
The Arctic is about to shrink, shows a new study, as an important part of the Arctic Ocean shifts over to an Atlantic climate regime. The rapid climate shift occurs in the northern Barents Sea—the Arctic warming hotspot where the surface warming and loss of winter sea ice is largest in the entire Arctic.
"Less sea ice inflow from the interior Arctic has caused a 40 percent freshwater loss in the northern Barents Sea, leading to weaker stratification and increased vertical mixing with the deep Atlantic layer," says lead author Dr. Sigrid Lind, researcher at the Institute of Marine Research and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research. She continues:
"Heat is brought up from the deep Atlantic layer, resulting in a dramatically warm Arctic layer. This can explain why the northern Barents Sea has become the hotspot of Arctic warming after the mid-2000s."
Rapid climate shift
We need to go back several thousand years to the last glacial to find similar rapid climate shifts. During the cold periods, the Nordic Seas were cold, stratified and sea ice covered—much like the Arctic today—but shifted rapidly to a warm, well-mixed and sea ice free Atlantic climate in warm periods. This recurred several times.
"We are witnessing a rapid climate shift event of a type that previously only has been observed in the past climate history of Earth", says Dr. Lind, and continues: "Global warming manifests so deeply in the Arctic that the most vulnerable part of it is lost to the Atlantic domain."
The climate shift will have widespread consequences for the ecosystem. The situation can become critical for the Arctic ecosystem in the north, including ice-associated marine mammals such as polar bear and different seal species. Cod and other commercial fish stocks in the southern Barents Sea are already expanding into the northern regions.
Special role in the climate system
The northern Barents Sea is the frontier region of the Arctic domain and plays a special role in the climate system. Here, the cold, stratified and sea ice covered Arctic confronts the warm and well-mixed Atlantic domain. The frontier region is the most pressured region of the Arctic, and the first to be lost in the battle against Atlantic Water, the study argues.
The study is based on an extensive set of observations of ocean temperature and salinity collected annually over five decades from 1970 to 2016 by the Institute of Marine Research in Norway and the Russian marine institute PINRO. It also uses satellite data of sea ice from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. "The data set is unique for the Arctic. We use it to investigate the interplay between the sea ice cover and the different layers in the ocean," Lind says.
The large climatic changes observed in the northern Barents Sea has been linked to extreme weather in the mid-latitudes.
Freshwater is leading the game
The study gives new, important insight into the processes that occur in the Arctic in response to global warming. In the Arctic Ocean, a thin layer of fresh Arctic Water protects the sea ice cover from the heat in the deep Atlantic layer.
There is a two-way connection between the sea ice cover and the Arctic layer, both ensuring presence of the other. The sea ice cover provides freshwater when melting, and the Arctic layer provides shelter for the sea ice from "the heat in the deep", Lind says.
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Hotspots: Mantle thermal plumes
1999
The vast majority of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur near plate boundaries, but there are some exceptions. For example, the Hawaiian Islands, which are entirely of volcanic origin, have formed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean more than 3,200 km from the nearest plate boundary. How do the Hawaiian Islands and other volcanoes that form in the interior of plates fit into the plate-tectonics picture?
https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/hotspots.html
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Galápagos hotspot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_hotspot
Tectonic setting
The Galapagos hotspot has a very complicated tectonic setting. It is located very close to the spreading ridge between the Cocos and Nazca plates; the hotspot interacts with both plates and the spreading ridge over the last twenty million years as the relative location of the hotspot in relation to the plates has varied. Based on similar seismic velocity gradients of the lavas of the Carnegie, Cocos and Malpelos Ridges there is evidence that the hotspot activity has been the result of a single long mantle melt rather than multiple periods of activity and dormancy.
In Hawaii the evidence suggests that each volcano has a distinct period of activity as the hotspot moves under that portion of the Pacific plate before becoming dormant and then extinct and eroding under the ocean. This does not appear to be the case in the Galapagos, instead there is evidence of concurrent volcanism over a wide area. Nearly all Galapagos Islands show volcanism in the recent geological past, not just at the current location of the hotspot at Fernandina. The list below gives the last eruption dates for the Galapagos volcanoes, ordered from West to East.
The movement of the Nazca and Cocos plates have been tracked. The Nazca plate moves at 90 degrees at a rate of 58±2 km per million years. The Cocos Plate moves at 41 degrees at a rate of 83±3 km per million years. The location of the hotspot over time is recorded in the oceanic plate as the Carnegie and Cocos Ridges.
The Carnegie Ridge is on the Nazca plate is 600 km (373 mi) long and up to 300 km (186 mi) wide. It is orientated parallel to the plate movement, and its eastern end is approximately 20 million years old. There is a prominent saddle in the ridge at 86 degrees West where the height drops much closer to the surrounding ocean floor. The Malpelo Ridge, which is 300 km (186 mi) long was once believed to be part of the Carnegie Ridge.
The Cocos Ridge is a 1000 km long feature located on the Cocos plate and is orientated parallel to the plates motion from the 91 degree west transform fault at the Galapagos Spreading Centre towards the Panamanian coast. The north eastern end of the ridge dates from about 13–14.5 million years ago.[6] However, Cocos Island at the northern end of the ridge is only 2 million years old, and was therefore created at a time well after the ridge had moved away from the hotspot. The presence of a pronounced sedimentary hiatus in sediments on the Cocos Ridge indicates that the Cocos Ridge was probably buckled upon its initial shallow subduction along the Middle American Trench.[8]
The current model for the interaction of the hotspot and the spreading centre between the Cocos and Nazca plates attempts to explain the ridges on both plates; the split between the Carnegie and Malpelo Ridge and subsequent volcanic activity away from the hotspot. There have been eight major phases in the last 20 million years.
Chemical structure of the Galapagos lavas
Analysis of the radioactive isotopes of the lavas on the islands of the Galapagos archipelago and on the Carnegie Ridge shows that there are four major reservoirs of magma that mix in varying combinations to form the volcanic province.
The four types are: PLUME – this is magma associated with the plume itself and is similar to magmas from other ocean islands within the Pacific. It has the characteristics of intermediate Strontium (Sr), Neodymium (Nd) {Neodymium is used in magnets} and Lead (Pb) ratios. The PLUME lavas are found predominately in the west of the islands, around Ferdinandina and Isabela Islands, which is near to the current position of the hotspot. The PLUME lavas erupted on Fernandina and Isabela are relatively cool. Analysis shows that they are as much as 100 degrees Celsius cooler than those in Hawaii. The cause of this is not fully understood but may be due to cooling in the lithosphere or being relatively cool at formation in the mantle. They are then found in lower quantities in a horseshoe pattern north and south of the central islands mixing with the other reservoirs as it progresses east. PLUME lavas are also found in the lavas from the Galapagos Spreading Centre due to convection and mixing of all of these lavas. In the upper mantle convection currents bring in mantle material at shallow angles from the south of the Galapagos Spreading Centre. These convection current will draw in some PLUME type magma to the spreading centre where it is then erupted.
DGM – (Depleted Galapagos Mantle), this has similar characteristics to ocean ridge basalts throughout the Pacific and the Galapagos Spreading Centre. Partial melting of the upper mantle as a result of the spreading centre will leave mantle material depleted in some compounds. It has low Sr and Pb isotope ratios and high Nd ratios. DGM is found in the central islands of the Galapagos such as Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristobal and Santa Fe. It fills in the centre of the horseshoe formed by the PLUME lavas to the west, north and south.
FLO – (Floreana), characteristic of that islands lavas. It is thought that this reservoir came from subducted ocean crust that has been entrained by the mantle plume. It has enriched Sr and Pb ratios and is enriched with trace elements. FLO is associated principally with the island of Floreana and shows up on the mixing of lavas within the Galapagos along the southern side archipelago and is diluted to the east and north of there.
WD – (Wolf Darwin) is unique in the Pacific and resembles material from an Indian Ocean Ridge system. It is found on the Wolf and Darwin Islands and the seamounts that connect them along the Wolf Darwin Lineament. It has a unique Pb ratio. WD is located along the northern side of the archipelago and dilutes to the east and south.
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Floating Robots Spotted a Huge Plume of Magma Under the Galápagos
February 4, 2019
https://www.livescience.com/64680-galapagos-magma-plume-mermaids.html
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Hotspot (geology)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotspot_(geology)
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{Hotspots, ocean currents, wind currents and the Sun all play a role in how heat is generated
in the Arctic}.
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What's causing the poles to warm faster than the rest of Earth?
2011
For this study, Taylor used Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite data, and a climate model that assumes carbon emissions will be reduced slightly below "business as usual."
His results suggest that summertime changes in clouds reflect a lot of the sun's energy, offsetting the low surface albedo, and that it must be something else that determines the amount of warming.
"The total warming at the poles is due to changes in clouds, water vapor, surface albedo and atmospheric temperature," he said. "But there is greater warming in the winter than in the summer and that is caused by energy transport," he said.
Taylor's research shows that the seasonality of the polar warming is largely a result of energy in the atmosphere that is being transported to the poles through large weather systems.
The importance of energy transport in the warming of the poles suggests more study is needed on the interactions between large weather systems and more local changes, involving clouds, water vapor, surface albedo and atmospheric temperature, in order to better understand climate sensitivity.
"We hope to learn more about the processes involved in atmospheric processes in order to better understand what climate models are telling us," Taylor said.
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/warmingpoles.html
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Ask ACE: Why Does Warming Happen Faster at the Poles?
2012
https://acespace.org/2012/05/31/ask-ace-why-does-warming-happen-faster-at-the-poles/
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Arctic Is Warming Twice As Fast As World Average
2014
https://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/371438087/arctic-is-warming-twice-as-fast-as-world-average
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Arctic warming: scientists alarmed by 'crazy' temperature rises
2018
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/27/arctic-warming-scientists-alarmed-by-crazy-temperature-rises
Record warmth in the Arctic this month could yet prove to be a freak occurrence, but experts warn the warming event is unprecedented
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Antarctica's Ice on the Move - Antarctica's Climate Secrets
2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymxi5wsqtEU
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One Part of the Ocean Is Getting Colder, Thanks to Medieval Climate Change
2019
The Little Ice Age ended more than a hundred years ago, but its effects are still felt in the deepest parts of the Pacific.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a25781337/ocean-colder-climate-change-little-ice-age/
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La Niña-like ocean cooling patterns intensify northwestern Pacific tropical cyclones
Another piece in the climate puzzle
2018
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180501085555.htm
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Cooler Pacific Ocean May Explain Climate Change Paradox
2013
https://www.livescience.com/39250-global-warming-pacific-cooling.html
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Study: Changing winds speeding up ocean currents around Antarctica
Nov. 29, 2021
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/11/29/Antarctic-Circumpolar-Current-speeding-up/6021638200348/
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How Centuries-Old Seawater Is Cooling The Deep Pacific Ocean
Jan 2019
https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2019/01/04/how-centuries-old-seawater-is-cooling-the-deep-pacific-ocean/#fba8aba57674
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Frequent volcanic eruptions likely cause of long-term ocean cooling
2015
An international team of researchers found an 1800 year-long cooling trend in the surface layer of the Earth’s oceans, and that volcanic eruptions were the likely cause of this cooling from 801 to 1800 AD.
The coolest temperatures were during the Little Ice Age - that was before man-made global warming erased the trend in the 1800s.
http://www.futureearth.org/news/frequent-volcanic-eruptions-likely-cause-long-term-ocean-cooling
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The Most Dangerous Type of Eruptions - Flood Volcanism explained
May 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st_2C_Wrw4A
{Warmer water holds less gasses than cold water.}
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Ancient rock structure discovered under the ice of East and West Antarctica is controlling the flow of ocean water under the Ross Ice Shelf and may affect rate of future melting
May 2019
Experts used a plane-mounted detector to scan the shelf and underlying rocks
They found a previously unmapped change in sea floor depth under the ice shelf
This is deflecting ice-melting ocean water flows away from the West Antarctic
Local ocean currents may therefore be important to the future of the ice shelf
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7078657/Ancient-structure-discovered-ice-East-West-Antarctica-affect-future-melting.html
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Rising global temperatures are creating bubbling, methane lakes you can light on fire
2019
https://www.businessinsider.com/frozen-lakes-light-fire-thermokarst-global-warming-climate-change-2019-4
Thousands of flammable lakes are popping up all over Alaska and Siberia.
Rising
global temperatures are thawing and melting permafrost in the Arctic,
which creates these thermokarst lakes that bubble with methane.
The methane is flammable, but also getting into the atmosphere where it can contribute to further climate change.
{Methane gas can trap heat 25x more than carbon dioxide}.
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Modern industrialisation killed ocean cooling
2015
http://sciencenordic.com/modern-industrialisation-killed-ocean-cooling
Before we started burning fossil fuels, Earth’s oceans had been cooling for almost 2,000 years.
The primary cause for this cooling was a cluster of volcanic eruptions that suppressed global temperatures by blocking out sunlight.
But this all changed with the Industrial Revolution, as massive increases in man-made greenhouse gases began heating the Earth at faster rates than volcanoes could counteract.
These are the conclusions of a new study by an international team of scientists.
“We see consistent cooling in the ocean from around 2,000 years ago and until the Industrial Revolution kicks in in the early 1800s,” says co-author Helena Filipsson, a senior lecturer in Quaternary Sciences in the Department of Geology, Lund University, Sweden.
The new study provides fresh evidence of human-induced warming of the ocean, and is yet another nail in the coffin for those who argue that the addition of man-made greenhouse gases over the past 200 years have had no impact on the planet’s climate...
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Drastic cooling in North Atlantic beyond worst fears, scientists warn
2017
Climatologists say Labrador Sea could cool within a decade before end of this century, leading to unprecedented disruption, reports Climate News Network
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/24/drastic-cooling-north-atlantic-beyond-worst-fears-scientists-warn
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The ‘Entire’ Atlantic Ocean is Cooling, contrary to media reports
2016
https://principia-scientific.org/entire-atlantic-ocean-cooling-contrary-media-reports/
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Response of upper ocean cooling off northeastern Taiwan to typhoon passages
2017
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1463500317300793
Abstract
A comprehensive investigation of the typhoon induced upper ocean processes and responses off northeastern Taiwan was conducted. Using the Regional Ocean Modeling System, the upper ocean responses of all typhoons striking Taiwan between 2005 and 2013 were simulated. In addition to Kuroshio intrusion, the present study demonstrates another important mechanism of typhoon induced near-inertial currents over the continental shelf of East China Sea, which can also trigger a distinct cooling (through entrainment mixing) within this region. Results indicate that the processes of typhoon inducing distinct cooling off northeastern Taiwan are conditional phenomena (only ~12% of typhoons passing Taiwan triggered extreme cooling there). Subsequently, by executing a series of sensitivity experiments and systematic analyses on the behaviors and background conditions of all those typhoon cases, key criteria determining the occurrences of cooling through both mechanisms were elucidated. Occurrences of cooling through the Kuroshio intrusion mechanism are determined mainly by the strength of the local wind over northeastern Taiwan. A distinct cooling triggered by enhanced near-inertial currents is shown to be associated with the process of wind-current resonance. Both processes of Kuroshio intrusion and enhanced near-inertial currents are dominated by wind forcing rather than upper oceanic conditions. Based on the recent findings on the possible dynamic linkage between sea surface temperature near northeast Taiwan and local weather systems, the results elucidated in this study lay the foundation for further improvement in the regional weather prediction surrounding northeast Taiwan.
---------------
What Caused That Spooky And Impossible Fire In The Atlantic Ocean?
2018
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2018/10/31/what-caused-that-spooky-and-impossible-fire-in-the-atlantic-ocean/#3d2f4dfe79f4
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Cooler Pacific Ocean May Explain Climate Change Paradox
2013
https://www.livescience.com/39250-global-warming-pacific-cooling.html
---------------
Pacific Ocean Cooling Triggers Phytoplankton Blooms in San Francisco Bay
https://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/phytoplankton_blooms/phytoplankton_blooms_graphs.html
These graphs summarize the data used to document changes in San Francisco Bay phytoplankton (measured as chlorophyll a concentrations) caused by the prolonged cold phase in the ocean off the California coast. The cold phase occurred between 1999 and 2004 (yellow shaded area). From top to bottom the graphs are:
(1) The differences from the average (mean) sea surface temperatures in degrees Celsius measured at Farallon Islands between 1977 and 2005,
(2) An index of the abundance of three clam predators in the Bay expressed as differences from the average (mean) annual catch per hectare of English Sole, Bay Shrimp, and Dungeness crab in San Francisco Bay from 1980 to 2005,
(3) Biomass of bivalves (clams) and phytoplankton in San Francisco Bay. Biomass is the quantity of a living community or population and is usually expressed as weight per unit area. The clam biomass (blue squares) is given in grams dry weight per square meter. Scientists use chlorophyll a concentration to measure how much algae (phytoplankton biomass) are suspended in water. The median chlorophyll a concentration in San Francisco Bay for the months August through December (green circles) is given in milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3).
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Nearly 200,000 marine viruses identified in pole-to-pole ocean survey
2019
https://www.earth.com/news/marine-viruses-identified/
When we think of viruses, we usually think about the common cold, influenza, and viral infections, but we typically don’t imagine the oceans to be teeming with viruses.
However, that’s just what an international team of researchers discovered after conducting the first-ever global survey of virus diversity in the oceans.
After analyzing water samples collected aboard a sailboat called the Tara as part of the Tara Oceans project, researchers identified nearly 200,000 marine viruses.
The study, published in the journal Cell, is helping to shed important insight on issues like the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems and the evolution of viral species.
“Viruses are these tiny things that you can’t even see, but because they’re present in such huge numbers, they really matter,” said Mathew Sullivan, the senior author of the study. “We’ve developed a distribution map that is foundational for anyone who wants to study how viruses manipulate the ecosystem. There were many things that surprised us about our findings.”
The Tara project began in 2006 in an effort to better predict the impacts of climate change on marine processes through exhaustive data collection and unique science experiments.
For this study, a rotating team of researchers collected water samples at different depths between 2009 and 2013. The samples were then sent to different labs for analysis.
Almost 200,000 marine viral species were identified in the samples, and each virus came from one of five ecological zones.
The researchers also discovered that the Arctic Ocean is home to a biodiversity hotspot for marine viral species which was completely unexpected.
Having a more fleshed out picture of marine viral species abundance, diversity, and location is important given the fact that marine microorganisms have a large influence on the ocean’s carbon storage capabilities and the amount of oxygen emitted from the ocean.
“In the last 20 years or so, we’ve learned that half of the oxygen that we breathe comes from marine organisms,” said Sullivan. “Additionally, the oceans soak up half of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
Marine viruses could help excess CO2 at the surface sink to the bottom, which in turn could help combat climate change and CO2 emissions.
“Previous ocean ecosystem models have commonly ignored microbes, and rarely included viruses, but we now know they are a vital component to include,” said Sullivan.
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Ocean Warming Is Already Affecting Arctic Fish and Birds
2017
A new report finds that the “staggering” rate of warming in the world’s oceans is shifting fisheries, spreading disease and altering the behavior of many marine species around the world – including in the Arctic.
https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/05/12/ocean-warming-is-already-affecting-arctic-fish-and-birds-2
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Greenland ice sheet is melting 6 times faster than it was 30 years ago
April 2019
https://www.earth.com/news/greenland-glaciers-melting-faster/
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Greenland's most critical glacier suddenly gaining ice
March 2019
Scientists say that might not be a good thing
https://www.abc17news.com/news/national-world/greenlands-most-critical-glacier-suddenly-gaining-ice/1063166255
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How Do Ocean Currents Affect Climate?
July 17, 2018
https://greentumble.com/how-do-ocean-currents-affect-climate/
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A Review on Environmental and Social Impacts of Thermal Gradient and Tidal Currents Energy Conversion and Application to the Case of Chiapas, Mexico
October 24, 2020
https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/review-environmental-social-impacts-thermal-gradient-tidal-currents-energy-conversion
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DIVERS CAUGHT IN UNDERWATER VORTEX
Aug 2, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV_eLr7oxME
---------------------
Resonant near-surface inertial oscillations in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico
2016
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2015JC011372
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A gridded surface current product for the Gulf of Mexico from consolidated drifter measurements
2020
https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/13/645/2021/
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Variable response of coastal environments of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico to sea-level rise and climate change: Implications for future change
2013
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025322713002636
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Climate-driven golden tides are reshaping coastal communities in Quintana Roo, Mexico
2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666900521000332
Research highlights
Three bays in Quintana Roo, Mexico were chosen to determine the environmental stress caused by Sargassum on benthic communities, and the seagrass, Thalassia testudinum.
Two control sites, Yal Ku Lagoon and Half Moon Bay, benthic communities and the physico chemical characteristics of the waters were not impacted.
Soliman Bay had Sargassum mats, and under those mats light and dissolved oxygen levels were significantly lower.
Under the Sargassum mats light and dissolved oxygen levels were significantly lower.
Anoxic conditions were found, with levels as low as 0.5 mg/L for oxygen and a 73% decrease in light, and water temperature was 5.2 ± 0.1 °C (mean ± SE) warmer under the Sargassum mats.
The stress caused by Sargassum mats in Soliman Bay cause a seven-fold decrease in productivity of seagrass compared to other sites.
Abstract
Sargassum mats in Mexican bays reduce the biodiversity of coral and seagrass nursery habitats. Three bays in Quintana Roo, Mexico were chosen to determine the environmental stress caused by Sargassum natans and S. fluitans on coral, seagrass and fish populations. For both control sites, Yal Ku Lagoon and Half Moon Bay with little to zero Sargassum cover, benthic communities and the physico chemical characteristics of the waters were not impacted. In Soliman Bay, Sargassum mats cover large areas in the shallows and shore and smother the seagrass and corals. Under the Sargassum mats light and dissolved oxygen levels were significantly lower. Anoxic conditions were found, with levels as low as 0.5 mg/L for oxygen and a 73% decrease in light. Water temperature was 5.2 ± 0.1 °C (mean ± SE) warmer under the Sargassum mats. By determination of weight (grams per day) and growth (mm per day), the stress caused by Sargassum mats in Soliman Bay caused a seven-fold decrease in productivity of T. testudinum compared to other sites. Taxonomic diversity was also reduced with lower biomass and an altered species distribution. To improve these ecosystems, pre-emptive conservation management and protection must be priority for future ecosystem health and biodiversity.
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Restoring Mexico's mangroves can shield shores, store carbon
November 5, 2021
https://news.yahoo.com/restoring-mexicos-mangroves-shield-shores-070945413.html
PROGRESO, Mexico (AP) — When a rotten egg smell rises from the mangrove swamps of southeast Mexico, something is going well. It means that this key coastal habitat for blunting hurricane impacts has recovered and is capturing carbon dioxide — the main ingredient of global warming.
While world leaders seek ways to stop the climate crisis at a United Nations conference in Scotland this month, one front in the battle to save the planet's mangroves is thousands of miles (kilometers) away on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Decades ago, mangroves lined these shores, but today there are only thin green bands of trees beside the sea, interrupted by urbanized areas and reddish segments killed by too much salt and by dead branches poking from the water.
A few dozen fishermen and women villagers have made building on what’s left of the mangroves part of their lives. Their work is supported by academics and donations to environmental groups, and government funds help train villagers to organize their efforts.
The first time they came to the swamp for seasonal restoration work was more than a decade ago with Jorge Alfredo Herrera, a researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the Mexican Polytechnic Institute in Yucatan. He told them the mangroves needed a network of interlaced canals where fresh and salt water would mingle.
To dig them was a hard work and paid only $4 a day. Men from Chelem, a fishing village of Progreso, turned down the job but a group of women took it on, believing they could accomplish a lot with little money.
Recently, after an intense rainy season, the women worked to finish the second part of the restoration process: planting young mangroves in a swamp near this port city. Under the sun, they chuckled, remembering the time they encountered a crocodile and barely managed to run away.
Then they placed 20-inch mangrove seedlings into mounds of mud held together by mesh, creating tiny islands about a yard (meter) square.
“The happiest day is when our plants take,” said 41-year-old Keila Vázquez, leader of the women who now are paid $15 a day and take pride in putting their “grain of sand” into the planet's well-being. “They are like our children.”
GLOBAL THREAT TO MANGROVES
This mangrove restoration effort is similar to others around the globe, as scientists and community groups increasingly recognize the need to protect and bring back the forests to store carbon and buffer coastlines from climate-driven extreme weather, including more intense hurricanes and storm surges. Other restorations are underway in Indonesia, which contains the world's largest tracts of mangrove habitat, Colombia and elsewhere.
“Mangroves represent a very important ecosystem to fight climate change,” said Octavio Aburto, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.
While the tropical trees only grow on less than 1% of the Earth's land, he said, “on a per-hectare basis, mangroves are the ecosystem that sequesters the most carbon ... They can bury around five times more carbon in the sediment than a tropical rain forest.”
Yet around the globe, mangroves are threatened.
From 1980 to 2005, 20% to 35% of the world's mangrove forests were lost, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
From 2000 to 2016, the rate of loss declined as governments and environmental groups spotlighted the problem, but destruction continued — and about 2% of the world's remaining mangrove forests disappeared, according to NASA satellite imagery.
In Mexico, as in much of the world, the largest threat to mangroves is development. The region near Cancun lost most of its historic mangroves to highways and hotels starting in the 1980s.
Tracts of mangroves on the country's southern Pacific coast also have been cleared to make room for shrimp farming, while oil exploration and drilling in shallow waters off the Gulf of Mexico threatens mangroves there, said Aburto.
Mexico began to protect some of its mangroves only after the excessive tourism development of the 1980s. And although Mexico took steps to establish a climate action plan in 1998 and was one of the first developing countries to make voluntary commitments under the Paris Climate Accord, its commitment to the environment began to backslide in 2015, said Julia Carabias, a professor on the science faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
In the past six years, Mexico has cut resources for environmental conservation by 60%, according to Carabias.
And that, combined with increasing government support of fossil fuel energy and ongoing infrastructure and tourist projects in the region, is sounding alarms.
Despite the country's monitoring system, local researchers say that for every hectare (2.5 acres) of mangrove restored in southeast Mexico, 10 hectares are degraded or lost.
EFFORTS TO SAVE SWAMPS
The halting efforts in Mexico to protect and restore mangroves, even as more are lost, mirror situations elsewhere. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency estimated in 2007 that 40% of Indonesia’s mangroves had been cut down for aquaculture projects and coastal development in the previous three decades.
But there have been restoration efforts as well.
In 2020, the Indonesia government set an ambitious target of planting mangroves on 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of degrading coastline by 2024. Key ministries are involved in restoration efforts that include community outreach and education.
Yet there have been some setbacks. Precise mapping and data on mangroves is hard to come by, making it difficult for agencies to know where to concentrate. Newly planted mangroves have been swept out to sea by strong tides and waves. Community outreach and education have been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Mexico, successes exist, even if they are slow in coming.
Manuel González, a 57-year-old fisherman known as Bechá, proudly shows off recovering mangroves in the seaside community of Dzilam de Bravo, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Progreso. He walks through mud, avoiding the interlaced mangrove roots that burrow into it. Some trees are already 30 feet (9 meters) tall.
In 2002, Hurricane Isidoro devastated this area, but after a decade of work, 120 hectares (297 acres) have been restored. The fisherman says that now storms don’t hit the community as hard. And the fish, migratory birds, deer, crocodiles and even jaguars have returned.
But the mangroves face a new risk, as stumps scattered among the trees attest.
“In 10 years, you have a very nice mangrove for someone with a chainsaw to come and take it,” González said. “That’s something that hurts me a lot.”
Cutting mangroves has been a crime since 2005, but González says authorities shut down and fine projects, only to have them later reopen.
The Yucatan state government said it is aware of complaints of illegal logging yet the harvest has only grown.
While more funds are needed for protection and restoration, some communities prefer to think about how to make conservation a profitable activity.
José Inés Loría, head of operations at San Crisanto, an old salt harvesting community of about 500 between Progreso and Dzilam, thinks the way to make the local mangrove part “of the community’s business model” is using the new financial tools such as blue carbon credits.
Those instruments, already in use in Colombia and other countries, allow polluting businesses to compensate for emissions by paying others to store or sequester greenhouse gases.
Some in Mexico say credits are still not well regulated in the country and could invite fraud and scams. But Loria defends them. “If conservation doesn’t mean improving the quality of life of a community, it doesn’t work.”
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Occupancy of select marsh birds within northern Gulf of Mexico tidal marsh: current estimates and projected change
September 2009
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1672/08-174.1
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Mexico City Registers Dangerously High UV Radiation
May 11, 2022
https://pulsenewsmexico.com/2022/05/11/mexico-city-registers-dangerously-high-uv-radiation/
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Section 8: Magnetic Oceans
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What Does Magnetism Have to Do with Plate Tectonics?
2017
https://sciencing.com/magnetism-plate-tectonics-22905.html
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How do we know the age of the seafloor?
https://www.earthobservatory.sg/faq-on-earth-sciences/how-do-we-know-age-seafloor
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How do ocean tides create magnetic fields?
Michael Faraday wondered if electrical conductors moving through magnetic fields might lead to a natural source of electricity- turns out it might.
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/how-do-ocean-tides-create-magnetic-fields/
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Magnetic and Electric Effects on Water
http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/magnetic_electric_effects.html
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Magnetic Oceans
2017
https://www.scienceandthesea.org/program/201704/magnetic-oceans
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Ocean Tides and Magnetic Fields
2016
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12450
Seawater is an electrical conductor, and therefore interacts with the magnetic field. As the tides cycle around the ocean basins, the ocean water essentially tries to pull the geomagnetic field lines along.
Because the salty water is a good, but not great, conductor, the interaction is relatively weak. Scientists at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are developing improved methods to isolate the signal from ocean tides and use that information to determine the heat content of the ocean.
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Magnetic bands provide evidence of sea-floor spreading
1963
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do63ma.html
In 1963, Fred Vine, Drummond Matthews, and others found that the crust surrounding the midocean ridges showed alternating bands -- each band magnetized with a polarity opposite the surrounding bands. They suggested that as new sea-floor crust was formed around the rift in the midocean ridge, it magnetized differently, depending upon the polarity of the planet at that time. This supported the theory that Harry Hess had put forth, that the ocean progressivley widens as new sea floor is created along a crack that follows the crest of midocean ridges.
In 1966, earth scientists first identified the Jaramillo Event, the wholesale reversal of Earth's magnetic fields some 900,000 years ago. This confirmed the theory that Earth's magnetic field had flip-flopped through the planet's life, and it made Matthews and Vine's 1963 finding quite clear. They realized that the pattern of reversals matched perfectly the magnetic profile they had compiled of the sea floor. This discovery, together with data from a 1964 research vessel, transformed the field of geology. It confirmed sea-floor spreading as hypothesized by Hess, and thus "continental drift," originally proposed by Alfred Wegener back in 1912. It convinced many that plate tectonics was the best theory to unify nearly all the previously accumulated, but disjoint geological data.
----------------------
Magnets in Water
2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFgHQMfRzek
----------------------
Swarm Satellites Bring New Findings About Ocean Magnetism
2018
https://www.gislounge.com/swarm-satellites-bring-new-findings-ocean-magnetism/
----------------------
Swarm Tracks Elusive Ocean Magnetism
2018
https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm/Swarm_tracks_elusive_ocean_magnetism
---------------------
Magnetic Oceans and Electric Earth
2016
https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm/Magnetic_oceans_and_electric_Earth
Oceans might not be thought of as magnetic, but they make a tiny contribution to our planet’s protective magnetic shield. Remarkably, ESA’s Swarm satellites have not only measured this extremely faint field, but have also led to new discoveries about the electrical nature of inner Earth.
The magnetic field shields us from cosmic radiation and charged particles that bombard Earth from the Sun. Without it, the atmosphere as we know it would not exist, rendering life virtually impossible.
Scientists need to learn more about our protective field to understand many natural processes, from those occurring deep inside the planet, to weather in space caused by solar activity. This information will then yield a better understanding of why Earth’s magnetic field is weakening.
Although we know that the magnetic field originates in different parts of Earth and that each source generates magnetism of different strengths, exactly how it is generated and why it changes is not fully understood.
This is why, in 2013, ESA launched its trio of Swarm satellites.
While the mission is already shedding new light on how the field is changing, this latest result focuses on the most elusive source of magnetism: ocean tides.
When salty ocean water flows through the magnetic field, an electric current is generated and this, in turn, induces a magnetic response in the deep region below Earth’s crust – the mantle. Because this response is such a small portion of the overall field, it was always going to be a challenge to measure it from space.
Last year, scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, showed that if it could be measured from space – never done before – it should also tell us something about Earth’s interior. However, this all remained a theory – until now.
Thanks to Swarm’s precise measurements along with those from Champ – a mission that ended in 2010 after measuring Earth’s gravity and magnetic fields for more than 10 years – scientists have not only been able to find the magnetic field generated by ocean tides but, remarkably, they have used this new information to image the electrical nature of Earth’s upper mantle 250 km below the ocean floor.
----------------------
Oceans' Mysterious Magnetic Field Is Mapped in Stunning Detail from Space
2018
https://www.livescience.com/62277-ocean-tides-magnetic-field.html
---------------------
Earth's magnetic ocean tides mapped from space
2018
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43720024
----------------------
What's Killing Mars?
2015
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/mars-magnetic-field-ocean/409021/
The Red Planet once had an ocean and a magnetic field. A new mission is setting out to discover what happened to them.
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Section 9: Ocean Salinity - Salt and Dust pollution
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Thermohaline circulation of the oceans
http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation_of_the_oceans
Introduction
The Thermohaline Circulation (THC) also referred to as the “Great Ocean Conveyor” or the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), can be defined as the density-impelled circulation of the oceans. Thermohaline is derived from the Greek: thermo- for heat and -haline for salt, which constitute the density of water. The water masses transport both energy (heat) and matter (solids, dissolved substances and gasses) around the globe. Changes in the Thermohaline Circulation alter the global ocean heat transport and affect the global climate.(Broecker, W., 1991[1]). See also the article Ocean circulation.
Functioning of the Thermohaline Circulation (THC)
The conveyor belt (Fig.1) has its start near Greenland and Iceland in the North Atlantic, where seawater at the surface of the ocean is intensively cooled by means of a wind-driven process called evaporative cooling. Only the pure water molecules are removed during evaporation, resulting in an increase in the salinity of the seawater and therefore an increase in the density of the water mass. Evaporative cooling is predominant in the vicinity of the Norwegian Sea, and the sinking water mass known as the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), fills the basin and moves southwards through the crevasses in the submarine sills that connect Greenland, Iceland and Great Britain. From there, it flows very slowly into the deep abyssal plains of the Atlantic toward Antarctica where the water mass joins the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Flow from the Arctic Ocean Basin into the Pacific is blocked by the narrow shallows of the Bering Strait.
-------------------------
NASA Mission Measures How Ocean Salinity Affects Climate and Water Cycle
2011
https://www.circleofblue.org/2011/world/nasa-mission-measures-how-ocean-salinity-affects-climate-and-water-cycle/
------------------------
Ocean salinity reveals human climate impact
2012
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/12/20/3658301.htm
When you read about human-induced climate change it's often about melting glaciers and sea ice, increasing frequency of heatwaves and powerful storms. Occasionally you'll hear about the acidification of the oceans too.
What you don't often hear about is the saltiness of the seas. But according to a new piece of research just published in Geophysical Research Letters that is changing too.
The saltiness, or salinity, of the oceans is controlled by how much water is entering the oceans from rivers and rain versus how much is evaporating, known as 'The Water Cycle'.
The more sunshine and heat there is, the more water can evaporate, leaving the salts behind in higher concentrations in some places. Over time, those changes spread out as water moves, changing the salinity profiles of the oceans.
Oceanographers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory fingerprinted salinity changes from 1955 to 2004 from 60 degrees south latitude to 60 degrees north latitude and down to the depth of 700 meters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
They found salinity changes that matched what they expected from such natural changes as El Niño or volcanic eruptions (the latter can lower evaporation by shading and cooling the atmosphere).
Next the ocean data was compared to 11,000 years of ocean data generated by simulations from 20 of the latest global climate models.
When they did that they found that the changes seen in the oceans matched those that would be expected from human forcing of the climate. When they combined temperature changes with the salinity, the human imprint is even clearer, they reported.
"These results add to the evidence that human forcing of the climate is already taking place, and already changing the climate in ways that will have a profound impact on people throughout the world in coming decades," the oceanographers conclude.
--------------------
Sea Salt Holds Clues To Climate Change
2009
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090430115909.htm
--------------------
Climate change 'making seas more salty'
2008
Scientists report that increased salinity in oceans can be attributed to manmade climate change
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/oct/27/climate-change-water
-------------------
Salinity (NASA)
https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/physical-ocean/salinity
---------------------
How Sea Spray Seeds the Sky
2014
https://www.livescience.com/48926-sea-spray-seeds-clouds-weather-and-climate.html
--------------------
Atmospheric warming altering ocean salinity
2012
https://phys.org/news/2012-04-rainfall.html
---------------------
Gulf of Mexico Brine Pools with Megan Cook
August 19, 2013
https://mission-blue.org/2013/08/gulf-of-mexico-brine-pools-with-megan-cook/
---------------------
Brine Pool: Hot Tub of Despair | Nautilus Live
May 31, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGLtMWx28hs&feature=emb_title
---------------------
10 Toxic Bodies Of Water
October 30, 2017
#1: The Jacuzzi Of Despair Is An Underwater Menace
The Jacuzzi of Despair is an underwater lake located in the Gulf of Mexico. The lake lies 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) under water, on the seafloor.
Underwater lakes, also known as brine pools, form when salts leach from ancient seabeds. The salt makes the water in one area extremely briny, until it is so dense that it doesn’t mix with the surrounding seawater. This results in an underwater lake that has its own surface, shoreline, and current.[10]
The Jacuzzi of Despair is a crater-like pool that rises 3.7 meters (12 ft) above the ocean floor. It was named for its warm temperatures. The water in the lake is around 18 degrees Celsius (65 °F), while the surrounding seawater is only 4 degrees Celsius (39 °F).
Mussels thrive along the shoreline, but the extreme amounts of salt and methane in the lake itself are toxic to most sea creatures. The warmth of the lake attracts marine life, such as crabs, looking for food. If they fall into the Jacuzzi of Despair, they die.
While most sea creatures cannot survive the lake’s conditions, researchers have found proof of microbial life in the Jacuzzi of Despair. Scientists believe these creatures that adapted to the underwater lake may resemble life-forms that thrive on other planets.
https://listverse.com/2017/10/30/10-toxic-bodies-of-water/
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Scientists Can't Explain These Strange Black Holes In The Ocean!
May 17, 2022
We're constantly baffled by the mysteries of the deep sea, which is littered with strange oddities that are not easily explained. Not only have many oceans remained unexplored, but many lakes and other bodies of water hold secrets waiting to be uncovered. From black holes found in the ocean to underwater super-volcanoes that could erupt at any moment. Nothing escapes the cavernous gulf of a black hole, not matter, sound, or even light. Black holes and their seemingly voracious appetites for everything, which are normally relegated to the far regions of space, have captivated scientists for years. And now, there's no need to go too far in search of them or to study them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbFfHqCBSWI
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Exploring the Alien World of Brine Pools
Mar 1, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbJubNqLyCY
---------------------
Submarine Landslides Induce Massive Waves in Subsea Brine Pools
January 15, 2019
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36781-7
Abstract
Subsea hypersaline anoxic brine pools are among the most extreme habitable environments on Earth that offer clues to life on other planets. Brine is toxic to macrofauna as remotely operated vehicles commonly observe dead and preserved remains in brine pools. While brine pools are often assumed to be stable stratified systems, we show that underwater landslides can cause significant disturbances. Moreover, landslides create large-amplitude waves upon impact with the brine pool, similar to tsunami waves. We focus on the Orca Basin brine pool in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which contains numerous landslide deposits and blocks that originated from scarps several hundred meters above the brine pool. The impact of massive fast-moving landslides generated waves with amplitude on the order of 100 s of meters, which rival the largest known ocean waves. Brine waves can negatively affect biological communities and potentially overspill to spread hypersaline brine into surrounding basins.
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Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
2007
https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/SABPRODUCT.NSF/C3D2F27094E03F90852573B800601D93/$File/EPA-SAB-08-003complete.unsigned.pdf
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America’s Freshwater is Getting Saltier. And That’s Not Good.
Feb 2019
A new study finds that the freshwater we rely on for drinking water and industry is getting saltier. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pulls data from 232 US Geological Survey monitoring sites across the country that have been collected over decades.
The overall trend is that freshwater is increasing in salinity and is more alkaline, especially in the east and Midwest. That means the majority of U.S. waters are saltier and have a higher pH. Study authors call it the “freshwater salinization syndrome,” and say there are multiple reasons behind it.
https://www.alleghenyfront.org/americas-freshwater-is-getting-saltier-and-thats-not-good/
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Great Salt Lake faces ruin
2016
https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/drought_2012/stories/1060040048
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- For a long time, the lake that lends its name to this city was taken for granted by most here and treated as a sewer by some of the nation's biggest polluters.
But the Great Salt Lake can no longer be ignored.
The lake is afflicted with all the problems facing lakes in the American West, including misguided water management schemes, historic drought and climate change.
When pioneers arrived here in the 19th century, the Great Salt Lake was one of the largest salt lakes in the world -- a shallow body of water that naturally ranged from 990 to 2,340 square miles.
It's now near its lowest point. Diversions that have taken 39 percent of the lake's inflows have caused the lake level to drop 11 feet, and it has lost 48 percent of its volume.
At least 550 square miles of lake bed is now dry, an area five times the size of Owens Lake -- the site of Los Angeles' water grab at the turn of the 20th century, which led to dust bowl conditions there (Greenwire, June 6).
Dust storms occur regularly in the Great Salt Lake region, and research suggests the lake breathes contaminants -- inhaling filthy air from cities, adding to it and then exhaling it right back at population centers.
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Disturbance in Georgia salt marshes: variation across space and time
2016
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.1487
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Iowa nitrogen pollution in the water is getting worse, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, study shows
2018
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2018/06/22/iowa-water-pollution-gulf-mexico-dead-zone-nitrogren-missouri-mississippi-river-quality-nirtate/697370002/
Nitrogen
pollution flowing out of Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico has grown by close
to 50 percent over nearly two decades, a new report shows, despite
hundreds of millions of dollars spent to stem nutrients entering the
state's waterways.
A University of Iowa study shows the
state's contribution to the Gulf dead zone spiked 47 percent to 618
million pounds in 2016, based on five-year running annual averages.
"Just
based on water quality data, I think we can say we’ve not made much
progress over the past 20 years in terms of nitrogen," said Chris Jones,
a research engineer at the UI's IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering.
Environmentalists
say the study raises new questions about the effectiveness of Iowa's
approach to improving water quality and its reliance on voluntary ag
compliance.
"We've been pouring state and federal money
into cutting nutrient pollution for decades, and this highlights the
fact that the voluntary approach is not working," said Jennifer Terry,
executive director of the Iowa Environmental Council.
----------------------
Scientists Solve Mystery Of Disappearing Salt Marshes
2012
Marshes along streams and estuaries protect land from storm surges. But they're disappearing fast and now scientists have discovered a previously unknown marsh killer: nutrients. Nitrogen from fertilizers and sewage makes marshes grow faster, but the roots grow smaller so the soil can't hold the bigger plants. That means soil banks collapse and marshes turn to mud.
https://www.npr.org/2012/10/18/163132026/scientists-solve-mystery-of-disappearing-salt-marshes
----------------------
Salt Marsh as a Coastal Filter for the Oceans: Changes in Function with Experimental Increases in Nitrogen Loading and Sea-Level Rise
2012
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0038558
--------------------
Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt
2018
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/microplastics-found-90-percent-table-salt-sea-salt/
A new study looked at sea, rock, and lake salt sold around the world. Here’s what you need to know.
The density of microplastics found in salt varied dramatically among different brands, but those from Asian brands were especially high, the study found. The highest quantities of microplastics were found in salt sold in Indonesia. Asia is a hot spot for plastic pollution, and Indonesia—with 34,000 miles (54,720 km) of coastline—ranked in an unrelated 2015 study as suffering the second-worst level of plastic pollution in the world.
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Ninety Percent of Sea Salt Contains Plastic
2018
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/10/31/sea-salt-plastic.aspx
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Adults ingest 2,000 pieces of plastic in table salt on average each year
2018
https://qz.com/1429207/plastic-found-in-most-table-salts-especially-ones-from-asia/
--------------------
Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt
2018
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194970
Abstract
Plastic pollution has been well documented in natural environments, including the open waters and sediments within lakes and rivers, the open ocean and even the air, but less attention has been paid to synthetic polymers in human consumables. Since multiple toxicity studies indicate risks to human health when plastic particles are ingested, more needs to be known about the presence and abundance of anthropogenic particles in human foods and beverages. This study investigates the presence of anthropogenic particles in 159 samples of globally sourced tap water, 12 brands of Laurentian Great Lakes beer, and 12 brands of commercial sea salt. Of the tap water samples analyzed, 81% were found to contain anthropogenic particles. The majority of these particles were fibers (98.3%) between 0.1–5 mm in length. The range was 0 to 61 particles/L, with an overall mean of 5.45 particles/L. Anthropogenic debris was found in each brand of beer and salt. Of the extracted particles, over 99% were fibers. After adjusting for particles found in lab blanks for both salt and beer, the average number of particles found in beer was 4.05 particles/L with a range of 0 to 14.3 particles/L and the average number of particles found in each brand of salt was 212 particles/kg with a range of 46.7 to 806 particles/kg. Based on consumer guidelines, our results indicate the average person ingests over 5,800 particles of synthetic debris from these three sources annually, with the largest contribution coming from tap water (88%).
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It's Raining Salt: Toxic Aral Sea Storm Sparks Health Fears In Central Asia
2018
https://www.rferl.org/a/toxic-aral-sea-salt-storm-sweeps-over-parts-of-uzbekistan-turkmenistan/29257503.html
"I've seen the wind bring sand before, but this was the first time I saw salt. This event can be called a catastrophe," said Bobo, who lives in the Takhiatash district of Karakalpakstan. "The whole day there was nothing but salt rain [coming down]. The sun was not visible."
He added: "Nature began to take revenge on us for [what we have done] to the Aral Sea."
A representative of the Karakalpakstan's Council of Ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the council had not received any instructions regarding the situation, but suggested that the region's Agricultural Ministry may have.
RFE/RL's Uzbek Service was unable to reach Karakalpakstan's Agricultural Ministry for comment.
Salt storms are common in areas near the Aral Sea, but this one carried salt over a much wider area...
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Company Update (French Sea Salts)
http://www.naturescargo.ca/french-sea-salts-pollution-update.html
After completing a comprehensive long-term study of the French sea salt industry, and in keeping with our policy to maintain the highest standard of cleanliness and purity of our products, we at Nature’s Cargo™ have decided to discontinue our ‘Harvest of France’ product line.
It has been discovered, through independent laboratory analysis, that the heavy metal ‘Lead’ is now present in all brands of French harvested sea salts. Unfortunately, our studies indicate this to be an increasing trend. This is not acceptable to us. Please refer to the attached data for details.
In its place we are excited to introduce our new salt line, Nature’s Cargo™ Crystal Sea Salts™, harvested in the pristine waters off Central America. Laboratory testing indicates this to be one of the purest, pollution free salts available with a taste and quality of the highest level!
Nature’s Cargo™ Crystal Sea Salts™ – enjoy ‘salt’ just the way nature intended – with nothing added and nothing removed!
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Toxic and Carcinogenic Plastics are Found in Fifteen Sea Salt Brands from Different Counties (One Country is The WORST!)
The 30 plastic polymers found were made up of:
polypropenes (coming from packaging and textiles)
polyethenes (plastic bags)
polyethylene terephthalate (plastic bottles and synthetic fibers)
polyisoprene (rubber and resins)
polyacrylonitrile (fibers used in bicycles, fishing rods, and other common items)
polyamide-6 (nylons)
The Best and Worst Brands of Sea Salt for Plastic Contamination
The most contaminated salt was from Portugal with 10 MPs per kilogram. Only one sample was found to have no MPs, and it came from France.
Here is how the salt from all the countries rated from most to least contaminated:
16 MPs total. Portugal: up to 6 plastic polymer MPs and up to 10 pigment particle MPs
11. Australia: up to 2 plastic polymer MPs and 9 pigment particle MPs
4. France: up to 2 and 2 MPs of both kinds
4. South Africa: 3 plastic polymer MPs and 1 pigment particle MP
1. Iran: 1 pigment particle MP
1. Japan: 1 plastic polymer MP
1. Malaysia: up to 1 MP each
1. New Zealand: 1 pigment particle MP
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{The elite billionaires of the world have their own private salt reserves}.
-----------------
The 10 Most Expensive Salts {Available to the public}
2010
https://www.thedailymeal.com/10-most-expensive-salts
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Dust rising
2018
https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/6/17433294/salton-sea-crisis-drying-up-asthma-toxic-dust-pictures
As California’s largest lake dries up, it threatens nearby communities with clouds of toxic dust
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Breathing Fecal Dust in Mexico City
1989
Indeed, Mexico City is the world's most polluted and populous megalopolis. Twenty million people live in the Valley of Mexico, work in 35,000 industrial installations and drive 3 million cars, belching 5.5 million tons of contaminants into the air yearly. Industry contributes about 15% of the pollution, and the uncontrolled emissions of the cars, whose combustion engines are only about 60% as efficient at Mexico City's one-and-a-half-mile-high altitude as at sea level, contribute about 80%. The rest of the air contamination comes mainly from fecal dust, which results from a sewage system that barely manages to treat one-third of the urban population's body wastes.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-23-bk-1926-story.html
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Hold your breath: Mexico City air contains 172 toxic compounds
2018
Study finds residents breathe 50,000 tonnes of contaminants a year
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/hold-your-breath-mexico-city-air-contains-172-toxic-compounds/
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Laguna Salada (Mexico)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Salada_(Mexico)
Laguna
Salada (Spanish, "salty lagoon") is a vast dry lake some 10 meters
below sea level (sometimes wet - sometimes dry) in the Sonoran Desert of
Baja California, 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Mexicali. The lake's
shape vaguely resembles a rhombus. When dry, the flatness of the exposed
lake bed sediments makes it a favoured location for recreational
driving. It is also notorious for its dust storms (when dry), usually
the result of monsoonal thunderstorms during the summer. During times of
significant rain the lagoon can fill completely with water, leaving the
unpaved road along its west bank as the only means of traversing the
area. Flanked by the Sierra de Los Cucapah and the Sierra de Juárez
mountain ranges, the lake is approximately 60 km (37 mi) long and 17 km
(11 mi) at its widest point.
Tectonic activity
The
lake itself is located on the bottom of a shallow depression, a graben,
which is linked to the San Andreas Fault, and the East Pacific Rise as
part of the Laguna Salada Fault. This fault is connected to the Salton
Trough fault which holds a similar depression, the Salton Sink. This
sink is bigger than Laguna Salada and contains the Salton Sea. The
2010 Baja California earthquake occurred here.
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'Dying of thirst': The Cucapá in Mexico fight against climate change and oblivion
June 15, 2021
"It is a fight that seems that we will never win," says Lucía Laguna, as Indigenous Mexicans grapple with geography, the legacy of dams and treaties, narcos and climate change.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/dying-thirst-cucap-mexico-fight-against-climate-change-oblivion-n1270806
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FEDERAL FISHERY DELEGATION IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE FISHERY IN LAGUNA SALADA, BAJA CALIFORNIA
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/PrelStdFisheryLagunaSalada.html
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Pump-Out / Pump-In Alternatives {Salton Sea}
https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/saltnsea/pdf_files/ssafpr/c-5.pdf
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How water from Mexico can save the Salton Sea
2016
To save Southern California from toxic dust storms, a plan aims to fill the shrinking Salton Sea with water from Mexico.
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2016/03/23/how-water-mexico-can-save-salton-sea/82163024/
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Imperial County: Toxic Capital of the California Desert
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/commentary/east-ca/imperial-county-toxic-capital-of-the-california-desert.html
April 29, 2013
The
Imperial County town of Brawley is one of the most polluted places in
California, according to a new environmental justice mapping tool
released last week by the State of California. In fact, ZIP Code 92227
surrounding Brawley ranks in the dirtiest five percent in the state,
earning especially bad marks when it comes to pesticide pollution,
hazardous waste, and impaired bodies of water.
ZIP
Code 92236 in nearby Coachella and Thermal in Riverside County is less
polluted, but not by much. Its ranked score on its residents' exposure
to pollutants ranging from ozone and diesel exhaust to hazardous waste
and particulate matter are high enough to put it in the top 10 percent
of polluted California ZIP Codes.
Cleanup Sites (Map)
Pesticide Use (Map)
---------------
Salton Sea: Countdown to Collapse
California's
biggest lake is headed for ecological collapse but no one seems to
care. Created accidentally 90 years ago, it is a haven for
recreationalists and wildlife. But pollution, neglect and rising
salinity are pushing the sea to the brink. This reprint of a seven-part
special report which appeared in the Press-Enterprise Jan. 3 through
Jan. 10, 1993, explores the sea, its richness, its decline and its
possible salvation.
Toxic pollution: It is killing
wildlife at the Salton sea. Without swift cleanup of the poisons,
especially DDT and selenium, the sea could become a "super Kesterson,"
the San Joaquin Valley wildlife refuge destroyed by pollution a decade
ago.
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/SaltonCountdownToCollapse.html
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Toxic Dust From a Dying California Lake
2015
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/the-airborne-toxic-lake-event/414888/
The shrinking Salton Sea is now a major source of air pollution—and no one seems to know how to stop it from getting worse.
-----------
Salton Sea confirmed as source of L.A. Basin smell
September 12, 2012
Regional
air quality managers said Tuesday that inspectors had cracked the
mystery of the epic stink that had descended over much of Southern
California.
They confirmed that the rotten egg odor traveled about 150 miles from the Salton Sea to Los Angeles.
"We
now have solid evidence that clearly points to the Salton Sea as the
source of a very large and unusual odor event," said Barry Wallerstein,
executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/12/local/la-me-smell-20120912
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Geochemical and Isotopic Characterization of Groundwater in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico
-----------------------------
Transboundary
watershed that includes the Coachella and Imperial Valleys in
theUnited States and a portion of the Mexicali Valley in Mexico
The present day channel of the New River was created in 1905-07 when the ColoradoRiver washed out diversionary works, and the entire Colorado River flow coursed intothe Salton basin creating the New and Alamo River channels and the present SaltonSea, thus the name “new” river. The New River channel that was created is approxi-mately 60 miles in length and up to 2/3 of a mile in width within the United States. Within Mex-ico this natural channelway is discernible for about 13 miles. Following its creation, the NewRiver has been primarily used to convey agricultural drainage from the Imperial and Mexicali Val-leys with the inception of irrigated agricultural production in the early 1900’s. It also has con-veyed treated sewage, and most importantly, raw sewage largely originating from the border cityof Mexicali in Mexico. It would not seem an exaggeration to refer to the New River as the mostseverely polluted river of its size within the United States.
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb7/water_issues/programs/new_river/historical/introduction.pdf
------------------------------
Toxic River Becomes Path To USA
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/NewRToxicPathtoUSA.html
CALEXICO,
Calif. - The New River gushes north out of Mexico into California's
Imperial Valley at enormous speed - a viscous ribbon of green, churning
up mounds of white foam from industrial waste, pesticide runoff and raw
sewage. Its eye-stinging, toxic stench is overpowering as it swirls by,
carrying clogs of trash.
At night, this river also carries people.
During
the past few months, thousands of migrants desperate to cross the
heavily patrolled U.S.-Mexico border have stripped to their underwear
and slipped into the murky water on the Mexican side. Clutching inner
tubes and plastic bags filled with dry clothes, they ride the current
past the helpless la migra, their word for the U.S. Border Patrol, and
into the USA.
Agents estimate that anywhere from 50 to
several hundred people use the toxic river each night as a floating
freeway into the USA. "It's a thorny problem, in that we have found no
way to address it," says Tom Walker, Calexico Border Patrol chief. "We
thought of installing a grate that would go all the way to the bottom
(of the river). But trash would collect, and anything we pull out of
there we have to handle as toxic waste. That means we'd have to find a
toxic dump - where, I don't even know."
A Toxic Waterway
Calexico
hugs Mexico at the tip of the Imperial Valley in the southeast corner
of California, about 150 miles east of San Diego. It is a flat, desert
city of about 30,000, straddled by mountains. Irrigation water from the
Colorado River transforms the valley into a verdant agricultural hub.
Directly
across the border is Mexicali, a sprawling metropolis of about 1
million. It's a popular location for foreign-owned factories, called
maquiladoras. The New River runs through it, collecting industrial waste
and agricultural runoff. The city's sewer system, overwhelmed by
growth, routinely overflows into the river.
The
waterway slices through a Mexican truck-and-auto storage lot and crosses
the border at a closed industrial port of entry before continuing 60
miles through the Imperial Valley in California to the Salton Sea. The
river has long been a bubbling cauldron of local controversy.
Politicians have dubbed it "the dirtiest river in America" and want it
cleaned up.
Plans for a new Mexicali sewer system are
in the works, funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. However, completion is years away.
The river
presents significant health hazards, says Jose Angel of the California
Water Quality Control Board, who has monitored the waterway since 1975.
"It's
not a river that carries fresh water," Angel says. "It's dominated by
wastewater, indicated by the high levels of coliform bacteria, which are
measured there in the millions (per milliliter of water). Around 400 is
considered the upper level of safe."
High levels of
coliform bacteria, Angel says, are indicators of the presence of
bacterial and viral diseases, including typhoid fever. "It seems like a
miracle to me that we haven't had an outbreak of something," he says.
No
one knows exactly what health problems might result from a long dunk in
the river, he says, because these illegal immigrants meet up with
smugglers and disperse throughout the USA. And while there is no direct
connection, recent government reports have noted that California's
immigrant populations have the highest rates of tuberculosis in the
nation.
Angel says it only stands to reason that people using the river to float into the USA run a tremendous risk of getting sick.
The
migrants don't see it that way. When Carpenter asks them why they do
it, he always gets the same answer. "They tell me, 'I need to get a job
so I can send money home to my wife and children.'"
-----------------------
Mexico's Asbestos Debate
2010
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka_mexico_tipping_pt.php
There is no way to predict what particular incident or issue will propel asbestos onto the national agenda. In the UK, it was the broadcast of a TV documentary entitled Alice – A Fight for Life. In Japan it was the announcement by the Kubota Corporation and other nationally-known companies of asbestos deaths amongst their workers. In Korea, it was the scandal over asbestos contamination of baby powder. Now, in Mexico it seems to be the situation in a district of Mexico City called Iztapalapa. For years, people who lived in Barrios de San Lucas, a working-class neighborhood, complained of noxious smells and yellow dust emanating from a local factory producing asbestos-containing brake linings. The facility is owned by the company American Roll which, despite its name, is Mexican owned. The existence of this stench was confirmed by a U.S. activist who tried to enter the premises in July 2010 and Mexican reporter Emilio Godoy who researched an article published in August 2010.
---------------------------------------
Mexico Mesothelioma Travel Warning: Beware of Exposure to Asbestos!
2012
https://www.mesothelioma-lawyerblog.com/mexico-mesothelioma-travel-warning-beware-of-exposure-to-asbestos/
---------------------------------------
Human Toll Reaches Millions as Asbestos Industry Expands Worldwide
2010
https://www.fairwarning.org/2010/08/exporting-an-epidemic-human-toll-reaches-millions-as-asbestos-industry-expands-worldwide/
---------------------------------------
Human Toll Reaches Millions as Asbestos Industry Expands Worldwide
2010
https://www.fairwarning.org/2010/08/exporting-an-epidemic-human-toll-reaches-millions-as-asbestos-industry-expands-worldwide/
In Osasco, Brazil, an industrial city on the western flank of Sao Paulo, the past is buried beneath a Wal-Mart Supercenter and a Sam’s Club at the intersection of Avenida MariaCampos and Avenida dos Autonomistas. Here the Eternit asbestos cement factory was shuttered in 1993 and demolished in 1995 after 54 years of operation. Here three generations of workers — pouring asbestos into giant mixers with cement, cellulose and water, emptying bags, cleaning machinery — were immersed in fiber-rich white dust, setting themselves up for diseases that would debilitate many of them in retirement and kill some of them in excruciating fashion. Scores have died since the mid-1990s, at least 10 of mesothelioma, a rare malignancy that eats into the chest wall and dispatches its victims swiftly. Aldo Vincentin succumbed at age 66 in July 2008, only three months after his diagnosis. “They knew about the dangers of the materials and they didn’t protect my husband,” his widow, Giselia Gomes Vincentin, says of Eternit. “I think many people will still die.”
Backed by a global network of trade groups and scientists, the multibillion-dollar asbestos industry has stayed afloat by depicting Osasco and similar tragedies as remnants of a darker time, when dust levels were high, exotic varieties of the fire-resistant mineral were used, and workers had little, if any, protection from the toxic fibers. There is evidence that dangers persist: Perilous conditions have been documented from Mexico City to Ahmedabad, India. And yet, despite waves of asbestos-related disease in North America, Europe, and Australia, bans or restrictions in 52 countries, piles of incriminating studies, and predictions of up to 10 million asbestos-related cancer deaths worldwide by 2030, the asbestos trade remains alive and well.
Asbestos is banned in the European Union. In the United States it is legal but the industry has paid out $70 billion in damages and litigation costs, and asbestos use is limited to automobile and aircraft brakes, gaskets and a few other products. The industry has found new markets in the developing world, however, where demand for cheap building materials is brisk. More than two million metric tons of asbestos were mined worldwide in 2009 — led by Russia, China, and Brazil — mostly to be turned into asbestos cement for corrugated roofing and water pipes. More than half that amount was exported to developing countries like India and Mexico.
----------------------------------------
MEXICO: Asbestos, a Toxic Neighbour
2010
http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/08/mexico-asbestos-a-toxic-neighbour/
----------------------------------------
A toxic dumping ground festers on the border
2018
Heaps of old cars, junk and industrial waste leave a hazardous legacy near the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexicali's dump sites pose a serious health threat.
https://www.desertsun.com/in-depth/news/environment/border-pollution/poisoned-cities/2018/12/05/toxic-dumping-ground-mexicali-mexico-border-pollution/1295722002/
----------------
eBook: Dangers in the Dust
Map: Top asbestos producers and consumers
https://www.icij.org/investigations/dangers-dust/
----------------------
Why These Ten Dangerously Polluted Cities All Smell Different.
2014
https://www.nationmaster.com/blog/?p=189
#9 Mexico City
Although the air pollution in Mexico has vastly decreased in the last two decades, levels of harmful pollutants such as particulate matter and ozone are still above the World Health Organization’s recommended levels for Mexico City.
Acceptable levels of sulphur dioxide stated by the Norma Oficial Mexicana are 0.130 ppm as a maximum daily average and 0.030 ppm as a yearly average.
Current levels of sulphur dioxide are 0.076 ppm as a maximum daily average and 0.10 ppm as a yearly average. Both levels are acceptable according to the Norma Oficial Mexicana.
However, the standards set by the World Health Organization are 20 µg/m3 as a daily average and 500 µg/m3 as a peak 10 minute average. Against these standards, Mexico City fails with 156 µg/m3 of sulphur dioxide daily and 967 µg/m3 maximum average over 10 minutes.
According to the Norma Oficial Mexicana, Mexico City is above limits of ozone with 0.123 ppm every 8 hours. According to the World Health Organization, who creates guidelines on safe limits at 100 µg/m3, Mexico City pollution in 2011 is PM 10 = 93 and PM 2,5= 25.
One of the main culprits is the transportation sector: the country’s fleet of inefficient trucks and cars consume dirty diesel fuels and emit high levels of black carbon (the second most powerful contributor to climate change behind carbon dioxide) and particulate matter. These contaminants not only impact the environment and worsen climate change but they also have grave effects on people. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified black carbon, particulate matter and outdoor air pollution generally as carcinogens. In 2013, the World Health Organization said that 14,700 people in Mexico died from outdoor air pollution.
The city’s government plans to further reduce vehicle emissions which are the city’s greatest source of pollution. Pemex, the state oil monopoly, plans to build a $9.3 billion plant to produce low-sulfur fuel. Officials plan to add hybrid buses. A suburban train system is to replace hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
---------------------
Trashopolis S02 E01: Mexico
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMkXlmif7wk
--------------------
Dust From Africa Leads To Large Toxic Algae Blooms In Gulf Of Mexico, Study Finds
2001
Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center--EOS Project Science Office
Summary:
Saharan dust clouds travel thousands of miles and fertilize the water
off the West Florida coast with iron, which kicks off blooms of toxic
algae, according to a new study. The research was partially funded by a
NASA grant as part of ECOHAB: Florida (Ecology and Oceanography of
Harmful Algal Blooms), a multi-disciplinary research project designed to
study harmful algae.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010829082907.htm
--------------------
THE DUST IS BACK! More African dust blows over Houston through Tuesday
2018
https://abc13.com/weather/the-dust-is-back-more-haze-from-african-dust-now-overhead/2245790/
---------------------
East African Rift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Rift
The East African Rift (EAR) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor.
The rift, a narrow zone, is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate, at a rate of 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) annually. As extension continues, lithospheric rupture will occur within 10 million years; the Somali Plate will break off and a new ocean basin will form.
---------------------
A Superplume Is the Reason Africa Is Splitting Apart
2014
Primordial gases confirm the cause of the East African Rift
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-superplume-is-the-reason-africa-is-splitting-apart/
----------------------
Explained: The Earth Splitting Open - Giant Crack in Mexico [Subsidence Fissure + Erosion]
https://www.metabunk.org/explained-the-earth-splitting-open-giant-crack-in-mexico-subsidence-fissure-erosion.t4283/
----------------------
{It
is debated if some pictures that show giant cracks forming in the
ground could just be soil erosion, while others claim that some of these
giant cracks could actually be caused by tectonic plates shifting}.
-----------------------
-------------------------
----------------------
----------------------
----------------------
Section 10: Illegal landfills and Illegal dumping
----------------------
----------------------
----------------------
--------------------------
Top 20 Countries That Are Used As Dumping Grounds Of The World’s Trash
http://www.atchuup.com/countries-used-as-dumping-grounds-of-worlds-trash/
15. Mexico
During the 1980s, Mexico served as a dumping ground for hazardous waste products originating in the United States.
Since border officials were more interested in intercepting weapons or illegal drugs, a lot of the waste (which were hidden in other cargo on trucks or trains) crossed the border undetected and ended up in unregulated landfills.
--------------
The waste mountain engulfing Mexico City
2012
After the closure of the capital's biggest waste dump, there is little sign of Mexico City solving its rubbish crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jan/09/waste-mountain-mexico-city
-------------
Mexico Closes Giant Landfill, Aims to Make Waste Management System Green
2011
https://www.treehugger.com/green-investments/mexico-closes-giant-landfill-aims-make-its-waste-management-system-green.html
------------
Mexico City closes noxious landfill but fails to find alternative dump
2012
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Mexico-City-closes-noxious-landfill-but-fails-to-2673369.php
-----------
What it's like to live in a landfill in Mexico
Over the last 20 years, hundreds of Guatemalans have emigrated to Mexico. Julio Ramos and his family settled in a landfill just outside the city of Tapachula.
Jan. 7, 2016
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/what-its-like-to-live-in-a-landfill-in-mexico-597667395538
-----------
70% of trash ends up in illegal dumps
Of Oaxaca's 203 landfills, only five comply with regulations, says NGO
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/70-of-trash-ends-up-in-illegal-dumps/
-------------
13 Alarming Photos Of Landfills You Can't Unsee
2014
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/alarming-photos-of-landfills-you-cant-unsee
1. Bantar Gebang Landfill, Indonesia
2. Ghazipur Landfill, India
3. Port-Au-Prince Landfill, Haiti
4. Waste Site at the Gaza Strip
5. Jardim Gramacho Landfill, Brazil
6. Shelford Landfill, U.K.
7. Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Pacific Ocean
8. Lagos Dump, Nigeria
9. Apex Landfill of Las Vegas, U.S.
10. Dryden Landfill of Ontario, Canada
11. Perth Landfill, Australia
12. Nogales Landfill, Mexico
13. Fresh Kills Landfill of Staten Island, U.S.
--------------
15 of the Worlds Largest Landfills With Photos and Statistics
https://owlcation.com/stem/15-of-the-Worlds-Largest-Landfills
Fifteen of the Worlds Largest Landfills
Name
|
Location
|
Type
|
#Acres
|
Tons Per Day
|
Tons Per Year (Millions)
|
"Green" Involvement
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bordo Poniente Landfill
|
Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico (Mexico City)
|
Municipal solid waste
|
927
|
12,000
|
4.4
|
Methane to energy
|
Apex Regional Landfill
|
Las Vegas, Nevada
|
Municipal solid waste
|
2200
|
10,500
|
3.8
|
Methane to energy
|
Sudokwon Landfill
|
Incheon, South Korea
|
Municipal solid waste
|
570
|
18,000-20,000
|
6.9
|
Methane to energy
|
Puente Hills Landfill
|
Los Angeles, California
|
Municipal solid waste
|
630
|
10,300
|
3.6
|
Methane to energy
|
Laogang Landfill
|
Laogang Landfill
|
Municipal solid waste
|
1000+
|
6,000-10,000
|
3
|
Methane to energy
|
Lagos Dumpsites
|
Lagos, Nigeria
|
Municipal solid waste
|
100
|
9,000
|
3.3
|
Methane to energy
|
Xingfeng Landfill
|
Guangzhou, China
|
Municipal solid waste
|
6,000-8,000
|
2.5
|
Leachate collection/treatment and methane recovery
| |
Sao Joao Landfill
|
São Paulo, Brazil
|
Municipal solid waste
|
150
|
7,000
|
2.5
|
Methane to energy
|
Delhi Landfills
|
Delhi/New Delhi, India
|
Municipal solid waste
|
500
|
6,000
|
2.2
|
Methane to energy
|
West New Territories Landfill
|
Hong Kong
|
Municipal solid waste
|
?
|
6,200
|
Methane to energy
| |
Malagrotta Landfill
|
Rome
|
Municipal solid waste
|
680
|
4,000
|
2.3
|
Methane to energy
|
Mumbai Landfills
|
Mumbai, India
|
Municipal solid waste
|
?
|
4,000-7,000
|
2
|
Methane to energy
|
Guiyu E-waste Dumpsites
|
Guiyu, China
|
Electronic
|
?
|
4,100
|
1.5
|
--
|
Dandora Dumpsite
|
Nairobi, Kenya
|
Industrial, agricultural, and hospital waste
|
30
|
2,000
|
0.75
|
Methane to energy
|
Guatemala City dump
|
Guatemala City, Guatemala
|
Open dump; includes medical waste
|
40
|
500
|
0.18
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Landfills have a huge greenhouse gas problem. Here’s what we can do about it.
Food and yard waste make trash a prolific producer of methane — but fixes exist.
https://ensia.com/features/methane-landfills/
October 25, 2016 — We take out our trash and feel lighter and cleaner. But at the landfill, the food and yard waste that trash contains is decomposing and releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that’s 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfill gas also contributes to smog, worsening health problems like asthma.
Globally, trash released nearly 800 million metric tons (882 million tons) of CO2 equivalent in 2010 — about 11 percent of all methane generated by humans. The United States had the highest total quantity of methane emissions from landfills in 2010: almost 130 million metric tons (143 million tons) of CO2 equivalent. China was a distant second, with 47 million (52 million), then Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil and India, according to the Global Methane Initiative, an international partnership of government and private groups working to reduce methane emissions.
----------------
A CATALOGUE OF LEACHATE QUALITY FOR SELECTED LANDFILLS FROM NEWLY INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWRD/864188-1171045933145/21216142/A_Catalogue_of_Leachate_Quality_Selected_Landfills.pdf
Figure 5.1 -
Stiff plots of landfill leachate quality, Mérida, Mexico
---------------
Recycling misery: How Coca-Cola profits from garbage collected by Mexican children
2017
The company acknowledged child labor contributes to its Mexico City collection chain.
https://www.univision.com/univision-news/latin-america/recycling-misery-how-coca-cola-profits-from-garbage-collected-by-mexican-children
----------------
Coca-Cola Sucks Wells Dry in Chiapas, Forcing Residents to Buy Water
2017
https://truthout.org/articles/coca-cola-sucks-wells-dry-in-chiapas-forcing-residents-to-buy-water/
------------------
Americans' taste for Mexican beer sucking up water supply, mayor says
2016
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/30/americans-beer-corona-mexico-water-crisis
----------------
Settlement Ends Nestlé’s Expired 'Zombie' Permit to Siphon Water From San Bernardino National Forest
2018
https://www.ecowatch.com/nestle-water-san-bernardino-2575958681.html
Federal officials and conservation groups reached an agreement Wednesday that will finally end Nestlé Corp.'s ability to rely on a permit that expired 30 years ago to siphon water from the San Bernardino National Forest for its massive bottled-water operation. The company's diversion has severely reduced water in spring-fed Strawberry Creek, which forest wildlife and plants need to survive.
---------------
Water resources management in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources_management_in_Mexico
---------------
For Some in Mexico, Trash Is a Treasure Worth Defending
2012
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/world/americas/for-some-in-mexico-trash-is-a-treasure-worth-defending.html?mtrref=undefined
CIUDAD NEZAHUALCÓYOTL, Mexico — Pablo Téllez Falcón has long ruled supreme over one of the world’s largest dumps at the edge of Mexico City. He was born in garbage, he likes to say, and he intends to die there.
A few weeks ago, though, the city closed its giant Bordo Poniente landfill for good, padlocking the gate and trucking the garbage to distant new dumps. Officials have optimistically outlined fast-track strategies to recycle, burn and compost all but a fraction of the garbage that the city now generates.
But that European-style vision of handling garbage stands in sharp relief to the needs of the 1,500 trash pickers, or pepenadores, who rely on the refuse at Bordo Poniente every day for their livelihood.
“The garbage will never run out,” predicted Mr. Téllez, who is 74, at the start of an hourlong monologue during which he cited Socrates (despite being illiterate himself) and compared himself to Galileo. “We have made great advances, and now others are coming to take the business we have created.”
Don Pablo, as all the workers call Mr. Téllez, presides from an office decorated with photographs showing him accompanied by presidents. In the old days, politicians counted on the trash pickers as a base of support. They would help swell campaign crowds, wave flags for visiting dignitaries or even provide pro-government shock troops to attack opposition protests.
----------------
Valley of the Palms – The Dump
2015
https://lifeinthecanyon.wordpress.com/
I wanted to let you know what I do in my spare time. Not to worry, I’m not trying to expand what I am already doing or being distracted from the work at hand. It’s just a place I visit every couple of months. And this is why I go to visit.
The main source of income for most of the working people in the Canyon is working in the garbage dump in Tecate. It’s where they moved things when they closed the dump in the Canyon several years ago. Many of the men, and some of the women, travel there
everyday to see if they can make some money. I remember talking to Miguel one day and he explained that you have to pay for public transportation to get there and back. If your an outsider, you have to pay for the privilege of working for the day. What ever you recycle that day, you have to sell back to them. You can’t take it to a different recycle center, so they can pay what they want. On a good day, you might make $20 for the day and other days your lucky to break even. He explains that if he doesn’t go, then he knows there will be no money that day. But if he goes, there is the possibility. Plus, they allow you to take home any food or clothing that you find.
----------------
The disposal of solid wastes in Mexico
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=2810
---------------
The municipal solid waste cycle in Mexico: final disposal
http://sgpwe.izt.uam.mx/files/users/uami/citla/Lecturas_temas_selectos/municipal_solid_waste_cycle_in_Mexico.pdf
--------------
How Mexico City has turned garbage into fuel
2013
https://cities-today.com/how-mexico-city-has-turned-garbage-into-fuel/
-------------
A toxic dumping ground festers on the border
2018
Heaps of old cars, junk and industrial waste leave a hazardous legacy near the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexicali's dump sites pose a serious health threat.
--------------
U.S. and Mexico Struggle to Clean Up Rio Grande
2013
Despite efforts by the U.S. and Mexico to clean up the Rio Grande, millions of gallons of raw sewage still enter the river each day in Laredo, threatening water supplies for some Texas border towns.
https://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/23/us-and-mexico-struggle-clean-rio-grande/
--------------
Banned pesticides and industrial chemicals found flowing from Tijuana into San Diego
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-tijuana-sewage-chemicals-20190213-story.html
There may be more in the sewage-tainted water that regularly spills over the border from Tijuana than many San Diegans realize.
The cross-border pollution also contains potentially dangerous industrial and agricultural chemicals, according to a draft report compiled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that was circulated to officials throughout the region on Wednesday.
The agency has been conducting water-quality testing since early 2018 in the canyons that empty into the Tijuana River Valley, where agents regularly chase down illegal crossers.
Along with high levels of bacteria from human waste, the testing found carcinogenic chemicals — such as the banned pesticide DDT and dangerous industrial compounds, such as hexavalent chromium.
“This is some horrible stuff,” said Christopher Harris, who has worked as a border agent in San Diego for more than two decades and is the spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613. “This is affecting not just the border agents, but everyone who recreates down there.”
A number of the agents have suffered chemical burns and rashes after coming in contact with the polluted water, Harris said. “You’ve created one giant chemical waste dump in the Tijuana River Valley.”
The extent of the pollution has yet to be fully documented. Levels for any one contaminant were not dramatically high, according to water quality officials. But the list contained more than two dozen potentially dangerous substances, from uranium to the internationally banned pesticide Aldrin.
“Just one chemical by itself maybe it’s OK, but all together that hasn’t been evaluated, said Helen Yu, a water resource control engineer with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
“Mostly for human health it’s pathogens in human waste that are most concerning,” she added.
The testing included 42 water samples over six months in several locations, including Yogurt Canyon, Goat Canyon, Smuggler’s Gulch, Canyon del Sol and Stewart’s Drain.
The agency now plans to perform an additional six months of water testing and start taking soil samples.
Spurred, in part, by the findings, the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, started its own testing regime in December.
IBWC is sampling water and soil quality in the river valley to assess whether there’s been a toxic build up over time.
While pathogens in human waste can be dangerous, the material degrades relatively quickly. By comparison, many of the cancer-linked chemicals found in the testing can persist in the environment for years and could require a cleanup effort.
IBWC plans to monitor conditions through November on both sides of the border in coordination with officials in Mexico. They hope to identify pollution hot spots, which could lead back to specific businesses and other potential sources.
“We’ll try to figure out what could be contributing, if it’s coming in with the untreated sewage or if it’s being dumped,” said Gilbert Anaya, division chief for the environmental management division of IBWC.
Canyons in the Tijuana River watershed drain into San Diego through a series of culverts beneath the border fence.
IBWC has a collection system that divert flows in the river valley’s major canyons, such as Goat Canyon and Smuggler’s Gulch. Much of the polluted flows are sent to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment plant.
However, the capture basins are routinely overwhelmed, especially in wet weather.
The state of California has sued the Trump administration for a violation of the Clean Water Act over the spills in the canyons. The move is aimed at forcing the federal government to expand the canyon diversion system and fund wastewater upgrades in Tijuana.
Lawyers for the defense have argued that the government isn’t legally responsible for the renegade flows that escape their collection systems, pointing out that the situation would be significantly worse without its efforts in recent decades.
Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and the Port of San Diego filed a separate lawsuit in March, which also takes aim at the pollution that regularly flows through the Tijuana River.
The state’s complaint was filed in federal court in September on behalf of the regional water board in San Diego. State officials have suggested their legal argument is strongest when applied to just the canyon collectors.
Tijuana’s aging and limited sewer system has in recent years struggled to serve the region’s growing population. Progress has been made thanks to Mexican and U.S. infrastructure investments, but experts and government officials agree that much more needs to be done to keep water pollution from spilling over the border.
---------------
Ship Generated Waste Disposal In the Wider Caribbean Region
2010
https://web.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121610-185147/unrestricted/Team5_USCG1_IQP_FINAL.pdf
Abstract
Our project provided information on the issue of ship-generated waste in the
MARPOL-designated Wider Caribbean Region Special Areaand made
recommendations based on our findings. Using port-of-call and
population statistics, we were able to estimate the amount of ship-generated
and municipal waste produced by the region’s vessel traffic and Small
Island Developing States. We made recommendations on how to create aregional
collection system to lessen the burden of ship-generated waste deposited
on the islands.
---------------
Group sues to stop oil companies from dumping waste into the Gulf
2018
https://www.nola.com/environment/2018/02/environmental_group_challenges.html
The ATP Innovator oil production platform being towed from ATP Oil & Gas's Gomez wellsite 125 miles south of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico in 2014. ATP Infrastructure Partners, LP, the owner of the platform, that year agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle a federal lawsuit over illegal discharges of oil and dispersants.
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Shipping Company Fined $2M for Dumping Oily Waste into Gulf
2019
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2019/02/21/518390.htm
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The toxic ships The Italian hub, the Mediterranean area and Africa
2010
https://www.greenpeace.org/archive-italy/Global/italy/report/2010/inquinamento/Report-The-toxic-ship.pdf
1)The poison trade: the case of the Italian toxic ships (1987 – 1989)Greenpeace investigations on the Italian “toxic ships” started in early 1987, when workers in the ports of Marina di Carrara (Tuscany) and Chioggia (Veneto) tipped off local Green councillors and media on several ships being loaded with industrial waste. The ships were bound to Romania and Africa. Calls were immediately made to local authorities, magistrates and national government to
prevent the shipments. The calls were ignored. Police authorities in Marina di Carrara even asked port operators to speed up the loading of waste to prevent possible demonstrations by environmentalists. The “toxic ships” were allowed to leave Italy because of lack of any legislation dealing with the export of waste outside the European Union. This gap was exploited by unscrupulous waste dealers and brokers proposing European industries, mainly chemicals, to sign out on schemes for the shipment of millions of tonnes of waste to poor countries. Proposers of such schemes included Swiss lawyers and trustees, Swiss and UK based companies turning out to be shell companies, individual brokers and legitimate waste dealers. The following list includes the ships that where identified as leaving the port of Marina di Carrara and Livorno from 1987 to 1988 loaded with hazardous waste. Three “ghost ships” possibly carrying hazardous waste dumped in Lebanon and disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea are also mentioned. Many other “toxic ships” remained unknown as export schemes to poor countries from Italian and European ports were flourishing at that point. a)Lynx In February 1987 the ship “Lynx” sailed from the port of Marina di Carrara with a load of more than 2000 tons of industrial waste. Original destination was Djibouti. The shipment was organised by the Swiss firm “Intercontract SA”, and the Italian waste management firm “Jelly Wax”. Italian environmentalists immediately alerted the embassy of Djibouti about the cargo. Eventually, the waste was diverted to Puerto Cabello, Venezuela where local authorities turned the vessel away, and the waste was returned to Italy two years later, via Syria. Interviewed by the media about the case, Gianfranco Ambrosini, representing the company “Intercontract SA” admitted that no waste facilities existed in the small African country. How could millions of tonnes of hazardous waste be dumped in such a tiny, deserted country? The answer could be that Djibouti was never meant to be the end of the export route. Indeed, the former French colony is an important logistics hub for goods delivery to Somalia and Ethiopia. The waste could have followed the same delivery paths.
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Exclusive: Millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck at sea in dirty tankers
2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-pdvsa-tankers/exclusive-millions-of-barrels-of-venezuelan-oil-stuck-at-sea-in-dirty-tankers-idUSKBN15A0JA
HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (Reuters) - More than 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuels are sitting in tankers anchored in the Caribbean sea, unable to reach their final destination because state-run PDVSA cannot pay for hull cleaning, inspections, and other port services, according to internal documents and Reuters data.
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Two countries, one border and their shared pollution
2018
Communities in South San Diego sue over sewage spills.
https://www.hcn.org/articles/pollution-two-countries-one-border-and-their-shared-pollution
Last September, Paloma Aguirre spent the day collecting bits of trash and tires in the Tijuana River Valley, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego. Wearing leather gloves and dust masks, Aguirre and a group of volunteers combed the dry waterways and pockets of dense willow bushes and tamarisk, searching for garbage from Tijuana that washed through the steel slats in the border wall. The border is a complicated and not always effective barrier: It makes it harder for people to move between Mexico and the U.S., but does very little to stop certain other things. For instance, air pollution from the maquiladoras, or factories, of Ciudad Juárez wafts across the border into El Paso, Texas, as it does between Nogales, Mexico, and Nogales, Arizona.
A day after the cleanup, Aguirre got sick. Her fever rose to 102 degrees, and her throat felt like it was on fire. Eventually, she checked herself into an urgent-care clinic, where doctors diagnosed her with viral pharyngitis, a throat infection sometimes caused by exposure to pollutants commonly found in industrial waste, including nitrogen oxides and boron oxide.
Aguirre, who is the director of coastal and marine initiatives for Wildcoast, an international marine and coastal conservation nonprofit, is not the only person to have gotten sick from the “undocumented” byproducts that routinely flow across the border. A few years ago, a Border Patrol agent training with the Navy SEALS contracted a flesh-eating bacteria and nearly lost his arm. Now the SEALS no longer train in the ocean south of Imperial Beach.
A few days after Aguirre fell sick, she learned that several others on the cleanup crew also came down with the same symptoms.
“Oh, this is not good,” she thought.
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BKK Corp. and West Covina look toward the CLOSING of the DUMP
1986
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-13-ga-20956-story.html
Three years ago, the 583-acre BKK landfill in West Covina was one of the nation's busiest toxic waste dumps, a money machine for its owners and the city of West Covina, grossing $23 million in one year and paying $2.3 million in city taxes.
BKK Corp. was reaping the financial rewards of running the only toxic dump between the Mexican border and Casmalia, north of Santa Barbara. Waste poured in from 6,000 industries ranging from dry cleaning shops to chemical plants to oil refineries.
Every day, hundreds of trucks unloaded 2,500 tons of chemical waste, oil sludge, contaminated soil and other refuse too dangerous to be buried in ordinary landfills.
Although nearby residents complained of odors and suggested that the dump might be harming their health, state and local regulators repeatedly assured the public that the dump, off Azusa Avenue in the San Jose Hills, was safe.
The assurances continued almost up to the moment in July, 1984, when state health officials advised 21 families to flee their homes because potentially explosive methane gas had seeped into their neighborhood from the landfill.
Nine families were kept out of their homes for a month and 10 for nearly six months because the gas was found to contain a cancer-causing chemical, vinyl chloride.
"It was a nightmare," said Alan Kunihiro, a 38-year-old computer operations supervisor, recalling the evacuation of his wife, child and himself. "The police officers told us we had 10 minutes to get out of the house."
In the ensuing days, Kunihiro said, police blockaded the neighborhood, "guys in space suits" wandered through with instruments measuring gas, and he and his family lived in a hotel away from their home and belongings for six weeks.
The evacuations pushed public concern to outrage, intensified regulatory scrutiny and pressured BKK Corp. into pulling its dump out of the hazardous-waste business in November, 1984.
Today, BKK remains closed to hazardous waste but continues to take in large amounts of household and commercial trash.
Company officials last November signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of West Covina promising to end all disposal activities in 10 years as part of an agreement to find other uses for its dump and adjoining property.
Development is expected to focus on about 120 acres in the northwestern part of the dump where there has been no disposal activity.
Later this month, BKK Corp. will file two massive plans describing how it intends to keep the millions of tons of hazardous waste already buried in the landfill from polluting the region's air and water.
In its struggle to turn what would appear to be a major liability into an asset again, BKK Corp. simultaneously is trying:
- To close most of the dump within a year;
- To win permission to continue burying trash elsewhere on the dump for up to 10 years;
- To start developing hundreds of acres it owns next to the dump;
- To fight off lawsuits from 400 residents who claim that they were harmed by the dump and want millions of dollars in compensation;
- To expand an already elaborate system of hundreds of water and gas wells, drains, probes, flares and treatment systems to monitor, collect and destroy or neutralize landfill liquids and gas;
- To build a $7-million plant to turn the landfill gas into electrical energy for sale to Southern California Edison Co.,
- And to prove to the satisfaction of a Superior Court judge and half a dozen regulatory agencies that it is doing everything possible to safeguard the environment around the dump.
Meanwhile, the dump continues to bring in about $8 million a year in revenue. However, company officials say that does not cover cleanup costs, environmental controls and operating expenses. BKK Corp. won approval from the City Council last year to delay payment of a 10% city tax on gross receipts for a year and recently won city authorization to raise dumping fees.
Kenneth Kazarian, BKK Corp. president, said that 40 of the dump's 100 employees were laid off when toxic dumping ended in 1984. However, employment has increased again, he said, although many employees now are working on environmental problems rather than waste disposal.
Kazarian said that the dump is losing money, but he declined to provide specific figures, citing BKK Corp.'s status as a privately held, family-owned company.
The financial burdens imposed on the company are so heavy, Kazarian said, that some corporate advisers have suggested that the best course would be to walk away from the dump.
"But we wouldn't do that," Kazarian said. "We've got a lot of pride in this business. If we were hit-and-run artists, we might have considered it."
Regulators no longer offer rosy assessments of the dump's safety. Instead, they say, chemicals from the dump could leak into ground water and threaten public health.
In fact, federal and state officials say that the dump, which is a mile and a half from the nearest water well, already may have contaminated the San Gabriel basin's aquifers, which provide drinking water for nearly 1 million people. The dump owners vigorously deny that charge.
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Trash Talk
2016
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/battle-over-laredo-landfill/
The scion of one of Laredo’s first families wants to build a mammoth landfill on his ranch. But the opposition is fierce and vocal—and backed by none other than his uncle and his cousin.
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TOXIC WASTE Dumping Latin America
2007
https://nacla.org/article/toxic-waste-dumping-latin-america
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Landfills, toxic waste treatment, uncontrolled dump sites
https://ejatlas.org/type/landfills-toxic-waste-treatment-uncontrolled-dump-sites
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Largest Landfills, Waste Sites, And Trash Dumps In The World
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-landfills-waste-sites-and-trash-dumps-in-the-world.html
1. Apex Regional, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (2,200 acres)
2. Bordo Poniente, Mexico City, Mexico (927 acres)
3. Laogang, Shanghai, China (830 acres)
4. Malagrotta, Rome, Italy (680 acres)
5. Puente Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (630 acres)
6. Sudokwon, Incheon, South Korea (570 acres)
7. Delhi Landfills, New Delhi, India (500 acres)
8. Deonar, Mumbai, India (326 acres)
9. West New Territories, Hong Kong (272 acres)
10. Xinfeng, Guangzhou, China (227 acres)
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Mexico state landfill has become a toxic mountain of waste: residents
July 16, 2019
But a Naucalpan councilor denies it is not in compliance with regulations
A garbage dump in greater Mexico City has become a toxic mountain of waste that is contaminating the subsoil and local rivers, according to neighbors.
The Tepatlaxco metropolitan landfill, located in Naucalpan, México state, is in clear violation of federal environmental regulations, according to a report published today in the newspaper El Universal.
The dump stinks, it’s infested with flies, cockroaches and rats and its toxic runoff is polluting rivers in the Rincón Verde area of Naucalpan.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/landfill-has-become-a-toxic-mountain-of-waste/
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Mexican farmers are trucking produce into an Arizona town—where tons of it gets thrown into landfills
2015
https://qz.com/365073/mexican-farmers-are-trucking-produce-into-an-arizona-town-where-tons-of-it-gets-thrown-into-landfills/
Nogales, Arizona, is the largest inland food port in the world. Much of the fresh produce trucked up the “food superhighway” of Mexico’s west coast comes through there—and a shocking amount of it doesn’t travel much farther, dropping into local landfills instead of being sent to consumers.
It’s a loss to the farmers who harvested the food and to the consumers who would have eaten it, argue filmmakers Jesse Ash and Phil Buccellato, who made an eight-minute documentary featuring Gary Paul Nabhan, a former MacArthur fellow and advocate for sustainable food reform. The film opens with footage of just-ripe tomatoes being bulldozed.
“If the Florida tomato prices drop on a certain day,” Nabhan narrates, “120,000 pounds [of tomatoes] might be thrown into a landfill” in Nogales, while much smaller quantities might end up in food banks or in livestock feed.
Cut to Yolanda Soto, the CEO of Borderlands Food Bank: Borderlands ”rescues” between 30 and 40 million pounds of produce each season and distributes it to rural residents, providing fresh fruits and vegetables at less cost than the nearest grocery stores. “Vegetables are expensive,” says Soto, and the area has “a very, very high rate of diabetes.”
Nabhan is perturbed that this is happening in southern Arizona, where high rates of food insecurity coexist with significant biodiversity: “If we can’t use that biodiversity to make life better for the very people who live here, something is wrong.”
About a quarter of the produce Americans eat comes through US-Mexico border towns. Beyond changing wasteful practices in the produce-trade supply chain, Nabhan wants to see more people growing their own food.
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Section 11: Pesticides
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UPDATED: Bill introduced to take on Mexico’s trade practices
https://www.thepacker.com/article/updated-bill-introduced-take-mexicos-trade-practices
(UPDATED, Jan. 8) Legislation called the Defending Domestic Produce Production Act would relax thresholds needed by U.S. producers to bring anti-dumping lawsuits against imported produce.
The legislation, first proposed in September, was reintroduced in early January in the new Congress by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and also by U.S. Representatives Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Al Lawson, D-Fla. The lawmakers say the bill will help Florida growers combat Mexico’s unfair trade practices.
The proposed legislation would make it easier for Florida farmers to petition the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate illegal subsidies and dumping of Mexican fruits and vegetables in the U.S. market, according to a news release.
While current law requires petitioners to demonstrate harm as measured from a nationwide and year-round perspective, the bill would take into account the “unique circumstances of seasonal fruit and vegetable producers who are directly harmed by Mexico’s practices in various geographic regions during different seasons.”
“We must do all we can to ensure a level playing field for Florida’s fruit and vegetable growers,” Rubio said in the release.
“Absent any effective agreement with the Mexican government covering seasonal and perishable produce imports, I’m proud to support this bill to increase opportunities for Florida growers to successfully seek relief from the illegal dumping of Mexican winter produce into our domestic markets.”
Florida growers suffer from Mexico’s unfair subsidies and illegal seasonal dumping, Buchanan said in the release.
“This legislation will level the playing field for a vital industry to Florida’s economy,” he said in the release.
The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association said in a statement that farmers in Florida will continue to go out of business if the U.S. government fails to provide critical trade relief to battle what the group called “cheap Mexican produce imports flooding the market.”
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Report on Highly Hazardous Pesticides in Mexico now available
2018
https://ipen.org/news/report-highly-hazardous-pesticides-mexico-now-available
The report highlights the fact that in Mexico, there are 140 active ingredients of pesticides that are authorized by the Federal Commission for the Protection of Health Risks (COFEPRIS) in thousands of commercial products that are banned in other countries, such as the insecticides parathion-methyl, carbofuran, and methamidophos. In addition, 183 active ingredients classified as dangerous by various international organizations in the Pesticide Action Network Highly Hazardous Pesticide (HHP) List for their short and long-term effects are authorized, including 43 pesticides that are probable causes of cancer in humans, such as herbicide glyphosate; and 35 hormonal disruptors such as insecticide chlorpyrifos-ethyl, authorized for agricultural, domestic, urban and livestock use. The use of these pesticides benefits transnational and national companies.
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MEXICO: Poisonous Pesticides on the Doorstep
2010
http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/08/mexico-poisonous-pesticides-on-the-doorstep/
IZÚCAR DE MATAMOROS, Mexico, Aug 4 2010 (IPS) - “People want to get rid of the factory. It has to go. There’s already been an accident,” a taxi driver said on the drive to the pesticide plant belonging to the Agricultura Nacional company in this southern Mexican city.
On the night of Mar. 24, life changed for the 70,000 people of this municipality in Puebla state, about 200 kilometres south of the Mexican capital.
An explosion at the Dragon Group’s factory, which makes pesticides, weedkillers and fungicides, spewed out 300 kilograms of dimethoate, an organophosphate insecticide, that had toxic effects on some 750 people.
“The factory was shut down by the city council on the day of the accident, and after what happened we don’t want it to operate again,” retired high school teacher José Rincón, a member of the Citizen’s Council of Izúcar de Matamoros, formed in response to the accident, told IPS.
Prolonged exposure to dimethoate can cause eye irritation, nausea, dizziness, respiratory failure and even death, according to the pesticide catalogue produced by the Interministerial Commission for the Control of the Production and Use of Pesticides, Fertilisers and Toxic Chemicals.
The industrial complex manufactured about 130 products containing dangerous active ingredients like pentachlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), endosulphan and paraquat
Fourteeen of the company’s products were classified as highly dangerous, 30 as moderately toxic and 37 others as somewhat harmful, according to the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS).
COFEPRIS has authorised 7,313 brands of pesticides made by about 200 companies, including transnational corporations like Germany’s Bayer and the U.S. Dow Chemical.
“It’s a disgrace that these chemicals are still being used and that the government is doing nothing about them,” Fernando Bejarano, head of the non-governmental Centre for Analysis and Action on Toxins and Their Alternatives (CAATA), told IPS.
“They are examples of backwardness and the lack of preventive public policies in regard to toxic substances. We have been left with the idea of letting industry regulate itself, a neoliberal approach,” he said.
CAATA is pressing for the Mexican government to comply with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, signed in 2001 and in effect since 2004, which seeks to eliminate or reduce pollutants like dioxins, chlorinated pesticides or furans.
Endosulphan is authorised for use on 42 different crops, including maize, cotton, beans, vegetables and coffee, according to CAATA. In 2006, 731 tonnes of the insecticide were imported by Mexico.
After the accident at its plant, Agricultura Nacional, which employed 200 people in Izúcar, transported 3,500 tonnes of materials to factories around the country.
Just a few hours later, protesters blocked the entrance to the plant. A few tents remain to testify to that demonstration. Yellow closure notices seal the doors of the factory.
“We didn’t know anything about these things. We have had to learn about them along the way, in the process of our struggle,” Rincón said.
The Citizens’ Council is organising a public consultation, and planning a protest march for Sunday Aug. 1.
The Dragon Group, which owns Agricultura Nacional, became established in the area in 1986, producing powdered stone and rock for fertilisers to remineralise soils. In 1992 it added insecticide and pesticide manufacturing to its operations.
Around that time a group of local residents began a resistance movement, in response to an accident that occurred many kilometres away from Izúcar.
On May 3, 1991, there was a fire and explosion at an Agricultura Nacional insecticide factory called Anaversa in Córdoba, a city in the state of Veracruz, 354 kilometres southeast of the Mexican capital. The accident released and spread 18,000 litres of methyl parathion, 8,000 litres of paraquat, 1,500 litres of pentachlorophenol and 3,000 litres of 2,4-D.
2,4-D was a major ingredient in Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the United States armed forces to spray jungles during the Vietnam war in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with serious environmental and health consequences.
Although there were no immediate deaths from the Anaversa accident, a toxic cloud bearing dioxins covered the city of Córdoba and also polluted the groundwater.
The number of cases of cancer and other serious illnesses began to climb throughout the city, the association of Anaversa victims, formed to fight for compensation and medical care for the victims, told IPS.
The death toll from the consequences of the explosion stands at over 2,700, according to the association’s estimates. Agricultura Nacional paid a fine of 9,300 dollars, closed the Anaversa plant and focused on its operations in Izúcar.
In Mexico, the management of harmful chemicals is entangled in a legal labyrinth comprising nine laws, 11 sets of regulations and 36 specific standards, 20 of which apply to pesticides.
Looking ahead to the fifth Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention in Geneva in June 2011, its Chemical Review Committee has recommended including chrysotile asbestos, endosulphan and tributyl tin compounds, all harmful to human health, on the list of substances covered by this treaty.
In force since 2004, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade promotes shared responsibility, open exchange of information on prohibitions and restrictions, and safe handling of dangerous substances between importer and exporter countries, in order to preserve human health and the environment.
The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, held in Rome in October 2008, voted against including these chemicals in the Convention, in spite of intense campaigning to that effect by activists all over the world.
In Izúcar, the federal environmental prosecutor’s office ruled in 2009 that the company had broken the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, but did not specify how it did so, or what corrective measures should be imposed.
After the March 2010 accident, however, it ordered the factory to be closed for six months pending an environmental audit.
“Products that have been proved to be toxic should be strictly banned. The scientific principles of precaution and substitution are not applied in this country, nor is there a chemical safety policy,” said Bejarano.
CAATA wrote a letter to COFEPRIS summarising the facts about endosulphan, which has been banned in more than 60 countries and is being considered for a global ban under the Stockholm Convention. The letter included the results of studies carried out in Mexico.
“We have heard that the factory is going to be transferred to another municipality in Puebla state. That is a false solution: instead of polluting here, they will do it elsewhere,” said Rincón.
In Córdoba, the association of Anaversa victims has called for a clean-up of the factory site, but this has not been done. The disaster was covered by the 2007 documentary film “El perro que ladra a la luna” (Barking at the Moon), by Spanish journalists Charo Ruiz and Sandra Soler.
In 1996, the people of Izúcar had scored a temporary victory when the authorities closed the plant, but it managed to reopen. Now they will settle for nothing less than shutting it down for good.
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The Dallas Morning News
Legacy of DDT hangs over Mexicans
February 26, 2002
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mexico/ddt.htm
Promise of ban rekindles debate over '91 toxic fire, effects
By RICARDO SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
CÓRDOBA, Mexico – For the last decade, Dr. Jorge Arturo de León has methodically recorded the impact of a fire that consumed a pesticide facility in a
residential neighborhood in this mountain city 150 miles east of Mexico City.
No one died on May 3, 1991, when the Anaversa plant was engulfed in flames, igniting countless barrels of chemicals. But throughout the day, plumes of acrid
smoke wafted through the homes of about 10,000 people in a neighborhood with six schools, two day-care centers, a bustling open-air vegetable market and a
health clinic. At least 300 people were hospitalized.
In the years since, Dr. de León has examined 1,500 residents. He has logged a dozen cases of leukemia, at least eight serious birth defects
and half-dozen cases of reproductive disorders in young women – including an 8-year-old who began menstruating not long after the fire.
The rates and types of illness that have struck Córdoba since the Anaversa fire are consistent, Dr. de León said, with acute exposure to organo-chlorines, a group of
chemicals of which DDT – dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane – is the best known.
People in the working-class neighborhood have lost count of cancers in their midst, but they know that four volunteer firefighters from one station house have died of
cancer. The firefighters had rushed to battle the blaze even though they lacked training in hazardous materials fires, wore no masks and only short-sleeved shirts and
regular pants with their fire helmets.
Sometime before the end of 2002, Mexico has promised to do away with the last of its official supply of DDT. The promised action has rekindled debate over the
chemical's legacy in Mexico, where for decades it was the weapon of choice in the war against malaria and crop-killing bugs.
DDT has spawned a whole line of pesticides. The first major substance to come out of World War II weapons research, DDT spawned a host of chemical cousins –
many of them now banned as well because of concerns over their impact on human health.
Some organo-chlorines were burned into the atmosphere in Córdoba 11 years ago, although there is a strong dispute over whether DDT itself was present. Dr. de
León and neighbors say it was there, based on the words of former plant workers and Dr. de León's tests, which showed high levels of organo-chloride residues in
the community. Anaversa officials, however, strongly denied that DDT was stored in Córdoba.
The Anaversa plant was boarded up after the fire, and the company moved to a rural site an hour's drive from Córdoba.
The Córdoba debate is emblematic of the controversy that's dogged DDT since Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring exposed its threat to animals.
The United States banned the chemical in 1972. In Mexico, its use on farms was suspended in the 1980s, although it was routinely sprayed by government health
workers against mosquitoes up until 1997.
DDT is on an international list of chemicals known as PBTs, or persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. And while it is not as immediately poisonous to humans as other
farm chemicals, traces of the chemical can persist for years, locking themselves into everything from groundwater to human fat tissue.
DDT was first used 57 years ago against mosquitoes in Brazil, where its effectiveness guaranteed its place on the front lines against malaria. Farmers subsequently
found it a strong killer of a variety of bugs. But the pesticide soon lost its punch as insects became resistant. Farmers and government health workers responded by
spraying even more DDT.
DDT's health impact
Scientists are divided on DDT's impact on human health. Opinions range from it being a clear and persistent poison, to it being less toxic than a pack of cigarettes.
Today only one plant in India legally makes DDT, as each year it's banned in more developing nations.
A growing amount of the fresh fruits and vegetables sold in the United States comes from Mexican farmers, especially in winter months when U.S. production
declines. In recent years DDT and several other chemicals banned on farms have shown up as residues on imported foods tested by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, but in trace amounts well within acceptable U.S. standards, officials have said. Still, enviornmentalists have complained that the FDA tests are flawed
and check less than 3 percent of imported fruits and vegetables.
For anti-pesticide advocates such as Dr. de León, DDT's negative legacy is easily seen in studies of mother's milk, dating to 1975, which have shown persistent
levels of the pesticide throughout Mexico.
The most recent study was published in 2000 by a group of Mexico City obstetricians. They tested the milk of 10 low-income women who had just given birth and
found DDT in each, at concentrations up to almost three times the level considered acceptable by international standards.
The results don't surprise Dr. de León, a toxicologist with 30 years' experience in medical research and teaching at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
He cited government reports that even after the U.S. ban on DDT, Mexico continued its production and farmers sprayed nearly 7,000 tons of the pesticide, while
anti-malaria workers sprayed another 226,000 tons through 1993.
Despite suspicions that DDT and other organo-chlorines are potential long-term health threats, some scientists dispute its negative effects. A few even argue for its
return to active duty against malaria, dengue and other diseases.
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Assessment of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) levels in soil samples near an electric capacitor manufacturing industry in Morelos, Mexico
2014
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24967557/
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Presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in bottled drinking water in Mexico City
2010 Sep 25
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20871976/
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MEXICO: Some Progress Made in Eliminating Toxic PCBs
Apr 21 2011
https://www.ipsnews.net/2011/04/mexico-some-progress-made-in-eliminating-toxic-pcbs/
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Protecting one community at a time – the removal of harmful PCBs in Mexico
April 20, 2017
https://www.thegef.org/news/protecting-one-community-time-removal-harmful-pcbs-mexico
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Assessment of Dioxin-Like Soil Contamination in Mexico by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
2009 Nov 29.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033344/
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Dioxins in beef samples from Mexico using a low resolution GC/MS screening method
18 Mar 2010
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19440040903552382?journalCode=tfab20
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Contamination of chicken eggs near the Pajaritos Petrochemical Complex in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico by dioxins, PCBs and hexachlorobenzene
https://riaaver.org/sites/default/files/MEXICOEGGREPORTFINALCOATZACOALCOS.pdf
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The end of Maruchans: Why instant soups are banned in Mexico
October 5, 2021
Profeco announced that instant soups will be withdrawn from the market because they are considered harmful to consumers’ health.
Ricardo Sheffield, head of Mexico’s consumer watchdog, confirmed that two brands of instant soups will be banned immediately: Buldak and Ottogui Ramen.
Sheffield pointed out that these products have high sodium content, are high in calories low in nutrition. In addition, he issued a warning regarding the soups sold in plastic cups, saying “it is forbidden to put them in microwave ovens.” The materials apparently release harmful dioxins into the food. They are also not bio-degradable, remaining in landfills for hundreds of years.
Profeco also seized 129,937 units of soups of 12 brands in various self-service stores and commercial establishments for not complying with standard regulations.
https://yucatanmagazine.com/the-end-of-maruchans-consumer-agency-bans-instant-soups-in-mexico/
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The Current State of Law on Plastic Pollution in Mexico and a View Toward the Future
04 July 2020
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/698_2020_518
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Toxic pesticides found in nopales imported to Southern California from Mexico
February 15, 2018
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Californians are being warned not to eat nopales imported from Mexico.
https://abc7.com/nopales-contaminated-recall-california/3089916/
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Is American Weed Being Polluted by Mexican Pesticides?
Washington State law enforcement says it is so.
https://www.thekindland.com/wellness/is-american-weed-being-polluted-by-mexican-pesticides-1534
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The Black List: Pesticides
2016
https://www.conflabs.com/the-black-list-mmj-banned-pesticides/
Common Name: Myclobutanil
Trade Names: Agristar, Disarm, Eagle 20,
Ferti-Lome, Rally, Spectracide
ChemSpider: Myclobutanil
Required For: Flower, Concentrates
Myclobutanil is a fungicide known recently in the media as the active ingredient in Eagle 20. Another Pesticide Awareness Network (P.A.N.) “Bad Actor” chemical, it is a known reproduction or developmental toxin and a suspected endocrine disruptor. Ecological toxicity is particularly harsh on aquatic organisms and amphibians.
A long-lasting contaminator…
Common Name: Spiromesifen
Trade Names: Forbid, Judo, Oberon
ChemSpider: Spiromesifen
Required For: Flower, Concentrates
Spiromesifen is a tetronic acid insecticide developed in 2006 by Bayer and used primarily to fight mites and whiteflies. While highly toxic to fish and other non-target insects, acute toxicity from inhalation and skin contact is listed as low risk. Information on this chemical is a bit hard to find; checking datasheets from the regulatory bodies of the E.U. gives more details.
Long lasting carcinogen worry in our water…
Common Name: Spinosad
Trade Names: Blackhawk, Bonide, Bulls-Eye,
Elector Bait, Natular, Sluggo
ChemSpider: Spinosad
Required For: Flower, Concentrates
Spinosad is a highly effective broad pest spectrum insecticide made from the isolation of two bits of soil bacteria. It has a low toxicity to mammals, and a good environmental profile. It is approved for use in organic agriculture by numerous national and international certifications as well. While all that seems great, this insecticide is highly toxic to honey bees in both acute and chronic exposure levels. It does a number on the butterfly populations, too.
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Study: Deadly pesticide use increases at illegal cannabis farms
2018
https://www.emeraldreport.com/pesticide-use-cannabis-farms/
{It is a lot of the illegal Mexican cartels using and getting these
illegal pesticides. These Mexican Cartels also do illegal grow
operations in the forests and use these banned chemicals}.
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Banned pesticides from illegal pot farms seep into California water
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Tainted Bud: These Products Are Used On Marijuana Plants To Kill Fungi And Pests — But Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good (Part I)
2017
https://bigbudsmag.com/avoid-using-avid-eagle-20-floramite-on-marijuana-plants/
These Are The Main Culprits For Spreading Toxins
Abamectin: In Avid pesticide, the miticide abamectin is the main component. Avid is often used in cannabis grow rooms to kill spider mites and other insects. Miticide is a chemical agent used specifically for the purpose of eradicating mites. Abamectin has proved toxic to marine life and, according to the Pesticide Action Network, abamectin is considered a “bad actor” chemical.
Myclobutanil: The primary component of Eagle 20, myclobutanil is a fungicide commonly used in marijuana grow rooms to kill powdery mildew and bud rot. This chemical has been banned in cannabis cultivation in Canada and in Colorado, Washington and Oregon because of health concerns. Plus, myclobutanil has proven to be bad news for aquatic life and organisms, too
Bifenazate: The dominant component of Floramite is another miticide used against spider mites. Last year several legal Canadian cannabis companies announced recalls due to the presence of myclobutanil and bifenazate in their respective products. It was found that if inhaled, these chemicals could damage the lungs.
Spiromesifen: The main component in the insecticides Oberon and Forbid, and used in cannabis grow rooms to fight spider mites and whiteflies. However, spiromesifen is also toxic for fish and non-target insects.
Chlorfenapyr: The primary ingredient in Pylon is a miticide and general purpose insecticide used by cannabis growers. It’s been banned for use on fruits and vegetables in several countries, including the European Union.
The bottom line? These pesticides and fungicides aren’t meant for use on plants that will be combusted, vaporized, or processed into cannabis oils, dabs and edibles for human consumption.
Eagle 20 & Other Poisons: Bad For People, Animals And The Environment
Not only can agriculture poisons contaminate marijuana plants and make them unsafe to consume, they also contaminate people applying these poisons to their plants.
Growers who use these products or consume contaminated buds have been widely reported to experience resultant respiratory illness, eye irritation, skin rashes and compromised immune systems.
Not only are these products harmful to humans, but also to animals and the environment. They’ve been especially implicated for harming bees and other pollinators, amphibians and birds.
The manufacturers of these pesticides and fungicides advise against using them on marijuana.
Eagle 20’s manufacturer claims that the main ingredient myclobutanil is safe to use on some food crops. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe to use on marijuana.
When you vape or combust marijuana polluted by Eagle 20, you inhale a combustion byproduct called hydrogen cyanide, which can cause neurological, respiratory, cardiovascular and thyroid problems.
Eagle 20’s manufacturer Dow AgroSciences acknowledges that its product should not be used on tobacco or marijuana, saying in a statement:
“Dow AgroSciences, without exception, will not seek regulatory approvals or support the use of its products on marijuana. Eagle 20 is not approved for use nor should it be used under any circumstances on marijuana.”
Avid’s manufacturer specifies use only on ornamental crops such as Christmas trees and decorative plants. Floramite’s manufacturer specifies use only for ornamentals and for mature tomato crops.
Indeed, if you take the time to read the manufacturer’s spec sheets for chemical insecticide and fungicide products and see the many dire warnings and precautions, it gives you the creeps. But if armed with this information, nobody who cares about health and the environment would spray or aerosolize this stuff onto their buds.
Who Uses Avid, Eagle 20 And Floramite?
What type of marijuana growers use Avid, Eagle 20 and other poisons on marijuana plants?
It’s a diverse group, including unregulated drug cartels that grow tens of thousands of marijuana plants on public lands in North and Central America for sale on the black market. These cartels are notoriously prolific users of agricultural pesticides, fungicides and other poisons.
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Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Reserve: 40% Decline in Illegal Logging; Threats from Climate Rage on
https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/mexico-s-monarch-butterfly-reserve-40-decline-in-illegal-logging-threats-from-climate-rage-on
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The War Over Mangoes
2017
Growing mangoes in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has racked up an
enormous socio-political expense for the region far greater than the
price tag on the fruit in the supermarket. For a Mexican drug cartel
desperate to move product, hiding illicit drugs in mango shipments is a
risky but viable cover for getting them to the U.S. market. For the
people of Oaxaca, however, the infiltration of one of the region’s most
important industries indicates the threat of a life controlled by drug
violence and its wide-ranging effects on society.
https://www.independentsciencenews.org/environment/the-war-over-mangoes/
----------------------------
Use of Pesticides for Vegetable Crops in Mexico
2011
https://www.intechopen.com/books/pesticides-in-the-modern-world-pesticides-use-and-management/use-of-pesticides-for-vegetable-crops-in-mexico
Prohibited Pesticides
Phenyl acetate
Mercury
Acid 2,4,5-T
Aldrin
Cyanophos
DBCP
Dialifor
Dieldrin
Dinoseb
Endrin
Erbon
Formothion
Sodium Fluoroacetate
Fumisel
Kepone/Clordecone
Mirex
Monuron
Nitrofen
Schradan
Triamiphos
Thalium sulfate
Toxaphene
Restricted Pesticides
DDT
BHC
Aldicarb
Dicofol
Phorate
Lindane
Methoxycloro
Mevinphos
Paraquat
Pentachlorophenol
Quintozene
1,3 Dichloropropene
Pesticides prohibited in other countries but authorized in Mexico
Alaclor
Methamidophos
Azinphos methyl
Monocrotophos
Captan
Oxyfluorfen
Methyl-parathion
Quintozene
Phosphamidon
Tridemorph
Maneb
Methidathion
Captofol
Mevinphos
Omethoate
Paraquat
Diuron
Phorate
Triazophos
Linuron
2,4,D
Endosulfan
Sulfopros
Kadethrin
Carbaryl
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Report on Highly Hazardous Pesticides in Mexico now available
2018
https://ipen.org/news/report-highly-hazardous-pesticides-mexico-now-available
Table 7
Registrations per Highly Hazardous Pesticide Types Authorized in Mexico
Pesticide Type Number of registrations
Acaricide 24
Acaricide, fungicide 2
Subtotal acaricide 26
Fungicide 465
Fungicide, bactericide 9
Subtotal fungicides 438
Herbicide 438
Herbicide, desiccant 4
Subtotal herbicides 442
Insecticide 1413
Insecticide acaricide 490
Insecticide larvicide 23
Insecticide nematicide 61
subtotal insecticides 1987
Fumigant 78
Miticide ovicide acaricide 3
Nematicide 4
Rodenticide 126
Total 3140
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Highly Hazardous Pesticides In Mexico
2018
https://ipen.org/sites/default/files/documents/HHHP%20in%20Mexico%202018REV.pdf
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Brazil’s fundamental pesticide law under attack
2018
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/brazils-fundamental-pesticide-law-under-attack/
-----------
Comparison of U.S. and Mexican Pesticide Standards and Enforcement
1992
https://www.gao.gov/products/RCED-92-140
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Use of Pesticides for Vegetable Crops in Mexico
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Chlorpyrifos: The toxic pesticide harming our children and environment
2019
For half a century, staple food crops in the United States — such as corn, wheat, apples and citrus — have been sprayed with chlorpyrifos, a dangerous pesticide that can damage the developing brains of children, causing reduced IQ, loss of working memory, and attention deficit disorders.
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The EPA Has Finally Banned the Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos From Food
August 18, 2021
https://earthjustice.org/brief/2021/chlorpyrifos-ban-pesticide-industry-pressure-epa
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Organophosphate exposures during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment: Recommendations for essential policy reforms
2018
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002671
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Mexico's avocado boom poses environmental challenge
2017
As avocado trade grows, the world's leading producer has inadvertently dumped a lot of pesticides into its water.
Mexico earned $1.6 billion from avocado export last year. For some Mexicans, the fruit is "Green Gold."
But this trade has negative effects on Mexico, world's main avocado producer.
Avocado growers use industrial pesticides which are finding their way
into the water sources, causing serious health problems for people.
Moreover, illegal deforestation to make way for new avocado farms is getting worse day by day.
------------
The Evil Business of Avocados
Sep 15, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tt2IweS0wI
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Mexico’s avocados face fallout from violence, deforestation
16 Feb 2022
https://www.breitbart.com/news/mexicos-avocados-face-fallout-from-violence-deforestation/
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Can hipsters stomach the unpalatable truth about avocado toast?
2016
Avocados are bountiful in our food culture and all over Instagram. But communities in Mexico are suffering because of our fetishisation
The problem is created by the fact that it’s now theoretically more
profitable for Mexican farmers to grow avocados than most other crops.
So much so that in Michoacán, the state that produces most of the
country’s avocados and arguably the world’s avocado capital, growers are
ignoring the law and thinning out mature pine forest to plant young
avocado trees instead.
But what’s so bad about swapping one type of tree for another? Permanent
forest doesn’t need to be sprayed with fertilisers and pesticides. It
takes care of itself and acts as a vast carbon sink. Avocado
plantations, on the other hand, need repeated cycles of chemical inputs.
They drink up irrigation water too, lots of it, putting pressure on
local water reserves. By one estimate it takes 272 litres just to grow
about half a kilogram (two or three medium-sized) avocados.
The thirsty avocado isn’t just testing water levels in Mexico either. In
California, avocados now vie with almonds as the top water-guzzling
crop.
It’s a moot point whether the Mexicans who actually grow these on-trend
fruits eventually harvest their fair share of the economic benefits.
This lucrative trade is increasingly controlled by a drug cartel known
as the Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar). So when you buy a
Mexican avocado, a greedy share of revenue may well accrue to criminals.
You might think, OK, I’ll buy avocados from some other less problematic
source then. But would an avocado from Chile, Peru or the Dominican
Republic automatically be more sustainable or equitably produced? The
fact of the matter is that we know pitifully little about the
environmental and working conditions of faceless people in faraway
places who grow fruit for our tables, but I have seen enough of foreign
fruit “farms” to suspect the worst. Fields of abysmally low-paid, often
migrant workers who toil and live day-in-day-out in a trashed
environment amid polluted water courses and pesticides; the latter
decaying workers’ fingernails from dipping saplings into chemicals.
In most of the fruit-growing countries of Latin America, if you talk
back to the management, you can expect a knock at the door of your
shanty. As Banana Link, the group that raises awareness of conditions in
the global food industry, has documented, Guatemala is the most
dangerous. Any activist for fruit workers there courts summary dismissal
or worse: kidnapping, torture, and murder. Perhaps the Caballeros
Templarios in neighbouring Mexico are more tender-hearted and
environmentally aware?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/12/hispters-handle-unpalatable-truth-avocado-toast
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Banned pesticides found in cactus pads could poison people
2018
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/02/banned-pesticides-found-in-cactus-pads-could-poison-people/
Dangerously high levels of banned pesticides in edible cactus from Mexico spurred California health officials to issue a public warning today urging people to throw out the product because it could cause acute poisoning.
The contaminated cactus pads may also have been distributed in other states.
Washing or peeling the cactus pads, also known as nopales, is not effective and people should not try to salvage any of this contaminated produce, according to the warning this morning from the California Department of Public Health and the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).
The cactus pads may also have been distributed in Oregon and Nevada. California officials have informed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the situation.
“Routine surveillance samples collected by DPR inspectors found various pesticides, including dimethoate, omethoate, monocrotophos, and methidathion, at levels that pose a health risk to humans,” according to the public warning. “
“Both monocrotophos and methidathion have been banned for food use in the United States for several years.”
Symptoms of poisoning from the pesticides include sweating, headache, weakness, nausea, vomiting, hypersalivation, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea, the state’s top health official said in the public warning. Anyone who has eaten cactus pads from Mexico and developed such symptoms should immediately seek medical attention.
“Consumption of monocrotophos can lead to neurotoxicity and permanent nerve damage,” said CDPH Director and State Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith.
The California pesticide regulation inspectors collected and tested samples of the cactus pads that were sold to consumers and wholesalers between Jan. 23-29.
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Mexican cactus, Chinese ginger top list of pesticide-laced produce
2015
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pesticides-produce-20151013-story.html
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Pollution by organochlorine pesticides in Navachiste-Macapule, Sinaloa, Mexico
2011
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10661-011-2046-2
Abstract
The lagoon system of Navachiste-Macapule is located in northern Mexico,
in the state of Sinaloa, with an area of 24,000 ha. The main economic
activity in the area is agriculture, and the lagoon lies next to the
irrigation district ID-063 which covers 116,615 ha. The purpose of this
study is to evaluate the levels of pollution generated by organochlorine
pesticides (OC) in the surface sediments of the lagoon and in the
agricultural drains of the ID-063 that are supposedly transported into
the system as a result of agricultural activities and runoff from
adjacent land. For this, between 2006 and 2007, 45 surface sediment
samples were collected (warm dry, rainy and cold dry) from 15 sampling
sites, during the three climatic seasons. Of these, eight were located
inside the lagoon in marine conditions (salinity >31 PSU) and seven
in the agricultural drains of the ID-063 in freshwater conditions
(salinity <5 PSU). The average concentration of the OC in the
sediments was 44.75 ng g − 1, among which the group of the
alicyclic compounds presented the greatest concentrations. The average
value of the total organic carbon (TOC) in the sediments of the system
was 0.90%. The sediments collected inside the lagoon had an average OC
concentration of 18.97 ng g − 1, and the predominant type of
sediment was fine to very fine sand. The average OC concentration in the
sediments collected in the agricultural drains was 75.69 ng g − 1,
where fine sediments (silt) were predominant. The presence of
methoxychlor, endrin and heptachlor suggested that these compounds were
continuously used in the system, even though their use is forbidden in
Mexico.
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Paraquat Poisoning in Southern Mexico: A Report of 25 Cases
Accepted 02 Mar 1992, Published online: 03 Aug 2010
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00039896.1993.9938398
Abstract
Paraquat is a bipyridyl herbicide used world-wide. Although accidental and deliberate ingestions of lethal doses have been reported from many countries, no case has ever been described in Mexico. The authors report on 25 cases of Paraquat poisoning in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, that occurred between 1988 and 1990. Eighty percent of the cases were men, and 64% of the cases died. Alcohol intoxication or suicidal intent were factors at the time of Paraquat ingestion in 75% of the cases. The majority of cases had learned to use Paraquat from a friend; none had been instructed by a professional. Eighty percent of cases did not know the dilution for the proper use of the herbicide, and none kept the herbicide in its original container. Attention to the law, redesign of the Paraquat packaging, and educational efforts directed at populations at risk might reduce the occurrence of poisoning in this region.
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Paraquat and marijuana: epidemiologic risk assessment.
1983
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1650884/
Abstract
In March 1978, 13 (21 per cent) of 61 marijuana samples from the southwestern United States were found to be contaminated with the herbicide paraquat, a pulmonary toxin, in concentrations from 3 to 2,264 parts per million. The source of the contamination was an aerial spraying program in Mexico, supported indirectly by United States funds. To evaluate US exposure, a nationwide survey of the paraquat content of confiscated marijuana was conducted. The survey found 33 (3.6 per cent) of 910 marijuana specimens to contain detectable paraquat. In states adjacent to Mexico (Census Region VI), 23 (12.8 per cent) of 180 specimens were contaminated. Combustion testing indicated that approximately 0.2 per cent of paraquat on marijuana passes into smoke. From these data, we projected that 100-200 marijuana smokers in Census Region VI would be exposed by inhalation to 500 micrograms or more of paraquat per year, a dose judged to represent a health hazard; nationally, between 150 and 300 smokers were projected to have such exposure. Another 6,000 persons in Region VI and 9,000 nationally were projected to be at risk of exposure to between 100 and 499 micrograms of paraquat annually. The risk of paraquat exposure was greatest among those smokers who make one large purchase of marijuana per year. No clinical cases of paraquat poisoning were recognized among marijuana smokers during these studies, but no systematic national search for such cases was undertaken.
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US drug agents want paraquat used to kill Colombian marijuana crops
1981
https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0409/040938.html
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UK condemned over 'shocking' export of deadly weedkiller to poorer countries
2017
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/aug/22/uk-condemned-shocking-export-deadly-weedkiller-poorer-countries-paraquat
UK accused of double standards as thousands of tonnes of pesticide not authorised for use in EU are produced in Britain for export to developing world
A highly toxic weedkiller not authorised for use in the EU is being exported to developing countries from a UK factory.
Paraquat, a pesticide so lethal that a single sip can be fatal, has caused thousands of accidental deaths and suicides globally, and was outlawed by EU states in 2007.
But Swiss pesticide manufacturer Syngenta is exporting thousands of tonnes of the substance to other parts of the world from an industrial plant in Huddersfield.
Campaigners have condemned the practice as an “astonishing double standard”, while a UN expert said it was deeply disquieting that the human rights implications of producing a substance for export that is not authorised in the EU were being ignored.
“The fact that the EU has decided to ban the pesticide for health and environmental reasons, but they still export it to countries with far weaker regulation and far weaker controls, is shocking to me,” said Baskut Tuncak, the UN special rapporteur on toxic wastes.
Syngenta is responsible for 95% of Europe’s exports of paraquat, which it sells under the brand name Gramoxone. The substance can be absorbed through the skin and has been linked with Parkinson’s disease.
Syngenta has exported 122,831 tonnes of paraquat from the UK since 2015, an average of 41,000 tonnes a year, according to export licensing data analysed by the Swiss NGO Public Eye and shared with the Guardian.
Since 2015, when a facility in Belgium stopped exporting paraquat, all EU exports of the pesticide have come from Syngenta’s UK base, according to Public Eye.
Almost two-thirds of these exports by volume – 62% – go to poor countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Guatemala, Venezuela and India. A further 35% is exported to the US, where paraquat can only be applied by licensed users.
Syngenta has been manufacturing paraquat at its Huddersfield plant for two decades. In 2014, the company was fined £200,000 after more than three tonnes of the chemical was spilled in an industrial accident.
A Syngenta spokesman described the Huddersfield spill as a source of regret, but pointed out that nobody had been injured and said there had been no risk to the environment or public.
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Paraquat — Banned in EU While US Increasing Use of This Toxic Killer
2017
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/01/03/paraquat-banned-in-32-countries.aspx
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Death From Above
2017
https://www.texasobserver.org/death-from-above/
People in Texas farm country say they are under assault from crop dusters indiscriminately spraying chemicals. An Observer investigation finds that the Texas Department of Agriculture often allows serial offenders to keep flying.
Cotton farming is big business in this region, where most of the state’s $2.2 billion crop is grown. Quitaque, a community of 387 people about an hour and a half southeast of Amarillo, is surrounded by a phalanx of cotton farmers who each year plant tens of thousands of acres. The town is an island in a vast white sea.
Though the industry is a lifeline for Quitaque’s economy, and the lives of folks in town are tied to the work of neighboring farms, residents say the relationship has a big drawback: the repeated and indiscriminate spraying of pesticides that is killing trees, poisoning livestock and making people sick.
The cotton convoy is rushing up and down the highway as Jerry Beck, a portly, white-bearded man in his 60s, steps into the Caprock Cafe, a country diner run by his wife. Despite below-freezing temperatures, he wears a short-sleeved shirt with a pocket that bears the imprint of a chewing tobacco can. He looks every bit the former sheriff that he is.
Beck periodically spits into a Styrofoam cup as he explains that Quitaque is under siege by crop dusters, pilots hired by farmers to spray pesticides on fields to kill weeds and prepare the cotton plants for harvest. Sometimes the pilots miss their marks and inadvertently deliver a cloud of poison to people, plants and animals.
Beck has firsthand experience with the “chemical drift” problem, as regulators call it. In May 2016, a duster spraying a field near Beck’s house sent an off-target blast of paraquat dichloride, a toxic pesticide, wafting over his home. The next day, he noticed that his vegetable garden and fruit trees were starting to show signs of being poisoned, which he blames on the paraquat, according to his complaint with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). His biggest worry is that three of his grandkids were playing outside when the chemical drifted through his property.
“I remember thinking, ‘Boy, that ain’t good,’ because they were all exposed to it,” Beck said. In the following days, Beck’s granddaughters complained of headaches and difficulty breathing, problems that he attributes to the pesticide exposure.
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Paraquat Garden Items Poisoning in Dogs
https://wagwalking.com/condition/paraquat-garden-items-poisoning
Symptoms of Paraquat Garden Items Poisoning in Dogs Paraquat is highly poisonous, and when consumed by dogs the symptoms can develop very rapidly. Symptoms of paraquat poisoning in dogs include: Vomiting Diarrhea Mouth ulcers Ulcers in the esophagus Drooling Excessive thirst Confusion Elevated heart rate Organ failure Seizures Types Paraquat can be found under different types of registered brand names in the United States. Although rare in the United States, substances that contain this compound must be clearly labeled. The different types of names that signify paraquat are: Gramoxone Super (Syngenta) Gramoxone Max (Syngenta) Marman USA Surefire Herbicide
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Paraquat intoxication as a cause of multiple organ failure: report of a case and review of the literature
-----------
Paraquat Contamination in Surface Waters of a Rural Stream in the Mountain Region in the State of Rio De Janeiro Southeastern Brazil
------------
Reduced translocation is involved in resistance to glyphosate and paraquat in Conyza bonariensis and Conyza canadensis from California
2016
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/wre.12230
Summary
Resistance to glyphosate and paraquat has evolved in some populations of Conyza spp. from California, USA. This study evaluated whether herbicide absorption and translocation were involved in the mechanism of resistance to both herbicides. Three lines of each species were used: glyphosate-paraquat-susceptible (GPS), glyphosate-resistant (GR) and glyphosate-paraquat-resistant (GPR). Radiolabelled herbicide was applied to a fully expanded leaf, and absorption and movement out of the treated leaf were monitored for up to 24 h for paraquat and 72 h for glyphosate. Plants treated with paraquat were incubated in darkness for the first 16 h and then subjected to light conditions. More glyphosate was absorbed in C. bonariensis (52.9–58.3%) compared with C. canadensis (28.5–37.6%), but no differences in absorption were observed among lines within a species. However, in both species, the GR and GPR lines translocated less glyphosate out of the treated leaf when compared with their respective GPS lines. Paraquat absorption was similar among lines and across species (71.3–77.6%). Only a fraction of paraquat was translocated in the GPR lines (3% or less) when compared with their respective GPS or GR lines (20% or more) in both species. Taken together, these results indicate that reduced translocation is involved in the mechanism of resistance to glyphosate and paraquat in C. bonariensis and C. canadensis.
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Monsanto's superweeds & superbugs
2011
http://www.panna.org/blog/monsantos-superweeds-superbugs
The ecological, economic and agronomic disaster accompanying herbicide-tolerant transgenic crops is by now well known: over 10 million acres of superweeds resistant to Monsanto’s weedkiller, RoundUp; farm machinery breaking on RoundUp-resistant pigweed thick as a baseball bat; Monsanto paying farmers to spray their fields with competitors’ herbicides; a new generation of transgenic crops in the pipeline engineered to withstand older even more dangerous chemicals like 2,4-D.
Last week brought more bad news for Monsanto: the same phenomenon is also occurring in insect pest populations that are developing resistance to transgenic “Bt corn” in the Midwest.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported Iowa State University’s findings that the corn rootworm is for the first time proving resistant to the insecticidal toxin, Bt, in transgenic corn in Iowa. Four days later, Business Week reported Bt corn plants in northwestern Illinois toppling over after root damage caused by the same insect, apparently as impervious as its Iowa cousins to the engineered Bt toxin. Likewise, insect resistance to transgenic Bt crops in India (where dramatic crop failures resulted) and South Africa has been reported.
This is a classic case of the pesticide treadmill. A pesticide application (whether sprayed the old-fashioned way or applied through a crop plant engineered to contain that toxin in its cells) typically kills many – but not all – of the targeted pests. Of those that survive, some will pass on their genetic traits of pesticide resistance to their offspring, gradually leading to a more and more resistant population. Farmers get trapped on this treadmill as they are forced to use more — and increasingly toxic — chemicals to control pest populations that continue to develop resistance to each new type or class of pesticides.
Ecological unravelling
The fundamental unsustainability of chemically-depedendent ag doesn’t end with the emergence of superbugs. By eliminating one pest (even if only temporarily), Bt crops increase their vulnerability to other “secondary” pests that can quickly fill the ecological niche and become serious pests in their own right. In the Makathini Flats of South Africa, farmers have resorted to using large amounts of acutely toxic organophosphates to control secondary pests that have emerged (aphids, jassids, thrips and true bugs). In China, Bt cotton has not only provided a safe haven but also become a source of mirid bugs that then infest other crops such as grapes, peaches, pears and apples.
The impending loss of Bt as an effective tool of the organic farmer adds insult to an already injurious system.
Organic farmers have used the naturally occurring form of Bt (a soil bacterium) successfully for over 40 years as part of organic pest management. Because it breaks down in sunlight, selection pressure is low and insects have been slow to evolve resistance to it. Until now. The impending loss of Bt as an effective tool of the organic farmer adds insult to an already injurious system.
It's called 'planned obsolescence'
The worst part about the latest GE fiasco is that it all could have been prevented. As early as 1993, scientists were warning about the inevitable rise of superweeds and superbugs. Ten years later, EPA sought scientific advice on how to manage the likely emergence of insect resistance to Bt crops. The Center for Food Safety’s Bill Freese describes how a majority of the scientists consulted by EPA at the time urged the EPA to require farmers to set aside a refuge of non-GE corn, comprising 50% of the total crop acreage, in order to slow the development of Bt resistance.
But that would have halved Monsanto’s seed sales! So EPA quietly sided instead with the only three dissenting voices in the group, going along with Monsanto’s recommendation for a much smaller 20% refuge.
From industry's perspective, the emergence of pesticide resistance, secondary pests and failure of first generation GE crops is actually good business; farmers will have to keep coming back for stronger poisons and more expensive products. There's an industry term for this: planned obsolescence.
Fortunately, as Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists reminds us, plenty of non-GE solutions to corn rootworm exist. These solutions lie in agroecological practices such as long crop rotations, biological control and good soil management.
It’s not too late for us to get off the pesticide/GE treadmill; but we will have to give our public agencies a big shove to get them moving in the right direction.
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Medical Definition of Superbug
2021
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=38448
Superbug: : An informal term for a bacterium that has become resistant to antibiotics that usually are used to treat it, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or any multidrug-resistant bacterium.
The following types of bacteria have all been described antibiotic-resistant threats to patients in healthcare settings or have been referred to in the media as "superbugs":
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae (extended-spectrum ß-lactamases)
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter
E.coli H30-Rx: The H30-Rx strain of antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria has become a main cause of bacterial infections in women and the elderly worldwide over the past decade.
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Pesticide degrading natural multidrug resistance bacterial flora.
2018
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29223450
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Could antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" become a bigger killer than cancer?
April 2019
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs-become-a-bigger-killer-than-cancer-60-minutes-2019-04-21/
Antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But their continued, widespread use has led to mutated bacteria that are resistant to these drugs
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WHO's First-Ever List Of The Dirty Dozen Superbugs
2017
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/02/28/517529348/whos-first-ever-list-of-the-dirty-dozen-superbugs
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A Superbug That Resisted 26 Antibiotics
2017
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/01/17/510227493/a-superbug-that-resisted-26-antibiotics
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WATCH: Bacteria Invade Antibiotics And Transform Into Superbugs
2016
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/08/492965889/watch-bacteria-invade-antibiotics-and-transform-into-superbugs
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Infections With 'Nightmare Bacteria' Are On The Rise In U.S. Hospitals
2013
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/03/05/173526084/infections-with-nightmare-bacteria-are-on-the-rise-in-u-s-hospitals
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According to my maid, people in Mexico often burn their houses down when they get those dreaded bedbugs. What's a simpler way to get rid of them?
https://www.quora.com/According-to-my-maid-people-in-Mexico-often-burn-their-houses-down-when-they-get-those-dreaded-bedbugs-Whats-a-simpler-way-to-get-rid-of-them
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Tourists and immigrants 'behind US bed bug plague'
2003
Bed bugs have invaded the United States for the first time in 50 years, munching their way through sleeping victims in an infestation described by pest controllers as being "out of control".
European travellers and Third World immigrants are being blamed for bringing the bugs back to the US, with 28 American states reporting recent infestations.
To their shame and horror, wealthy home owners and guests staying at expensive hotels have woken up covered in red, itchy welts, as well as people living in cheap motels and crowded apartment houses.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1450001/Tourists-and-immigrants-behind-US-bed-bug-plague.html
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Why bed bugs have made a horrifying comeback
2015
https://www.vox.com/2015/4/27/8502491/bed-bugs-kill-increase
BP: So what is it that makes bedbugs so tenacious and hard to kill? Is it just this pesticide resistance?
BB: I think it’s the combination of so many things. They're cryptic insects, and they hide during the day, which makes them hard to detect with the human eye.
But the resistance is definitely a problem. Bedbugs have what’s called a knockdown resistance — it’s the same genetic mutation that gives them resistance to DDT. Separately, there are enzymes called P450s that break down the insecticides more quickly, so that they’re not as toxic to insects. There’s also research that some insects may be growing thicker exoskeletons, making it tougher for insecticides to penetrate.
There are other factors, too. Some people aren’t allergic to them, so they might catch the problem only far later, when it’s become a really bad infestation. Also, bedbugs can spread very easily in cities — because to get rid of them you have to work with other people sharing living space or sharing walls. That can be incredibly difficult.
There’s also a lot of shame involved in having bedbugs. And it’s expensive to get rid of them. So people might initially try to hide the fact that they have an infestation —until it gets worse and worse, and then it’s spilling over to neighbors.
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Epidemiology of bed bugs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_bed_bugs
Bed bugs occur around the world. Rates of infestations in developed countries while decreasing from the 1930s to the 1980s have increased dramatically since the 1980s. Previous to this they were common in the developing world but rare in the developed world. The increase in the developed world may have been caused by increased international travel, resistance to insecticides, and the use of new pest-control methods that do not affect bed bugs.
The fall in bed bug populations after the 1930s in the developed world is believed to be partly due to the usage of DDT to kill cockroaches, which are a natural predator of the bed bug. The invention of the vacuum cleaner and simplification of furniture design may have also played a role. Others believe it might simply be the cyclical nature of the organism.
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Bed Bug Infestations In California Among Worst In Country: Report
2018
https://patch.com/california/lajolla/bed-bug-infestations-california-among-worst-country-report
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Section 12: Sonora & Northwest Mexico area
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Mexico's Sonora state reports new mine spill
2014
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29306026
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The Spill on the Río Sonora
2017
https://jacobinmag.com/2017/09/mexico-miners-labor-unions-climate-justice
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Toxic Spill in Sonora The tip of the iceberg
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/toxic-spill-sonora-tip-iceberg/
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Sonora Spill adds to the Social and Environmental Consequences of Free-Market Mining in Mexico
2014
http://upsidedownworld.org/archives/mexico/sonora-spill-adds-to-the-social-and-environmental-consequences-of-free-market-mining-in-mexico/
A bit of background
Unlike the petroleum sector, Mexico’s mining sector was never nationalized. However, in the aftermath of the 1910 to 1917 Revolution, and especially during the 1960s and 1970s, public policies were implemented in order to ‘Mexicanize’ the sector, so that the State could exercise greater control over the production and marketing of strategic minerals and metals, in order to feed the industrialization process. Along these lines, in 1971, the Mexican state – through the Mining Development Commission and the National Financial – acquired controlling shares of what was then called the Cananea Mining Company, with monopoly control over the largest open-pit copper mine in the country, in expansion since 1942.
To be sure, in Cananea and elsewhere, parastatal production during the 1970s and 1980s did not put an end to rent transfers to the private sector; new forms of financial, commercial and technological dependence emerged; and the absence of effective environmental regulation translated into diverse forms of environmental degradation. What’s more, during that State-led development period, smallholder farmers and indigenous communities were, as they still are today, routinely dispossessed of part of their natural resource base in order to make way for large-scale mining projects. Even though in the 1970s miners enjoyed a greater degree of union strength and higher real wages than today, the National Union for Mine, Metallurgical and Similar Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSRM) was at best a semi-autonomous labor union. It was run from the top down, with power centralized in the same union boss for forty years (Napoleón Gómez Sada), and it formed part of the corporatist and clientelistic political system of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
In the aftermath of the 1982-88 debt crisis, the Cananea Mining Company was put up for sale, as part of a broader privatization program implemented by the government under Carlos Salinas, with the backing of the IMF, the World Bank and other Washington-based organizations. The miners in Cananea protested by going on strike in 1989. But the Salinas administration responded with two lines of action: first it declared the company bankrupt; and then it sent in the armed forces to break the strike. Finally, the mine was sold to Grupo Mexico in 1990 for 475 million dollars, only half of the amount offered by Protexa two years earlier and less than a quarter of its market value, according to National Financial’s estimates. Suffice to say that Germán Larrea’s father, Jorge Larrea, was well connected to the Salinas Administration.
Indeed, the privatization of the Cananea Copper Mine (later renamed “Buenavista”) is illustrative of the way in which the country’s publicly owned mineral reserves, mining companies and smelting plants were transferred to well-connected Mexican businessmen with little transparency and at prices far below their market value. This was carried out before the sector was completely opened to foreign direct investment (FDI) in 1992. Not surprisingly, the three main beneficiaries of this privatization process are today the three richest men in Mexico: Alberto Bailleres, owner of Industrias Peñoles; Germán Larrea, owner of Grupo México; and Carlos Slim, whose vast empire includes Minera Frisco.
In spite of increasing levels of FDI in Mexico’s mining sector since the mid-1990s, especially from Canadian firms going after precious metals, these three gigantic Mexican corporations have continued to dominate national production. In 2012, Grupo Mexico accounted for two-thirds of the country’s total copper production, one-fifth of the lead and one-sixth of the zinc. It claims to have the largest copper reserves in the world, with 13 mines in operation (in Mexico, Peru and the United States) and exploration projects in six different countries. Larrea’s company also controls more than 10 thousand kilometers of railroads in Mexico, acquired in 1997 through the privatization of Ferrocarril Mexicano. Since 2011, Grupo Mexico has had an average annual net income of over 2 billion dollars, leaving little doubt as to the economic and political power conferred to its principal shareholder and CEO: Germán Larrea.
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Zinc mine production in Mexico from 2010 to 2020
Sep 30, 2021
https://www.statista.com/statistics/738508/mexico-zinc-production/
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The 10 largest zinc mines in Mexico
2020
https://www.opportimes.com/the-10-largest-zinc-mines-in-mexico/
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Mexican mining disasters - the human and environmental cost
2014
http://contributoria.com/issue/2014-11/54159c07a81b1b6628000069.html
On 6 August 2014, copper-producing company Buenavista del Cobre, a subsidiary of Mexico’s largest mining corporation Grupo Mexico, spilt 40,000 cubic metres of copper sulphate acid into public waterways near Cananea, in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The toxic leak has affected seven communities, home to more than 24,000 people.
Mexico’s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Juan José Guerra Abud called the spill “the worst environmental disaster by the mining industry in modern times”. The company reports that high concentrations of heavy metals, including iron, aluminium and zinc, were released in the copper sulphate solution. PROFEPA, Mexico’s federal environmental protection agency, estimates that environmental damage from the accident will cost more than $134m.
Risk to food chain
Alberto Rojas Rueda, head of environmental policy for Greenpeace Mexico, estimates it will take between 15 and 20 years to decontaminate the area. “This involves not only repairing the damage, but there are also a number of substances that are being left on the bottom and sides of the river, which will involve great expense to remove”, he says. Rojas Rueda warns that over time the chemicals could enter the food chain, causing toxicity to animals and people.
Grupo Mexico initially blamed the toxic spill on higher than usual rainfall, but environmental authorities firmly point to faulty company equipment. Grupo Mexico subsequently said in a statement to the Mexican Stock Exchange that “one relevant factor of the accident was a construction defect in the seal of the pipe” where the leak occurred.
PROFEPA said in an official report: “The pipe was open, without a control valve, such that the [waste water] flowed uncontrollably towards the stream.” The toxic materials travelled almost 90 kilometres downstream. “The spill of the copper sulphate solution could put the integrity of the ecosystem at risk”, the report warns. “When a spill of dangerous substances remains unattended, it can cause persistent and increasing damage to the soil, subsoil, water and other natural resources.”
The Mexican state of Sonora is home to more than a quarter of Mexico’s mining activity, and is prolific in the production of gold, copper and graphite. Grupo Mexico is the world’s fourth largest copper mining company, with the largest copper reserves worldwide.
Grupo Mexico subsidiary Buenavista del Cobre is spending $3.4bn to expand its copper mining operations in the state of Sonora. As a result, annual copper production will double by early 2016. Grupo Mexico also has mining operations in the US, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.
Record environmental liabilities in the US
In 2009, a US subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, ASARCO, paid out a record $1.79bn to settle hazardous waste claims across the US. The massive payout primarily funded environmental clean-up and restoration “from operations that contaminated land, water and wildlife resources on federal, state, tribal and private land”, reports the Environmental News Service.
“The settlement resolves claims pertaining to past and potential future [clean-up] work performed at approximately 18 ASARCO-owned sites in 11 states”, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said of the case, $70m of which went specifically to “address a wide variety of environmental contamination, from arsenic to zinc.”
The EPA reports the funds will be used for “an estimated clean-up of at least 10.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil, or enough to cover more than 1,960 football fields with three feet of dirt, and at least five million cubic yards of contaminated ground water, which is enough to fill over 1,500 Olympic size swimming pools.”
One of the largest settlement areas includes Tar Creek in Oklahoma, dubbed “one of the most polluted sites in the history of the US”. While ASARCO’s lead and zinc mine closed in 1970, the company left behind sand dune-like mounds of tailings, containing heavy metals.
Lead dust from the toxic waste has had a severe impact on the local community. In 1996, almost one-third of local children under the age of six were found to have dangerous levels of lead in their blood, which can severely affect mental and physical development. The town eventually had to be abandoned and the federal government spent $46m buying land from residents so they could move to safer areas.
As a result of its extensive environmental liabilities in the US, ASARCO filed for bankruptcy. “Under the agreements reached in the bankruptcy court, ASARCO is relieved of all the liabilities it incurred during its 100 years of operation”, say academics Lin Nelson and Anne Fischel of Evergreen State College, in Washington State, who have worked to document the stories of several communities affected by ASARCO mines. “This means that future costs to human health and the environment stemming from the impacts of ASARCO’s 100 years of operations will be borne by workers, families, communities and ultimately, by US taxpayers.”
A widespread problem in Mexico
In August 2014, shortly after Buenavista del Cobre’s major copper sulphate leak in Sonora, four other accidents associated with Mexico’s extractive industries made news across the country. In northern Mexico, 2,000 cubic metres of cyanide solution leaked at a gold mine in Durango, after heavy rain caused a tailings pond to overflow. More than 20,000 people were left without drinking water.
It is not just active mines that cause environmental damage; there are thousands of abandoned sites across Mexico, some of which still cause problems today. One of Grupo Mexico’s mines in Taxco, in the south-western state of Guerrero, was closed in 2009, but has left an ongoing legacy of toxic waste.
Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua) recently carried out a study to assess the long-term damage from the Taxco mine to soil and water. In September 2014, the agency reported that levels of arsenic and lead still exceed acceptable levels, concluding that “the pollution is caused by the tailings dams”. Land that should have been decontaminated by the company still cannot be used by local residents for other purposes, such as cultivating crops.
“Currently in Mexico there is no law or norm that requires mining companies to carry out mine closure plans in a manner that is adequate, complete and financed in its entirety”, says Miryam Saade Hazin, a consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Many communities are haunted by hazardous waste for decades to come after mines are closed.
Lack of accountability
Grupo Mexico’s track record also includes serious breaches of workplace safety. Eight years ago, a methane explosion at a coal mine belonging to Grupo Mexico subsidiary Industrial Minera México (IMM) claimed the lives of 65 miners. Operations at the mine, located in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, were suspended indefinitely following the tragedy.
The United Nations International Labour Organisation found that IMM had “clearly failed in its obligations as owner and operator of the mine, leading to this tragic loss of life”. An organisation representing families of the deceased miners released a statement in August 2014, stating that to this day there has been “no reliable investigation, nor anybody sentenced, nor reparations for the damage”.
Today, while the Mexican government recognises the enormous environmental consequences of the copper sulphate spill in Sonora, it has chosen to leave the Cananea mine open. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Guerra Abud said: “We cannot stop or slow down economic activity. We need to direct it, and we need to facilitate economic activity when it meets environmental standards.”
Instead of taking legal action against Grupo Mexico, the government has opted for a dispute resolution approach. Authorities have set obligations the company must fulfil, including providing $151m towards clean-up costs. The company could also face fines of more than $3m, a relatively small cost for a company that reported a net income of $1.7bn in 2013.
According to Rojas Rueda from Greenpeace Mexico, mine sites across the country would benefit from improved regulation and supervision. He argues that if the Mexican government wants to prevent such toxic disasters in the future, “it should strengthen environmental laws and provide [PROFEPA] with more and better inspectors to make random inspections, particularly at the [tailings] dams associated with mines”.
“As soon as you can hold members of a company the size of Grupo Mexico responsible for contamination like this, you can be sure they will stop doing those things”, Rojas Rueda says. “Today, because economic sanctions are for very small amounts, [the companies] do not care if they cause contamination.”
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Billionaire German Larrea's Grupo Mexico Failed Victims In Mining Disaster, UN Says
2017
https://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2017/07/27/un-singles-out-tycoon-german-larreas-grupo-mexico-for-unfulfilled-pledge-in-ecological-disaster/#758ecd571506
Three years after a mine belonging to Grupo México caused the worst ecological disaster in Mexican history, the mining giant owned by Mexico's second richest person, German Larrea Mota Velasco, has failed to fulfill its obligations with the victims, a new UN report said.
"Business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights independent of States’ abilities and/or willingness to fulfill their own human rights obligations," the UN said after a special Working Group visited Mexico to review how business practices affect human rights.
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2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Gold_King_Mine_waste_water_spill
The 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill was an environmental disaster that began at the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado,[2] when Environmental Protection Agency personnel, along with workers for Environmental Restoration LLC (a Missouri company under EPA contract to mitigate pollutants from the closed mine), caused the release of toxic waste water into the Animas River watershed. They caused the accident while attempting to drain ponded water near the entrance of the mine on August 5. After the spill, the Silverton Board of Trustees and the San Juan County Commission approved a joint resolution seeking Superfund money.
Contractors accidentally destroyed the plug holding water trapped inside the mine, which caused an overflow of the pond, spilling three million US gallons (eleven megalitres) of mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other toxic elements, such as arsenic,[5] beryllium,[5] zinc,[5] iron[5] and copper[5] into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River and part of the San Juan River and Colorado River watershed.[6] The EPA was criticized for not warning Colorado and New Mexico about the operation until the day after the waste water spilled, despite the fact the EPA employee "in charge of Gold King Mine knew of blowout risk."
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EPA spill: 'The magnitude of it, you can't even describe it'
2015
https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/09/us/colorado-epa-mine-river-spill/
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What Are the Environmental Impacts From Mining & Drilling?
https://sciencing.com/environmental-impacts-mining-drilling-19199.html
Acid Mine Drainage
Strip Mining and Surface Mining
Oil Spills
Secondary Impacts
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Environmental impact of mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_mining
Environmental impacts of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. Impacts can result in erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by the chemicals emitted from mining processes. These processes also have an impact on the atmosphere from the emissions of carbon which have effect on the quality of human health and biodiversity. Some mining methods may have such significant environmental and public health effects that mining companies in some countries are required to follow not so strict environmental and rehabilitation codes to ensure that the mined area returns to its original state.
Contents
1 Erosion
2 Sinkholes
3 Subsidence
4 Water pollution
4.1 Acid rock drainage
4.2 Heavy metals
5 Effect on biodiversity
6 Aquatic organisms
6.1 Microorganisms
6.2 Macroorganisms
7 Terrestrial organisms
7.1 Vegetation
7.2 Animals
7.3 Microorganisms
8 Waste
8.1 Tailings
8.2 Spoil Tip
9 Effects of mine pollution on humans
10 Coal mining
11 Deforestation
12 Oil shale
13 Mountaintop removal mining
14 Sand mining
15 Mitigation
16 Specific sites
17 Film and literature
18 See also
19 References
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Arsenic and Heavy Metal Pollution of Soil, Water and Sediments in a Semi-Arid Climate Mining Area in Mexico
2004
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226695937_Arsenic_and_Heavy_Metal_Pollution_of_Soil_Water_and_Sediments_in_a_Semi-Arid_Climate_Mining_Area_in_Mexico
Abstract
The environmental impact of arsenic and heavy metals on a 105 km2 area of the historical and recent mining site of Villa de la Paz-Matehuala, San Luis Potos (Mexico) was evaluated. Results of soil samples reported concentrations between 19–17 384 mg kg-1 As, 15–7200 mg kg-1 Cu, 31–3450 mg kg-1 Pb and 26–6270 mg kg-1 Zn, meanwhile, the concentrations in dry stream sediment samples were found to vary between 29–28 600 mg kg-1 As, 50–2160 mg kg-1 Pb, 71–2190 mg kg-1 Cu, and 98–5940 mg kg-1 Zn. The maximum arsenic concentration in pluvial water storage ponds (265 g L-1), near the main potential sources of pollution, exceed by 5 times the Mexican drinking water quality guideline (50 g L-1). The arsenic concentrations in water storage ponds and stream sediments decrease as distance from the potential sources increase. A special case is the `Cerrito Blanco'' area located 5 km east of Matehuala, where the highest arsenic concentration in water was found (>5900 g L-1), exceeding by 100 times the established guideline, thus representing a severe health risk. The results suggest that arsenic and heavy metal dispersion from their pollution sources (historical and active tailings impoundments, waste rock dumps and historical slag piles), is mainly associated in this site with: (1) fluvial transportation of mine waste through streams that cross the area in W–E direction; and (2) aeolian transportation of mineral particles in SW–NE direction. Finally, control measures for pollution routes and remediation measures of the site are proposed.
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Water Arsenic and Fluoride Contamination in Zacatecas Mexico: An Exploratory Study
https://www.academia.edu/769644/Water_Arsenic_and_Fluoride_Contamination_in_Zacatecas_Mexico_An_Exploratory_Study
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Assessment of the Exposure to Arsenic and Fluoride from Drinking Water in the City of Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico.
https://www.academia.edu/1563807/Assessment_of_the_Exposure_to_Arsenic_and_Fluoride_from_Drinking_Water_in_the_City_of_Guadalupe_Zacatecas_Mexico
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Plants and Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals in Agricultural Areas of Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico
https://www.academia.edu/1439828/Plants_and_Soil_Contamination_with_Heavy_Metals_in_Agricultural_Areas_of_Guadalupe_Zacatecas_Mexico
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MERCURY POLLUTION ASSESSMENT OF MINING WASTES AND SOILS FROM FORMER SILVER AMALGAMATION AREA IN NORTH-CENTRAL MEXICO
2017
http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rica/v33n4/0188-4999-rica-33-04-655.pdf
ABSTRACT
Mining wastes and soils from Cedral, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, were studied to assess mercury (Hg) pollution in areas of historical silver (Ag) amalgamation and in areas where amalgamation mining wastes were recently reprocessed for Hg and Ag recovery. The total, soluble and bioaccessible Hg concentrations from eight mining waste and nine soil cores were determined at varying depths, which fluctuated from the surface up to 1.0 m depth. The total Hg concentrations in the mining wastes samples ranged from 8 to 548 mg/kg. The total Hg concentrations in the soil samples were lower (1 to 116 mg/kg) than those in the mining wastes. Eighty percent of the soil samples ex-ceeded the maximum permissible limit for residential soils according to the Mexican regulations, demonstrating the impacts of the amalgamation process in Cedral. The soluble Hg concentrations were low, from 0.009 to 0.32 mg/kg in the mining wastes, and from 0.003 to 0.02 mg/kg in soils. The latter represents 0.007 % to 0.54 % and < 0.03 % of total Hg, from mining wastes and soils, respectively, indicating low aqueous Hg transport during rainfall events. The bioaccessible Hg concentrations in the mining waste samples (0.1 to 60 mg/kg) and soil samples (0.1 to 17 mg/kg), suggested that humans could be exposed to this toxic element through the accidental ingestion of min-ing wastes and soil particles. Although the total Hg concentrations in the mining wastes decreased after reprocessing, the soluble and bioaccessible Hg concentrations increased.
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Groundwater pollution by arsenic and other toxic elements in an abandoned silver mine, Mexico
2015
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-015-4315-9
Abstract
This study evaluated the impact of an abandoned Ag mine on the quality of surface and groundwater. The mining site of Huautla is in south Morelos State, central Mexico. Ag–Pb–Zn and Au–Cu sulfide ores were mined in the district. The ores were characterized by the presence of Ag, galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), and stromeyerite (CuAgS). Ag was the metal of greater interest. Other metals included Cu, Pb, Zn, and Au. Mining activities stopped in the early 1990s when the market price of Ag decreased; the abandoned mines then were flooded by rising groundwater levels. Because of the urgent demand for water by the inhabitants in the area, this water has been used as drinking water and as waterholes for livestock. Water sampling points included abandoned mines (América, Pajáro, Santiago, Tlachichilpa, and San Francisco), dams, and dug wells. The greatest concentrations of As and other toxic chemical elements (Fe, Mn, Pb, Cd, F) were detected in groundwater samples from flooded mines. The presence of these elements was related to the rock–water interaction process. The oxidation of sulfides appears to be the cause of increased metal concentrations in groundwater samples from flooded mine. Other possible water–rock interaction processes that can control the presence of arsenic in groundwater were the adsorption of arsenic in iron oxyhydroxides, the adsorption in carbonates, and/or coprecipitation with calcite. In the case of the San Francisco and América mines, the oxidation conditions, low correlation of As with SO4 2- and Fe2+, and concentrations of silica indicate that the presence of As in the groundwater could be due also to competition for adsorption sites.
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The impact of unconfined mine tailings in residential areas from a mining town in a semi-arid environment: Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico
2009
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2737070/
Abstract
Past mining activities in northern Mexico left a legacy of delerict landscapes devoid of vegetation and seasonal formation of salt efflorescence. Metal content was measured in mine tailings, efflorescent salts, soils, road dust and residential soils to investigate contamination. Climatic effects such as heavy wind and rainfall events can have great impact on the dispersion of metals in semi-arid areas, since soils are typically sparsely vegetated. Geochemical analysis of this site revealed that even though total metal content in mine tailings was relatively low (e.g. Cu = 1000 mg kg-1), metals including Mn, Ba, Zn, and Cu were all found at significantly higher levels in efflorescence salts formed by evaporation on the tailings impoundment surface following the rainy season (e.g. Cu=68000 mg kg-1). Such efflorescent fine-grained salts are susceptible to wind erosion resulting in increased metal spread to nearby residential soils. Our results highlight the importance of seasonally dependent salt-formation and wind erosion in determining risk levels associated with potential inhalation or ingestion of airborne particulates originating from contaminated sites such as tailings impoundments. In low metal-content mine tailings located in arid and semi-arid environments, efflorescence salts could represent a human health risk and a challenge for plant establishment in mine tailings.
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Effect of Mining Activities in Biotic Communities of Villa de la Paz, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
2014
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2014/165046/
Abstract
Mining is one of the most important industrial activities worldwide. During its different stages numerous impacts are generated to the environment. The activities in the region have generated a great amount of mining residues, which have caused severe pollution and health effects in both human population and biotic components. The aim of this paper was to assess the impact of mining activities on biotic communities within the district of Villa de la Paz. The results showed that the concentrations of As and Pb in soil were higher than the national regulations for urban or agricultural areas. The bioavailability of these metals was certified by the presence of them in the roots of species of plants and in kidneys and livers of wild rodents. In regard to the community analysis, the sites that were located close to the mining district of Villa de la Paz registered a lower biological diversity, in both plants and wild rodents, aside from showing a change in the species composition of plant communities. The results of this study are evidence of the impact of mining on biotic communities, and the need to take into account the wildlife in the assessment of contaminated sites.
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Mining in Mexico: the NAFTA connection
Out of a list of 926 mining projects in Mexico, there are 85 exploration projects from the U.S.A. 21 have been postponed, 23 in production, and 6 in development. In terms of Canadian projects, there are 501 exploration projects, 115 have been postponed, 58 in production, and 28 in development, according to the Mexican Bureau of Economy. In the 28 states where there are mining concessions, the rise in industry from the U.S. and Canada can be tied into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which created a free trade zone between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico starting in 1994. Those who argued for NAFTA promised it would create economic growth and prosperity across these three countries. However, at least in the case of U.S. and Mexico, there continues to be large income disparities.
http://witnessforpeace.org/mining-in-mexico-the-nafta-connection/
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U.S. Mining Sites Dump 50 Million Gallons of Toxic Wastewater Every Day
2019
https://ktla.com/2019/02/20/u-s-mining-sites-dump-50-million-gallons-of-toxic-wastewater-every-day/
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Countries like Chile still dump toxic mine waste in the sea. Can they stop?
2018
https://oceana.org/blog/countries-chile-still-dump-toxic-mine-waste-sea-can-they-stop
Of the 1,950 operating mines worldwide — they’re on every continent except Antarctica — most dispose of their tailings in big open pits behind dams. The world’s top 10 largest mining companies are headquartered in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. They all dump their tailings on land. But in a handful of countries, including Indonesia, Norway and Chile — the world’s leading producer of copper — the leftover sludge is dumped into the sea.
“If you’re going to put tailings at the bottom of the ocean, you’re going to smother the seabed,” said Lindsay Vare, a geochemist with the Scottish Association for Marine Science. Marine life dies in the places where mines dump their waste. The diversity of species changes, and declines.
Mining may be destructive, but it’s not going away. Demand for minerals has grown 20-fold in the last century, in the United States alone. American consumers gobble 3.3 billion tons of minerals every year, with global consumption showing no sign of slowing down.
While efforts have been made to reduce some impacts through legislation, Vare said that there’s more that could be done to understand the environment where the tailings are placed. Tailings have to be disposed of, one way or another. The question is defining best practices, she said.
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Pollution Caused By Building a Hybrid Car
https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/does-hybrid-car-production-waste-offset-hybrid-benefits.htm
Batteries are an essential component of hybrids. Regenerative braking lets hybrids generate and store their own energy to power the vehicle at low speeds and while idling. Unfortunately, both nickel-hydride batteries and the newer lithium-ion batteries rely on the mining of nickel, copper and so-called rare earth metals. The production of lithium-ion batteries account for 2 to 5 percent of total lifetime hybrid emissions and nickel-hydride batteries are responsible for higher sulfur oxide emissions, roughly 22 pounds (10 kilograms) per hybrid compared with 2.2 pounds (about 1 kilogram) for a conventional vehicle [sources: Samaras and Burnham et al].
There are additional environmental concerns related to those rare earth metals, like those used in the magnets of hybrid batteries. In recent years, rare earth metals like lithium have been imported almost exclusively from China, which was able to lower its prices enough to monopolize the industry [source: Strickland]. One of the reasons China could sell lithium so cheaply was because it widely ignored environmental safeguards during the mining process. In the Bayan Obo region of China, for example, miners removed topsoil and extracted the gold-flecked metals using acids that entered the groundwater, destroying nearby agricultural land. Even the normally tight-lipped Chinese government admitted that rare earth mining has been abused in some places. A regulator at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China went so far as to tell The New York Times, "This has caused great harm to the ecology and environment" [source: Bradsher].
Although hybrid vehicle production is more energy-intensive and results in higher production emissions, hybrid vehicles are still the greener choice overall. Read more about hybrid lifetime emissions on the next page.
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Nickel mining: the hidden environmental cost of electric cars
2017
Will Your Electric Car Save the World or Wreck It?
https://www.engineering.com/ElectronicsDesign/ElectronicsDesignArticles/ArticleID/17435/Will-Your-Electric-Car-Save-the-World-or-Wreck-It.aspx
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The spiralling environmental cost of our lithium battery addiction
2018
As the world scrambles to replace fossil fuels with clean energy, the environmental impact of finding all the lithium required could become a major issue in its own right
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact
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Don't be fooled by attacks on the lithium battery
2017
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/11/29/opinion/dont-be-fooled-attacks-lithium-battery
In their efforts to discredit renewable energy and support continued fossil fuel burning, many anti-environmentalists have circulated a dual image purporting to compare a lithium mine with an oilsands operation.
It illustrates the level of dishonesty to which some will stoop to keep us on our current polluting, climate-disrupting path (although in some cases it could be ignorance).
The image is a poor attempt to prove that lithium batteries and renewable energy are worse for the environment than energy from oilsands bitumen. The first problem is that the “lithium mine” is actually BHP Billiton’s Escondida copper mine in Chile (the world’s largest). The bottom image is of an Alberta oilsands operation, but it’s an in situ underground facility and doesn’t represent the enormous open-pit mining operations used to extract most bitumen.
Lithium is used in batteries for electric cars, cellphones, computers and other electric devices, as well as power-grid storage systems, because it’s light and highly conductive. Most lithium isn’t mined. More than 95 per cent comes from pumping underground brine into pans, allowing the liquid to evaporate and separating out the lithium using electrolysis.
Any real comparison between oilsands and lithium batteries shows that oilsands products, from extracting and processing to transporting and burning, are by far the most destructive. Extraction and production destroy habitat, pollute air, land and water and produce greenhouse gas emissions. Burning the fuels causes toxic pollution and wreaks havoc with Earth’s climate.
Does that mean batteries are environmentally benign? No. All energy sources and technologies have some environmental impact — one reason energy conservation is crucial. A 2010 study comparing the environmental impacts of electric cars to internal combustion vehicles found the latter are far more damaging, taking into account global warming potential, cumulative energy demand and resource depletion. Battery components, including lithium, can also be recycled, and used electric car batteries can be repurposed to store energy for homes, buildings and power grids.
Lithium wasn’t found to be a major environmental factor for electric car batteries, but copper, aluminum, cobalt and nickel used in the batteries have high impacts. Materials used to make other car components, for electric and internal combustion vehicles, also come with environmental impacts.
The energy sources used to charge car batteries also determine the degree of environmental impact. If coal is the main source, negative effects are much higher than if the power comes from hydroelectric or renewables such as wind and solar. But the impacts are still lower than fuelling cars with gas.
One study found using lithium for a rapidly expanding electric vehicle market, as well as numerous other products and devices, could cause supplies to become scarce. As with fossil fuels, this means more destructive methods, such as mining, would be required. But these arguments are more against private automobiles than batteries.
Time to up the standards in mining
Electric vehicles are part of the short-term solution, but reducing environmental damage from transportation, including climate disruption, will require shifting as much as possible to better alternatives such as public transit, cycling and walking.
We still need batteries, though. Storage systems are essential to making the best of renewable energy. They make power available when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Finding ways to make them — and other renewable energy components such as solar panels and wind turbines — with minimal environmental impact is a challenge.
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Batteries can be part of the fight against climate change - if we do these five things
2017
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/battery-batteries-electric-cars-carbon-sustainable-power-energy/
Pollution beyond carbon emissions
Battery production causes more environmental damage than carbon emissions alone. Consider dust, fumes, wastewater and other environmental impacts from cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; water shortages and toxic spills from lithium mining in Latin America, which can alter ecosystems and hurt local communities; a heavily polluted river due to nickel mining in Russia; or air pollution in northeastern China, as mentioned above.
Reusing batteries across industries
Recycling batteries
Balancing the environment with other challenges
Further relevant issues must be taken into account. These include:
- Social challenges and human rights abuses, such as hazardous working conditions in poverty, exposure to pollution and other issues
- Securing access to key raw materials. More than 60% of cobalt, for example, is sourced from one country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is leading regulators to establish lists of critical raw materials
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Asteroid mining might actually be better for the environment
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Mercury Mining in Mexico: I. Community Engagement to Improve Health Outcomes from Artisanal Mining
2016
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214999616000151
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Mexico: Mining impacts on communities’ right to health in Puebla
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/mexico-mining-impacts-on-communities%E2%80%99-right-to-health-in-puebla
In 2014, Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER), Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario (IMDEC) and Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural (CESDER) began a joint ex-ante human rights impact assessment to evaluate the potential negative impacts of open pit mining project Project Ixtaca on flora and fauna, natural ecosystems, environment health, and the human rights of four communities in the town of Puebla: Ixtacamaxtitlán, Tetela de Ocampo, Zautla, and Aquixtla. The assessment was designed to gather information on and assess four core human rights principles: the right to health, the right to a healthy environment, the right to water, and the right to clean air. The assessment was composed of a qualitative evaluation of the land, landscape, atmosphere, flora, fauna, and ecological balance.
The assessment was conducted over a 20 month period. Findings include negative impacts on the health of the four communities (including noise and air pollution, cardio-respiratory ailments and diseases, water contamination, and overexposure to heavy metals known to organ failure) and their shared environment (including water contamination, soil toxicity, and mercury pollution. Collaborators note that 70% of respondents interviewed during the investigation believe that the project would have negative impacts on their health, while 20% of respondents say the project has already affected their health and families, both physically and emotionally.
The inhabitants of Ixtacamaxtitlán met on 17 April 2016 to share and assess findings as the final step to produce the report. The next step will be to share it with interested parties (the company, governmental institutions, affected communities) for their analysis and comments.
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Pollution turned this Mexican river into a toxic hell
2016
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/8x3pyz/pollution-turned-this-mexican-river-into-a-toxic-hell
A 2015 report by the National Water Commission found that the Río Santiago, which winds 349 miles across western Mexico and through El Salto, is the country's most heavily polluted river.
A 2011 study by Jalisco's State Water Commission and the Mexican Institute of Water Technology detected 1,090 different pollutants in the river. They included arsenic, mercury, chromium, and hormone disruptors that can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders.
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Section 13: GMOs
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Red alert! GMO avalanche in Mexico
2012
https://www.grain.org/e/4621-red-alert-gmo-avalanche-in-mexico
Here comes the avalanche
It is possible that before Felipe Calderón’s term in office is out, or as one of the very first acts of incoming president Enrique Peña Nieto, commercial planting of GE maize will be allowed on over 2 million hectares in Mexico, beginning in the states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. The ETC Group sounds the alarm in a recent report:
The first applications by transnational corporations Monsanto and Pioneer (a DuPont company) to plant GE maize on a commercial scale in Mexico have now been filed. The transnationals want to plant 1.4 million hectares in Sinaloa and over 1 million hectares in Tamaulipas. This is a larger area than the entire state of Mexico. It is 17 times larger than Mexico City, and larger than the areas of Mexico City, Morelos, Tlaxcala, Colima, and Aguascalientes combined. It is also larger than dozens of countries, among them El Salvador, Kuwait, and Luxembourg.
On over half of this land they intend to use the same type of GE maize (carrying the Mon603 gene) which the Seralini study, published in France in October 2012, linked to cancer in rats.1
If approved, this irrigated maize will be planted in the coming months and will spread throughout Mexico by the middle of next year. The resulting harvest, traveling via conventional distribution channels, will flood into Mexico City, Tijuana, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and other smaller cities, jeopardising the health of people who eat it in the form of tortillas, atole (a traditional maize drink), tamales, or pozol (fermented maize dough or the drink made from it), or in disguised form as a sweetener, emulsifier, stabiliser, or excipient used in processed foods.2 The Centre for Studies for Change in Rural Mexico (Ceccam), in a pamphlet it has produced to further resistance to this act of aggression, emphasises the same point:
Grain conglomerates like Cargill and processors like Maseca, Minsa, and ADM buy maize from farmers. Cargill sells grain maize to urban mills for production of the masa (hominy flour)3 that supplies the tortilla plants. Maseca and Minsa produce maize flour and sell it to the tortilla factories; some of these factors mix the flour with masa, while others (e.g., the ones supplying Wal-Mart) use flour only. Maseca and Minsa also make tortillas and sell maize flour retail. ADM distributes grain maize for the partly state-owned Diconsa chain. All these types of flour and masa will be made from or contaminated with GE maize, since it is impossible to keep it separate from non-GE maize.
To make matters worse, the Mexican government has continually opposed the labeling of genetically modified products. The upshot is that all of us will soon be eating genetically modified maize without knowing it.
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Monsanto says Mexico revokes permit to market GMO soy in seven states
2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-mexico/monsanto-says-mexico-revokes-permit-to-market-gmo-soy-in-seven-states-idUSKBN1DO0BC
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The Crowd vs. GM Corn in Mexico
2019
https://www.thecrowdversus.org/2019/01/20/gmocornmexico/
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Mayan beekeepers against Monsanto transgenic soya, Campeche, Mexico
2021
https://ejatlas.org/conflict/mayan-beekeepers-against-monsanto-transgenic-soya-campeche-mexico
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“Slimlandia”: Mexico in the Grip of Oligarchs
2014
https://wolfstreet.com/2014/09/25/slimlandia-the-land-of-mexican-oligarchs/
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MONSANTO UNIT SOLD TO BHP PETROLEUM
1985
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/27/business/monsanto-unit-sold-to-bhp-petroleum.html
The Monsanto Company and the Broken Hill Proprietary Company of Melbourne, Australia, announced today that they had signed a definitive agreement in which BHP Petroleum (Americas) Inc., a Broken Hill subsidiary, would acquire Monsanto's oil and gas interests for $745 million.
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Meet the New Monsanto: Dow Chemical... and Their New ‘Agent Orange’ Crops
2014
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dow-chemical-agent-orange-crops_b_4810311?utm_hp_ref=food&ir=Food&ec_carp=4747285708338909875
If you’re like me, then you are probably overwhelmed with emails and articles opining on the evils of Monsanto — and for good reason. Monsanto is a chemical company that began genetically engineering seeds in order to sell more chemicals. The company’s business model is based on privatizing life, privatizing our genetic heritage (seeds), and poisoning the Earth. But did you know that Monsanto is just one of the major chemical players that have taken over our agriculture? Others include Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, and BASF. Monsanto is corporate villain number one, providing PR cover for these other companies that do the same thing with far less public attention. That is about to change. There is one company that may even be worse than Monsanto. And unless we act soon, that company is going to start contaminating our farms and our food in ways we have never seen before. Meet the Dow Chemical company.
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DuPont, Dow Chemical Agree to Merge, Then Break Up Into Three Companies
2015
Deal forms more than $120 billion chemical, agricultural giant amid weakening commodity prices
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dupont-dow-chemical-agree-to-merge-1449834739
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DuPont and Monsanto Reach Technology Licensing Agreement for Intacta RR2 PRO Technology in Brazil
https://monsanto.com/news-releases/dupont-and-monsanto-reach-technology-licensing-agreement-for-intacta-rr2-pro-technology-in-brazil/
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Agriculture giants Bayer, Monsanto merging could ruin American farmers
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10 Ag Mergers and Acquisitions From 2017
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/10-mergers-and-acquisitions-for-2017
In a down agricultural economy, firms look to mergers and acquisitions to gain efficiencies.
Dow and DuPont
Bayer and Monsanto
ChemChina and Syngenta
AGCO and Precision Planting
DuPont and Granular
Sumitomo Chemical and Botanical Resources Australia
Linamar and MacDon
Potash Corporation and Agrium
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Did Dow Chemical Fake Safety Studies on Brain-Damaging Chlorpyrifos?
2018
https://www.organicconsumers.org/blog/did-dow-chemical-fake-safety-studies-brain-damaging-chlorpyrifos
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Critics decry tax breaks as Monsanto plans Marana greenhouse
2017
https://tucson.com/news/local/critics-decry-tax-breaks-as-monsanto-plans-marana-greenhouse/article_fc68f09d-51cc-5b2d-999c-620da6c0912d.html
A typical zoning hearing for a 7-acre subdivision doesn’t draw more than a handful of protesters — mainly people who live close by.
But on Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors expects to hear hours of objections to a 7-acre greenhouse that global biotech giant Monsanto Co. wants to put in rural Avra Valley, northwest of Tucson. Critics are upset not just about Monsanto’s plans to operate here, but also about County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s support of incentives that would reduce the company’s property taxes by two-thirds.
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Monsanto’s Chemical War in Colombia
2015
https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/29/monsantos-chemical-war-in-colombia/
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Monsanto Refuses to Testify at Seed Hearing in Puerto Rico
2013
https://corpwatch.org/article/monsanto-refuses-testify-seed-hearing-puerto-rico
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Peru: a 10-year ban on GMOs
2013
https://lab.org.uk/peru-a-10-year-ban-on-gmos/
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Cargill’s well-connected fertilizer unit wows Wall Street, dumps on Florida
2008
https://grist.org/article/miracle-grow/
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Why Monsanto in Armenia Should Raise Red Flags for Its Farmers
2017
http://asbarez.com/168485/why-monsanto-in-armenia-should-raise-red-flags-for-its-farmers/
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14 Facts the Organic Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know
2015
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/03/14-facts-the-organic-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-know/
(13) Organic foods may be “watered down.”
Say we’re dealing with an almond grower, and they grow both organic and conventional almonds. The grower ships the harvested almonds to the processing plant, where the nuts are hulled, shelled and pasteurized.
Conventional almonds may be mixed with organic almonds – intentionally or unintentionally – in order to produce a higher yield of “organic” almonds. While this is against NOP rules, it happens nonetheless.
The NOP receives about 200 complaints of fraud each year. Harold Chase and his selling of conventional corn as organic corn being one of the recent ones happening in the U.S. You can view a list of other cases investigated and closed by the NOP HERE
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In East Texas, Chicken Plants are Polluting Rivers and Lakes with Oxygen-Sucking Contaminants
2018
A report released by the Environmental Integrity Project identified Pilgrim’s Pride and Tyson as major dischargers of wastewater containing high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus.
https://www.texasobserver.org/in-east-texas-chicken-plants-are-polluting-rivers-and-lakes-with-oxygen-sucking-contaminants/
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Section 14: Ozone
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High ozone levels worsen Mexico City contamination, trigger another alert
May 15, 2019
Emergency restrictions imposed on drivers
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/high-ozone-levels-worsen-mexico-city-contamination/
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Ozone, suspended particulates, and daily mortality in Mexico City
1997
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9012599/
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Mexico's Strategy On Ozone Layer Protection A Case Study On The Cost Of Implementing The Montreal Protocol
1990
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/20014F5N.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1986+Thru+1990&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5Czyfiles%5CIndex%20Data%5C86thru90%5CTxt%5C00000015%5C20014F5N.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x&ZyPURL
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Reagan seeks to protect fragile ozone layer, Dec. 21, 1987
2018
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/21/reagan-seeks-to-protect-ozone-layer-1987-1067252
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Five Reasons You Should Care About the New Ozone Hole Over the Arctic
Some answers from an atmospheric scientist
2011
https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-10/so-now-there%E2%80%99s-ozone-hole-over-arctic-what-does-mean
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NASA amazing time-lapse video shows Ozone hole over Antarctica is shrinking; Here’s why
2018
https://tecake.in/stunning-nasa-video-shows-ozone-layer-healing-due-human-efforts
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The Hole in the Antarctic Ozone Layer Is Starting to Heal
2016
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2016/06/30/the-hole-in-the-ozone-is-starting-to-heal/#.XL_i_qR7ldg
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The ozone layer is still getting thinner, new study finds
2018
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/the-ozone-layer-is-still-getting-thinner-new-study-finds/
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NASA Ozone Watch
https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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The Ozone Problem
2022
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/oz_prob.html
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Apocalyptic Facts About How Mining Affects the Environment
https://helpsavenature.com/how-does-mining-affect-environment
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Causes and Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion That are Painfully True
https://helpsavenature.com/ozone-layer-depletion-effects-causes
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Healing the Ozone – Saving Our Rainforests
https://rainforestfoundation.org/healing-the-ozone-saving-our-rainforests/
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The Ozone Layer
https://www.epa.ie/enforcement/chemicals/ozone/
Ozone Depleting Substances
There is a list of more than 20 substances that are controlled by the European law on ozone depleting substances and there are bans and restrictions on their production, import, export, placing on the market, use, recovery, recycling, reclamation and destruction. These substances are grouped and their common historical uses are presented for information:
CFC and HCFCs - mostly used in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems. Only HCFCs can continue to be used for a limited period of time.
Halons - used historically as fire suppression agents and fire fighting, but now only allowed in very limited situations
Carbon tetrachloride (Tetrachloromethane) - limited solvent use in laboratories and chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
1,1,1,-trichloroethane - limited solvent use in laboratories and chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
Methyl bromide - historically used in fumigation, soil treatment, pest control, quarantine, market gardening. Methyl bromide is no longer registered for use in Ireland.
Hydrobromofluorocarbons - historically used in fire suppression systems and fire fighting.
Bromochloromethane - historically used in the manufacture of biocides.
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Climate Scientists Record Extremely High Methane Emissions Across the Gulf states of Mexico
January 25, 2021
Onshore oil & gas facilities emit 10 times more methane than Mexico’s government reports; Emissions from burning natural gas represent $200M revenue loss
https://www.edf.org/media/climate-scientists-record-extremely-high-methane-emissions-across-gulf-states-mexico
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Mexico’s Pemex to Invest $2B to Reduce Methane Pollution Amid Growing Concern Over Emissions
June 24, 2022
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/mexicos-pemex-to-invest-2b-to-reduce-methane-pollution-amid-growing-concern-over-emissions/
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Mexico is Stepping Up to Lead the Fight Against Methane Pollution
July 30, 2018
https://www.catf.us/2018/07/mexico-lead-fight-against-methane-pollution/
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Methane's Impacts on Climate Change May Be Twice Previous Estimates
07.18.05
https://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/methane.html
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Are Hurricanes Getting Stronger? We Asked a NASA Scientist
Nov 8, 2022
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/are-hurricanes-getting-stronger-we-asked-a-nasa-scientist
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The most powerful hurricane on record blew up out of nowhere — and it’s headed for Mexico
October 23, 2015
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/216836-the-most-powerful-hurricane-on-record-blew-up-out-of-nowhere-and-its-headed-for-mexico
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Section 15: Sewage & Illegal dumping
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Floods and Water Shortages Swamp Mexico City
2018
https://www.circleofblue.org/2018/latin-america/floods-water-shortages-swamp-mexico-city/
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Mexico Sewage Dumping: Pollution affecting health of rural communities
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAR11obvJJw
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‘It was intentional’ US claims Mexico dumped ’TSUNAMI OF SEWAGE’ into Pacific Ocean (2017)
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/776796/us-mexico-tijuana-river-sewage-pollution
THE United States has accused Mexico of unleashing a “tsunami of sewage” in a row over polluted seawater.
An investigation has been launched after a massive sewage spill from Mexico's Tijuana River polluted miles of coastland in Southern California and Northern Mexico.
US officials have branded the incident “deliberate” with Mexican authorities blaming heavy rain after 143 million gallons of sewage were dumped into the Pacific Ocean.
The pollution closed beaches and kept surfers and swimmers out of the ocean, infuriating residents of the cross-border region.
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Massive sewage spill shuts down California beaches as a 143MILLION-gallon 'tsunami' of raw waste leaks across border - after Mexico 'dumped it on purpose'
2017
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4280606/Cause-Mexican-sewage-spill-fouling-U-S-beaches-investigation.html
U.S. officials believe a sewage spill from Mexico's Tijuana River was deliberate
It caused 143 million gallons of raw sewage to pollute Californian coastline
Sewage ran for 18 days and only stopped last week on February 23
Spill is believed to have occurred during repairs to Tijuana's sewage system
Mexican authorities believe it was an accident caused by heavy rain
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Mexican sewage becomes 'chemical' attack on U.S. Border Patrol agents
2017
Ongoing spill creates 'no-go' areas for agents
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/29/border-patrol-agents-infected-navy-seals-change-tr/
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{This was clearly a deliberate attack from Mexico, we need to shut down the
government of Mexico at all costs}.
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Mexican Sewage in American Waters: Who Is Responsible for Fixing the Sewage Crisis?
2018
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Communities in US and Mexico at Risk From Sewage, Pollution and Disease
2018
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Ongoing spill in Mexico flooding Tijuana River with millions of gallons of raw sewage
2018
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-tijuana-sewage-spill-20181211-story.html
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Spill in Mexico sending millions of gallons of sewage into coastal waters off California
2018
----------
Boot-Melting Mexican Sewage Has San Diego Seeking Help
2019
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/boot-melting-mexican-sewage-has-san-diego-seeking-help
----------
Cause of Mexican sewage spill fouling U.S. beaches under investigation
2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-sewage-idUSKBN16B02R
-----------
San Diego-area governments sue to stop Mexican sewage flow
2018
https://www.apnews.com/2ef68d8f86f241ffabe7737040a3538c
------------
Federal funding secured to address sewage issues at US-Mexico border
2019
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/federal-funding-secured-to-address-sewage-issues-at-us-mexico-border
-----------
Supervisors Declare Public Health Crisis In Tijuana River Valley
Feb 10, 2021
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to declare pollution at the Tijuana River Valley a public health crisis.
https://patch.com/california/imperialbeach/supervisors-declare-public-health-crisis-tijuana-river-valley
-----------
Compromised pipe suspected to be cause of Tijuana River sewage contamination
February 14, 2022
https://www.kusi.com/compromised-pipe-suspected-to-be-cause-of-tijuana-river-sewage-contamination/
-----------
Broken line blamed for millions of gallons of raw sewage that flowed into U.S. from Mexico
Jan 28, 2022
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Earlier this month, and seemingly overnight, the stench of raw sewage permeated the air along the border between San Diego and Tijuana.
It went on for days.
It was the result of yet another massive spill that sent millions and millions of gallons of untreated raw sewage from Mexico into the Tijuana River Valley just inside U.S. territory.
https://www.wowktv.com/news/broken-line-blamed-for-millions-of-gallons-of-raw-sewage-that-flowed-into-u-s-from-mexico/
-----------
Rains turn Tijuana River Valley into ‘swamp of sewage.’ But wetlands may need those flows.
2022
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/story/2022-03-04/tijuana-river-valley-swamp-of-sewage
-----------
Why rains result in U.S. pollution from Tijuana River
2015
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/sep/18/stringers-polluted-mexican-waters-cila-pump-statio/#
-----------
'Poisoned City' series investigates how pollution harms border communities
2018
https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2018/12/04/poisoned-city-deadly-border-seeks-understand-how-pollution-affects-border-communities
-----------
This Cross-Border Town Has Faced Toxic Pollution for Years. Now Its Residents Are Fighting Back.
2018
“Don’t you know you’re surfing the most polluted beach in America?”
------------
Tourists avoid Acapulco beach contaminated with sewage
2018
But hotel occupancy rates are strong and expected to go higher this weekend
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/tourists-avoid-beach-contaminated-with-sewage/
-------------
Tourists, sewerage slowly killing Cancun's coral
2008
Dainty blue fish dart around coral shaped like moose antlers near the Mexican resort of Cancun, but sickly brown spots are appearing where pollution threatens one of the world's largest reefs.
Parts of the reef nestled in turquoise waters have died and algae, which feed on sewage residues flowing out of the fast-growing resort city, has taken over.
Coral reefs like Chitales, near the northern tip of a Caribbean reef chain stretching from Mexico to Honduras, are dying as people and cities put more stress on the environment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-09-30/tourists-sewerage-slowly-killing-cancuns-coral/526190
--------------
Occurrence of tumors among gastropods Plicopurpura pansa (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) in the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico.
2018
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29948680
------------------
Effects of terrestrial runoff on the coral communities in Santiago Bay, Colima, Mexican Pacific Coast
2016
http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442016000301185
---------------
Marine Pollution: How the Ocean Became a Toxic Waste Dump
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/03/marine-pollution-how-ocean-became-toxic-waste-dump/
Q: What are the sources of water pollution?
A: There are many, especially toxins that come from industrial and municipal wastewaters, runoff from farms and urban areas, and the erosion of soils. These toxins can include naturally-occurring chemicals that are present in higher concentrations because of human activities as well as new, man-made compounds such as DDT.
Other pollutants include biostimulants from sewage and industrial wastes; oil from runoffs, accidental spills, and oil and gas production; sediments from erosion caused by farming, forestry, mining, and development; plastics and other debris from ships, fishing nets, and containers; thermal pollution from the cooling water that comes from power and industrial plants; human pathogens from sewage, urban runoff, and livestock; and finally, alien species that are introduced into a habitat by ships.
------------
Tonnes of plastic waste cover river in southern Mexico
2017
https://www.newsflare.com/video/192955/weather-nature/tonnes-of-plastic-waste-cover-river-in-southern-mexico
----------------
River littered with waste, plastic and rubbish
Canyon de Sumidero in Chiapas, Mexico - October 2017
The river is full of plastic bottles and waste
https://www.newsflare.com/video/192950/weather-nature/river-littered-with-waste-plastic-and-rubbish
---------------
How this family survives on a plastic trash dump hidden below a volcano in Guatemala.
Apr 28, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQOJK947E_g
---------------
Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been Dumping Site
2010
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/30gulf.html?mtrref=undefined
-------------
Gulf of Mexico loaded with one of world's highest concentrations of plastic; here's why
2017
https://www.nola.com/environment/2017/08/gulf_of_mexico_plastics_concentration.html
The Gulf of Mexico is famous for its bountiful catches: blue crab, shrimp, redfish. Add one more: plastic.
The first survey of the amount and types of plastic in the gulf has found concentrations approaching the highest reported in world. It puts the waters off Louisiana on par with the Mediterranean and Black seas and the mouth of China's heavily-polluted Yangtze River.
"It was a surprise," Mark Benfield, an LSU oceanographer who led the survey, said Tuesday (Aug. 15). "I didn't expect that the gulf would have as much plastic as it did."
Each net or bottle dipped into the gulf by the survey team came up laden with plastic. "We found it every time," Benfield said.
There were disposable drink bottles and other floating garbage. But it was the smaller stuff, including fragments of larger plastic items, that made up almost all of the catch.
Some of these "microplastics" are produced when larger items break down. Other bits are small by design. Tiny plastic balls known as "microbeads" were common in body washes, toothpastes and other products until the United States banned their use in cosmetics two years ago. But there are still plenty swirling around the gulf.
Much of the plastic will remain there for decades. "Plastic has a very long life," Benfield said. "It breaks down, but the particles persist."
In even higher concentrations than microbeads were plastic fibers common in polyester and other synthetic clothing. It's likely that the fibers were pulled from clothes in washing machines then flushed through wastewater systems, eventually ending up in the gulf.
"We had huge numbers of fibers," Benfield said. "They were definitely the most abundant plastic."
The LSU survey team began collecting samples from four locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2015. Members snagged plastic in drag nets and took water samples from as deep as 50 feet.
The survey's results were published this month in the journal Environmental Pollution. "Compared to other places in the U.S., our numbers are as high or higher than anywhere else," Benfield said.
Human beings have produced about 8 billion metric tons of plastic since industrial production of the material began about 70 years ago, according to a recent study. Much of it is considered waste, with about 80 percent either in landfills or the natural environment.
Perhaps as much as 90 percent of the floating debris in the world's oceans is plastic, Benfield said. Plastic tends to concentrate in seas surrounded by land, which limits the circulation of water and floating plastics. That might partly explain why the semi-enclosed Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico have such high concentrations.
The other part of the explanation is inputs. While some plastic comes from fishing and shipping, the vast majority comes from land sources through wastewater, runoff and rivers. One particular river, the Mississippi, might be to blame for much of the gulf's plastic problem. The river acts as a giant collector of plastic and other waste that eventually flushes into the gulf.
"The Mississippi drains a huge part of the country," Benfield said. "That includes a lot of cities, towns, streets and streams - and a lot of plastic."
2017 Gulf dead zone is largest ever, size of New Jersey, researchers say
Low-oxygen area 4 1/2 times larger than federal-state goal for reducing dead zone size
A similar phenomenon contributes to the gulf's low-oxygen dead zone. The Mississippi channels tons of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from farms, factory livestock, sewer systems and septic tanks from across the Midwest.
In the gulf, this nutrient-rich pollution causes algae blooms that rob the water of oxygen, causing some animals to die and others, such as shrimp, to flee the dead zone. This year, the dead zone reached it's largest recorded size - 8,776 square miles, about as large as New Jersey.
--------------
HYDROCARBONS IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO
https://www.harteresearchinstitute.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/21.pdf
Pollution by petroleum is one of the most attractive topics to the media, as a result of the catchy images of tankers spilling oil and birds and other wildlife covered with tar. There is an ongoing debate in the press of the southern Gulf of Mexico, unfortunately without scientific foundation, about the role of the oil industry in the decrease of fisheries, which is catastrophic in the case of some species. Unfortunately, the media’s interest has not been followed by an increase in the investigation on the effects of hydrocarbons on the Mexican coast. According to a review of the database of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) from 1977 to 2002, only 12 papers about oil pollution in the Gulf of Mexico were published by Mexican researchers in international journals (Fig. 21.1), resulting in an average of 0.5 articles published annually. Sixty-eight papers on the subject were published by U.S. authors during the same time period. This is a very small number of studies which does not provide the well founded information that is necessary to assess the consequences of contamination and thus allow pertinent management actions to ensure the sustainable development of natural resources. This low number of publications also gives an indication of the small number of pollution research laboratories on the Atlantic Coast of Mexico, and also of the research funding policies that do not prioritize this kind of study. It also reflects the fact that there is a large amount of information in the so called “grey literature”, such as thesis and technical reports, which are not available to the public and, therefore, cannot be analyzed.
-------------
3.5 million Americans get sick each year after swimming, boating, fishing, or otherwise touching water they thought was safe.
https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/clean-water/sewage-pollution/
------------------------
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Section 16: Deforestation
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
------------------------
Mexico’s ancient forests are being lost to deforestation and man-made fires
2018
Ancient forests in the heart of Mexico are being lost to illegal logging and manmade fires, destroying trees that are hundreds of years old and a rich habitat home to Mexican wildlife.
https://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2018/07/mexicos-ancient-forests/
-----------------------------
Trends of tropical deforestation in Southeast Mexico
2010
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9493.2010.00396.x
Abstract
We assessed deforestation in Southeast Mexico (a surface area of 29 000 km2 in seven states) through the comparison of land use/land cover maps at a scale of 1:250 000. This facilitated mapping of the land use/land cover change (LULCC) processes and calculation of the rates of change and the change matrix for the period 1978–2000. An original method was used to assess the accuracy of the LULCC map. The verification sites were selected through a stratified random sampling and were corroborated with aerial photographs for 1978 and 2000. Error matrices were elaborated using both hard and fuzzy set approaches in order to take into account the errors related to generalization of the map in fragmented landscapes. The results showed an average annual deforestation rate of 1.1 per cent which represents an average annual loss of 190 000 ha of forest, or an estimated total reduction of 4.2 million ha over 22 years. Furthermore, deforestation processes are concentrated in some areas such as Yucatan and Chiapas states, which registered major forest conversions to grassland and slash-burning. The overall accuracy of the LULCC map, assessed with hard and fuzzy set approaches, was 72 per cent and 88 per cent respectively.
----------------------------------
Poverty, Policies, and Deforestation: The Case of Mexico
1999
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/452403
---------------------------------
Mexico's 'devastating' forest loss
2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1854188.stm
---------------------------------
Women In Mexico Are Marrying Trees — And It’s Actually Brilliant
---------------------------------
Changes in the deforestation dynamics of a river sub-basin of Mexico: non-recovery of primary habitats following cessation of deforestation
2015
https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-34022015000200011
ABSTRACT
In the Neotropical area of the Río Apatlaco sub-basin (central Mexico), high deforestation can be attributed to urban development, as this area concentrates the highest human population density in Morelos state. The objective of this study was to analyze changes in land use and vegetation in this sub-basin from 2002 to 2012 using geographic information systems. The results show that, over the period of analysis, the main changes occurred in the grassland and coniferous forest. However, in the tropical dry forest (TDF) the annual rate of deforestation (0.13%) was much lower than previously estimated (1.4%), but no recovery took place. It is possible that deforestation of the TDF was halted because the remaining areas with forest remnants were unsuitable for agricultural activities and/or abandonment of such activities has taken place. It is therefore a priority to protect these areas of secondary vegetation that serve as a buffer for conserved areas, allowing their recovery and contributing to their interconnectivity.
---------------------------------
In Mexico, high avocado prices fueling deforestation
2016
https://apnews.com/9176bc7479e048508203f10a68da6fa7
-----------------------------
Deforestation for avocados in Mexico is much higher than expected, authorities warn
2016
-----------------------------
China's taste for avocado linked to drought in Latin America
2018
---------------------------
Taking the Deforestation Out of Avocados
http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/taking-the-deforestation-out-of-avocados/
---------------------------
Like Avocados? Thank This Giant Extinct Sloth
They ate avocados, pit and all.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/avocado-giant-sloth-seed
Giant sloths, along with megafauna like gomphotheres and glyptodons, feasted on whole avocados and spread their seeds over South America. These enormous creatures’ digestive systems could process large seeds, and avocados benefited. When pooped out, far from their parent trees, the seeds could sprout and grow without competition for water and sunlight. It was a good deal all around, and it likely resulted in avocados as we know them: fatty and large-pitted, all the better to attract huge sloths.
---------------------------
How Hungry Humans Saved the Avocado
You may be able to convince the occasional seed to sprout (balanced on toothpicks, in a jar, on a sunny windowsill), but you’re not—believe me—going to get the wherewithal to make your own guacamole. Avocados know a waste of time when they see it. Besides, they’ve got enough trouble without taking on an uncongenial climate. Avocados have outpaced their evolutionary niche, which leaves them with a tough row to hoe.
Avocados originated in Mexico, where they were being cultivated as early as 5,000 BCE. The Spanish conquistadors were impressed with them, and Spanish historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, in his 1526 General History of the Indies—the book that introduced Europeans to the pineapple, the hammock, tobacco, and barbecue—described the avocado as having a seed like a peeled chestnut surrounded by a paste “similar to butter and of very good taste.” He didn’t call it an avocado, which word hadn’t been invented yet.
The Aztec name for avocado was ahuacatl—meaning testicle—which is pretty much what an avocado looks like. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Spanish interpreted ahuacatl as avogato—which, apparently to a lot of people, sounded like the common Spanish word for lawyer (advocate). Thus the racy Aztec testicle tree ended up with such lawyerly European monikers as avocat (French), abacate (Portuguese), and advocaatpeer (Dutch). In England, somebody thought avogato sounded a bit like alligator, which led to the nickname “alligator pear”—though some sources claim this is due to the pebbly greenish avocado rind, which looks like alligator hide.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2015/01/05/avocado-guacamole/
-------------------------
Avocados and Pets
Is This Fruit Toxic to Dogs, Cats and Birds?
https://phz8.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-health/pet-toxins/avocados-and-pets
-------------------------
Vanilla, another endangered species and the target of thieves
2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/vanilla-another-endangered-species/
Many growers have given up on the crop since its high price made it attractive to steal
-------------------------
The geography of cacao production in Mexico
2012
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=5900
The cacao bean, the basis of cocoa and chocolate, is one of Mexico’s many culinary gifts to the world. Cacao beans come from the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao).
The main area for cacao cultivation is the Gulf coast state of Tabasco,
known for its cacao for over three thousand years, since Olmec times.
Cacao became especially prominent in later centuries among the Maya in
south-eastern Mexico and the Aztecs in central Mexico, playing a key
role in indigenous culture and economy. Among Mexico’s indigenous peoples,
cacao beans were ground by hand and then mixed with water, ground
corn and chile pepper, often flavored with vanilla or some other tropical
plant. This drink was known as chocolate.
----------------------------
Chocolate production linked to increased deforestation in poor nations
2017
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171017163622.htm
----------------------------
Chocolate: Child Slavery and Rainforest Destruction
2012
https://freegan.info/facts-and-statistics/chocolate-child-slavery-and-rainforest-destruction/
NEW YORK – A human rights group has launched a campaign against child labour in the cocoa industry.
Global Exchange announced its “Fair Trade Cocoa” campaign on Valentine’s Day. The group wants to publicize the plight of children being used in the coffee and cocoa industries of West Africa.
The Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo produce most of the world’s cocoa. Farmers there also use child labour to produce that cocoa.
Global Exchange is trying to get consumers to write to chocolate producers such as Hershey’s, Nestle and Mars to change their purchasing habits. It wants the companies to commit to “purchasing at least five per cent of their cocoa as Fair Trade Certified.”
The U.S. State Department estimates 15,000 children, aged nine to 12, are “enslaved” on farms in the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Last year, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association insisted it was not responsible for the problem because chocolate companies do not own the plantations.
Global Exchange is collecting support for its campaign and wants consumers to restrict their chocolate purchases to fair trade chocolate as much as possible.
----------------------------
Forests die out as chocolate industry flourishes
2017
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1506198/forests-die-chocolate-industry-flourishes/
---------------------------
Chocolate Companies Are Illegally Destroying Forests to Grow More Cocoa, Activists Say
2018
Cream-filled eggs and chocolate bunnies may come at the expense of chimps and elephants.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/deforestation-cocoa-chocolate-illegal-ghana-ivory/
----------------------------
The Dark Side of the Chocolate Industry
2017
A new report links chocolate companies to the deforestation of West Africa’s national parks
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/green-life/dark-side-chocolate-industry
---------------------------
---------------------------
96% of all Deforestation within Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Sanctuaries Occur in a Single Community
2015
http://www.wwf.org.mx/noticias/noticias_mariposa_monarca.cfm?251391/96-of-all-Deforestation-within-Mexicos-Monarch-Butterfly-Sanctuaries-Occur-in-a-Single-Community
MEXICO CITY – A new survey of the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico for the 2014-2015 period indicates that only one –out of the 32 communities participating in the Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund – lost nearly 52 acres of forest. The survey was carried out by the WWF-Telcel Alliance and the Institute of Biology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
-----------------------------
Deforestation of the Monarch Butterfly's Forest in Mexico
Maps Show 44% Degraded (1971-1999)
https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/SanctuaryDeforestationMaps.html
-----------------------------
Deforestation in Mexico butterfly reserve nearly triples
2015
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/english/2015/08/25/deforestation-mexico-butterfly-reserve-nearly-triples
-------------------------
Deforestation down 57% in the winter habitat of Mexican monarch butterflies
2018
https://phys.org/news/2018-10-deforestation-winter-habitat-mexican-monarch.html
Deforestation in the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico decreased by 57.6 per cent, from 15.8 hectares lost during the 2016-2017 period to to 6.7 hectares in 2017 -2018.
-----------------------------
Monarch butterfly migration at risk due to deforestation, expert says
2019
https://www.efe.com/efe/english/technology/monarch-butterfly-migration-at-risk-due-to-deforestation-expert-says/50000267-3934765
----------------------------
Deforestation Impacts on Bat Functional Diversity in Tropical Landscapes
2016
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0166765
----------------------------
Árbol del Tule
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rbol_del_Tule
El
Árbol del Tule (Spanish for The Tree of Tule) is a tree located in the
church grounds in the town center of Santa María del Tule in the Mexican
state of Oaxaca, approximately 9 km (6 mi) east of the city of Oaxaca
on the road to Mitla. It is a Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum),
or ahuehuete (meaning "old man of the water" in Nahuatl). It has the
stoutest trunk of any tree in the world. In 2001, it was placed on a
UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Sites.
Dimensions and age
In
2005, its trunk had a circumference of 42.0 m (137.8 ft), equating to a
diameter of 14.05 m (46.1 ft), an increase from a measurement of
11.42 m (37.5 ft) m in 1982.[3] However, the trunk is heavily
buttressed, giving a higher diameter reading than the true
cross-sectional of the trunk represents; when this is taken into
account, the diameter of the 'smoothed out' trunk is 9.38 m (30.8
ft).[2] This is slightly wider than the next most stout tree known, a
giant sequoia with a 8.90 m (29.2 ft) diameter.
The
height is difficult to measure due to the very broad crown; the 2005
measurement, made by laser, is 35.4 m (116 ft), shorter than previous
measurements of 41–43 m (135–141 ft).
It is
so large that it was originally thought to be multiple trees, but DNA
tests have proven that it is only one tree. This does not rule out
another hypothesis, which states that it comprises multiple trunks from a
single individual.
The age is unknown, with
estimates ranging between 1,200 and 3,000 years, and even one claim of
6,000 years; the best scientific estimate based on growth rates is
1,433-1,600 years. Local Zapotec legend holds that it was planted
about 1,400 years ago by Pecocha, a priest of Ehecatl, the Aztec wind
god, in broad agreement with the scientific estimate; its location on a
sacred site (later taken over by the Roman Catholic Church) would also
support this.
The tree is occasionally nicknamed
the "Tree of Life" from the images of animals that are reputedly visible
in the tree's gnarled trunk. As part of an official project local
schoolchildren give tourists a tour of the tree and point out shapes of
creatures on the trunk, including jaguars and elephants.[citation
needed]
Slowly dying
In
1990, it was reported that the tree is slowly dying because its roots
have been damaged by water shortages, pollution, and traffic, with 8,000
cars travelling daily on a nearby highway.
---------------------------
Mexico organization partners with EDF to address deforestation, climate change and rural development
---------------------------
Deforestation of the tropical rain forest in Mexico: consequences of habitat fragmentation in community structure and function of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
http://www.novapublishers.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=22112
Abstract:
Deforestation is the main cause of vegetation loss in the wet tropics and it is directly
explained by land use changes from forest to agricultural or cattle ranch lands, due to
social pressures that the local social actors exert. One immediate consequence of
deforestation is habitat fragmentation. Nowadays, the tropical rain forest in Mexico is a
fragmented landscape, which is characterized by remnants of original forest immersed
into a matrix of cattle farming or crop areas. Most of native species loss inside the
remnant forest fragments is a consequence of microenvironmental changes, mainly in the
contact zone between the matrix of adverse conditions and the forest fragment.
Several works have studied composition as well as community structure changes
related to habitat fragmentation; however, very few have taken into account belowground
organisms, even when their impacts on nutrient cycling, maintenance of plant diversity,
plant performance are well known. One group of these important organisms are the
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that forms, together with plants, the arbuscular
mycorrhiza which is a very conspicuous mutualistic association in humid tropics.
Nevertheless, we ignore if fragmentation has altered AM fungi community structure and
functionality; one hypothesis points out small fragments will retain less species than the
larger ones, altering fungi-plant relationships. We have already found that AM fungi
species richness, diversity, extraradical mycelium biomass and root colonization change
according to land use and site disturbance levels. Inside the forest fragments, we have
identified 44 species within seven genera and around 40% of them are shared among
fragments of different sizes. However, fragment size does not explain AM fungi
functionality, measured as their inoculum potential. When we explored the gradient along
the contact zone between one of the largest fragments and the cattle ranch land, we find
the highest AM fungi species richness and spore abundance in the middle of this border
zone, and species composition changes are detected all along this environmental gradient.
AM fungi community structure is not clearly related with plant diversity or species
richness, but it seems that total nitrogen, pH, soil texture, and plant species richness are
the most important factors that explain AM fungi composition.
Our results highlight changes in AM fungi functionality in a fragmented landscape,
but a great resistance to disturbance of AM fungi community, fundamental aspects to
consider for explaining the impact that deforestation has in the tropical rain forest.
------------------------------
Deforestation, Overfarming Threaten Land in Mexico
Jun 20, 2000
https://www.iatp.org/news/deforestation-overfarming-threaten-land-in-mexico
------------------------------
Overgrazing and Desertification in Northern Mexico: Highlights on Northeastern Region
January 2000
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286644105_Overgrazing_and_Desertification_in_Northern_Mexico_Highlights_on_Northeastern_Region
------------------------------
Reforestation of one million hectares in Mexico
2018
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2018/11/reforestation-of-one-million-hectares-in-mexico/
-----------------------------
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Section 17: Invasive Species
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Invasive species in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species_in_Mexico
Contents
1 Invasive fauna
1.1 On Mexican islands
1.2 Guadalupe Island
1.3 Feral cats as an invasive species
1.4 Introduction of non-native bees
1.5 Introduction of geckos
1.6 Invasive amphibia
1.7 Invasive reptiles
1.8 Invasive species in urban environments
2 Invasive terrestrial plants
2.1 Distribution
2.2 Causes of increased invasive species
2.3 Introduction of Eucalyptus globulus
3 Invasive aquatic species
4 Public policies for control and management
4.1 Legislation and international standards
4.2 Mexican legislation
4.3 Combating invasive aquatic species
--------------------------
Invasive Alien Species: Official List for Mexico
https://www.trilat.org/index.php?view=download&alias=281-2013-invasive-alien-species-official-list-for-mexico-1&category_slug=2013-annual-meeting-1&option=com_docman&Itemid=254
--------------------------
Mexico's ancient native plants and a new invasive insect threat
2016
https://phys.org/news/2016-03-mexico-ancient-native-invasive-insect.html
--------------------------
Mexican Fruit Fly
http://www.tsusinvasives.org/home/database/anastrepha-ludens
Ecological Threat
Since
the Mexican Fruit Fly lays their eggs inside of fruit, the larvae
growth and feed within the fruit and destroy it. This is a major issue
since the eggs are laid in fruit like apples, peaches, avocados and
mango which are very important crops for the United States, Mexico and
Central America.
--------------------------
Invasive 'Devil Fish' Plague Mexico's Waters. Can't Beat 'Em? Eat 'Em
2017
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/10/18/557599300/invasive-devil-fish-plague-mexicos-waters-cant-beat-em-eat-em
-------------------------
Bay Area men’s plan to market invasive fish from Mexico hits snag in U.S.
2018
https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Bay-Area-men-s-plan-to-market-invasive-fish-13045120.php
-------------------------
Spread of lionfish in Gulf of Mexico is threat to reef fisheries
2017
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170214163633.htm
--------------------------
Mexican Feather Grass: Invasive Beauty can be Deceiving
2014
https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14457
--------------------------
New Invasive Species Colonizing Energy Platforms in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
2015
https://www.boem.gov/ESPIS/5/5462.pdf
--------------------------
Parakeet Invasion of Mexico Driven by Europe’s Ban on Bird Imports
2017
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/parakeet-invasion-of-mexico-driven-by-europe-rsquo-s-ban-on-bird-imports/
Attempts to stop the spread of bird flu and protect wildlife had unintended consequences
--------------------------
Herbicide treatments for invasive species approved after discovery of ‘Mexican bamboo’ along Bruce Trail
2018
https://www.orangeville.com/news-story/8574270-herbicide-treatments-for-invasive-species-approved-after-discovery-of-mexican-bamboo-along-bruce-trail/
Mono council grants staff’s request to use herbicides to eradicate Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed where necessary
--------------------------
North American Invasive Species Forum
https://www.naisn.org/
--------------------------
Invasive Species: Resources by Location
https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/resources-location
-------------------------
National Strategy On Invasive Species In Mexico
Prevention, Control and Eradication
https://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/v_ingles/country/pdf/Invasive_species_Mexico_dec2010.pdf
--------------------------
Rotenone isolated from Pachyrhizus erosus displays cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in K562 cells
2014
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786419.2014.939081
Abstract
Pachyrhizus
erosus (Fabaceae) is a herb commonly known as ‘yam bean’, which has
been cultivated in México since pre-Columbian times for its edible
tubers. The seeds are also known for their acaricidal and insecticidal
properties due to rotenone and other isoflavonoid contents. Rotenone has
exhibited cytotoxic activity against several human tumour cell lines;
however, its mechanism of action is still not fully understood. In this
study, we determined the cytotoxicity of rotenone isolated from P.
erosus seeds on K562 human leukaemia cells. Rotenone exhibited
significant cytotoxic activity (IC50 = 13.05 μM), as determined by the
MTT assay. Three other isolated isoflavonoids were not cytotoxic.
Rotenone genotoxicity was detected using the comet assay. Rotenone
induced cell death, and caspase-3 activation as indicated by TUNEL
assay, and immunocytofluorescence. Plasmid nicking assay indicated that
rotenone does not interact directly with DNA.
--------------------------
An indigenous religious ritual selects for resistance to a toxicant in a livebearing fish
2011
Abstract
Human-induced
environmental change can affect the evolutionary trajectory of
populations. In Mexico, indigenous Zoque people annually introduce
barbasco, a fish toxicant, into the Cueva del Azufre to harvest fish
during a religious ceremony. Here, we investigated tolerance to barbasco
in fish from sites exposed and unexposed to the ritual. We found that
barbasco tolerance increases with body size and differs between the
sexes. Furthermore, fish from sites exposed to the ceremony had a
significantly higher tolerance. Consequently, the annual ceremony may
not only affect population structure and gene flow among habitat types,
but the increased tolerance in exposed fish may indicate adaptation to
human cultural practices in a natural population on a very small spatial
scale.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061158/
--------------------------
Rotenone: An Essential but Demonized Tool for Assessing Marine Fish Diversity
2008
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/58/2/165/260029
Abstract
Coral
reefs, one of the most biologically diverse and important ecosystems on
Earth, are experiencing unprecedented and increasing ecological
decline, yet the fish faunas of such reefs and other tropical shoreline
habitats remain poorly known in many areas. Rotenone, a natural
substance traditionally used by subsistence fishers, is a uniquely
efficient tool for sampling reef and other shore fishes for marine
research. Unfortunately, such sampling is perceived as being highly
destructive, and increasing prohibitions against using rotenone in many
countries will soon cripple essential research on reef-fish biodiversity
worldwide. In this article we dispel common misconceptions about the
environmental effects of small-scale rotenone sampling in marine
research.
----------------------------
Rotenone Use in Organic Farming
https://hygeia-analytics.com/2017/01/04/rotenone-use-in-organic-farming/
Rotenone
is a non-synthetic botanical insecticide and piscicide (chemical
poisonous to fish) derived from the roots of Derris spp., Lonchocarpus
spp. and Tephrosia spp. It has been used historically in organic
production, usually with restrictions that limit its impact on human
health and the environment. Prior to the isolation and commercialization
of organically acceptable formulations of spinosad, rotenone was used
as a broad-spectrum insecticide for the control of a wide variety of
pests in numerous crops. However, uses of rotenone appeared to be waning
both on organic and conventional farms, even before registrations were
cancelled (Isman, 2006).
Because of its toxicity to
fish, rotenone has long been recognized as having adverse impacts on
aquatic ecosystems. More recently, studies have brought forth concerns
regarding the human health impacts of rotenone. Rotenone’s acute
toxicity is higher than most other biopesticides and botanicals
currently used in organic farming. Its mode of action was known to be
neurotoxic, but the specific mechanism of inhibiting the mitochondrial
electron transport chain was first understood about 20 years ago
(Hollingworth et al., 1994). More recently, rotenone exposure has been
linked to Parkinson’s disease (Sherer, et al., 2003; Tanner, et al.,
2011).
-------------------
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Section 18: Gulf of California
-----------------
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-----------------
--------------------
Edgardo Ochoa Proves There’s Still Hope for the Gulf of California
------------------
How Mexican cartels and illegal fishing are leading to the extinction of the vaquita
2018
https://geographical.co.uk/opinion/item/2947-vaquita-illegal-wildlife
The vaquita is a species of porpoise endemic to the northern Gulf of California in Mexico, but illegal fishing means this fascinating creature is doomed to extinction, says Matthew Podolsky
------------------
In Mexico, Fish Poachers Push Endangered Porpoises to Brink
2016
https://e360.yale.edu/features/mexican_fish_poachers_push_endangered_porpoise_to_brink_vaquita_gulf_of_california
China’s lucrative black market for fish parts is threatening the vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal. The porpoises, who live only in the Gulf of California, are getting caught up as bycatch in illegal gill nets and killed.
--------------
Mexico Lifts Ban on Fishing in Vaquita Habitat, Potentially Dooming Endangered Porpoise
7/15/21
https://www.newsweek.com/mexico-lifts-ban-fishing-vaquita-habitat-potentially-dooming-endangered-porpoise-1610216
--------------
Habitat Preferences of California Sea Lions: Implications for Conservation
2008
https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/89/6/1521/911513
Abstract
California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) occur along much of the Pacific coast of North America, but the number of breeding areas that are occupied is relatively small. Our understanding of the attributes that make these few sites preferable is currently limited. We quantified habitat characteristics—substrate type and coloration, aspect, slope, curvature of shoreline, and availability of shade, water pools, and resting areas—at 26 sites (7 islands) occupied by sea lions and 33 unused sites (8 islands) distributed throughout the Gulf of California, Mexico. Logistic regression models were used to explore how habitat characteristics explained sea lion occupancy patterns. Models discriminated very well between occupied and unused sites, and showed that occupied locations were more often located in sites with larger-size rocks (odds ratio [OR] = 1.209), lighter-color substrates
-----------------
Microplastic pollution in world’s oceans poses major threat to filter-feeding megafauna
2018
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/microplastic-pollution-in-worlds-oceans-poses-major-threat-to-filter-feeding-megafauna/
“The estimated daily plastic ingestion rates for filter-feeding megafauna vary greatly, depending on location and feeding behavior, and range from as low as 100 pieces for whale sharks in the Gulf of California to as high as thousands of pieces for fin whales in the Pelagos Sanctuary,” Germanov and co-authors note in the study. “Currently, the plastic ingestion rates by filter-feeding megafauna in the Gulf of Mexico, Bay of Bengal, and the Coral Triangle are unknown, as are the ingestion rates for mobulids anywhere in the world.”
-----------------
Shrimp aquaculture development and the environment in the Gulf of California ecoregion
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.467.7821&rep=rep1&type=pdf
-----------------
Sardine industries are polluting the Gulf of California
2018
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/sardine-industries-are-polluting-gulf-california#imagen-1
-----------------
Lead pollution in subtropical ecosystems on the SE Gulf of California Coast: A study of Concentrations andIsotopic Composition
2007
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00563046/document
-----------------
How Did the Gulf of California Form So Quickly?
https://www.livescience.com/17082-gulf-california-rapid-formation.html
-----------------
A dazzling sea that Jacques Cousteau once called “the world’s aquarium” is now in jeopardy
2016
https://qz.com/689414/a-dazzling-sea-that-jacques-cousteau-once-called-the-worlds-aquarium-is-now-in-jeopardy/
The Sea of Cortez is a dazzling pageant of nature. Scientists say this narrow sea between the Mexican mainland and the Baja California peninsula is one of the most biologically diverse bodies of water on the planet, home to more than 900 species of fish, thousands of species of invertebrates, and a wide array of marine mammals like sea lions, dolphins and whales. The late French explorer Jacques Cousteau once called the Sea of Cortez the world’s aquarium.
But decades of overfishing and commercial development have taken their toll, dramatically reducing the number of fish in the sea and causing widespread devastation by pollution. The Sea of Cortez, also known as the Gulf of California, has been in the news recently because of a new report documenting the decline of the vaquita, a rare species of porpoise endemic to the northern part of the gulf. It is the world’s most endangered marine mammal, and its recent decline is staggering.
Fishing boats using gill nets to catch an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is considered an expensive delicacy in China, also trap the vaquita, often killing them. As a result, just 60 vaquitas remain in the gulf, down from 500 some 20 years ago. In April, 2015, the Mexican government passed a two year ban on the deadly nets, but three dead vaquitas were discovered, trapped in nets, in March.
Over the last decade, the Mexican government has tried to crack down on polluters and reduce overfishing. Numerous marine reserves and national parks have been created to heighten awareness and create some kind of government protection. But poaching remains a massive problem, as large portions of the Baja peninsula’s population depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
For now, dolphins and manta rays still leap majestically from the sparkling water. Beneath the surface, a kaleidoscope of colorful tropical fish like the rainbow wrasse and butterflyfish swarm around mounds of golden coral. But if the Sea of Cortez is going to remain a jewel of the North American continent, a much more serious effort to conserve this marine ecosystem will be needed. More rangers are needed to enforce laws already on the books, and new regulations should be put in place to expand marine protected areas and reduce fishing. Otherwise, the Sea of Cortez and its marine life face a perilous future.
----------------
Hope for the Preservation of the Gulf of California
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb_72cL9OA0
-----------------
Baja California Sur state reports arsenic pollution in water
2016
Three communities of La Paz municipality in Mexico's Baja California Sur state have reported that local water is polluted with arsenic.
The communities with polluted wells are Chametla, El Centeario and Comitán, a spokesperson at the state health commission of Baja California Sur told BNamericas.
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/waterandwaste/baja-california-sur-state-reports-arsenic-pollution-in-water
----------------
Baja Waterkeepers tackle plastic pollution
2018
https://waterkeeper.org/baja-waterkeepers-tackle-plastic-pollution/
-----------------
The environmental hazard caused by smelter slags from the Sta. Maria de la Paz mining district in Mexico
1997
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749197001073
Abstract
The noxious potential of metallurgical tailings from the Ag/Pb/Zn/Cu mining district of Sta. María de la Paz (Mexico) is ascertained via the chemical characterization of slag material. Batch experiments using various extraction solutions (e.g. natural rainwater, water rich in humic substances, ammonium nitrate solution) revealed information on the dissolution behaviour of the elements Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ba and Pb from slag with respect of grain size (slag material screened under 2 mm and analytically fine fraction) and elution time (2, 7.5, 24 and 240 h). An initial ecotoxicological assessment of the results is made and the environmental danger caused by large volumes of slag tailings is discussed.
----------------------
Blood lead concentrations in wild birds from a polluted mining region at Villa de La Paz, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
2010
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10934520903389242
---------------------
Mining in Baja California Sur: Is It Worth the Risk?
https://www.oceanfdn.org/sites/default/files/Mining%20in%20BCS%204.16.15-ilovepdf-compressed.pdf
---------------------
Mercury in the atmospheric and coastal environments of Mexico.
2013
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23625130
-----------------------
Element concentrations in some species of seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon, south-western Baja California, Mexico
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-5670-3_22
Abstract
La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon are water bodies of the Gulf of California that are influenced by waste water discharges from the City of La Paz and from activities of the phosphorite mining company “Rofomex”. Because seaweeds concentrate elements from the water and are used as effective indicators of contamination by metals, we investigated their usefulness in this region. Concentrations of certain major elements (Ca, Fe, K and Na) and trace elements (As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cs, Hf, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Ta, Th, U, Zn and Zr) were determined in 12 species of seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon using instrumental neutron activation analysis. The contents of trace elements of environmental importance (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Sb, Se and Zn) in all studied samples are within the range of typical levels for a pristine environment not subjected to anthropogenic impact. Somewhat higher concentrations of Cr (81 mg kg−1), Hf (4 mg kg−1), Rb (48 mg kg−1), Sc (6.3 mg kg−1), Ta (0.95 mg kg−1), Th (6.8 mg kg−1), U(33 mg kg−1) and Zn (90 mg kg−1) were found in the green seaweed species Ulva (formerly Enteromorpha) intestinalis, whereas such elements as As (77 mg kg−), Sb (1.4 mg kg−1) and Se (1.8 mg kg−1) were mainly concentrated in the species Sargassum sinicola, Codium cuneatum and Padina mexicana respectively. Because of their higher abundance and heterogeneity in elemental composition the seaweeds species Ulva intestinalis and Caulerpa sertularioides seem to be more suitable for further biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution of the coastal waters in this zone.
-------------
Bluefin tuna caught off California contains radiation from Japan's Fukushima plant
2012
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9296723/Bluefin-tuna-caught-off-California-contains-radiation-from-Japans-Fukushima-plant.html
Bluefin tuna has carried radioactive contamination that leaked from Japan's crippled nuclear plant to the shores of the United States 6,000 miles away.
It is the first time a huge migrating fish has been shown to carry radioactivity such a distance.
"We were frankly kind of startled," said Nicholas Fisher, one of the researchers reporting the findings online on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The levels of radioactive caesium were 10 times higher than the amount measured in tuna off the California coast in previous years. But even so, that's still far below safe-to-eat limits set by the US and Japanese governments.
Previously, smaller fish and plankton were found with elevated levels of radiation in Japanese waters after a magnitude-9 earthquake in March 2011 triggered a tsunami that badly damaged the Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
But scientists did not expect the nuclear fallout to linger in huge fish that sail the world because such fish can metabolise and shed radioactive substances.
One of the largest and speediest fish, Pacific bluefin tuna can grow to 10 feet (3 meters) and weigh more than 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms). They spawn off the Japan coast and swim east at breakneck speed to school in waters off California and the tip of Baja California, Mexico.
Five months after the Fukushima disaster, Fisher of Stony Brook University in New York and a team decided to test Pacific bluefin that were caught off the coast of San Diego. To their surprise, tissue samples from all 15 tuna captured contained levels of two radioactive substances – ceisum-134 and caesium-137 – that were higher than in previous catches.
To rule out the possibility that the radiation was carried by ocean currents or deposited in the sea through the atmosphere, the team also analysed yellowfin tuna, found in the eastern Pacific, and bluefin that migrated to Southern California before the nuclear crisis. They found no trace of caesium-134 and only background levels of caesium-137 left over from nuclear weapons testing in the 1960s.
--------------
Pollution Science 101 - Cancer Investigated (California)
PollutionScience101CancerInvestigated.Blogspot.com
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Section 19: Endangered Animals
------------
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Mexico has a shockingly high number of threatened and endangered species
2015
https://www.businessinsider.com/mexico-has-most-threatened-species-2015-4
Around
a quarter of the world's mammal species are threatened, according to
the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which updates its
Red List of Threatened Species yearly.
A map of the
countries with the most threatened mammal species (courtesy of the Eco
Experts) shows that Mexico, with 101 threatened mammals, is one of the
countries with the most. Calling a species "threatened" means scientists
have classified it as either critically endangered, endangered, or
vulnerable.
So why is Mexico one of the worst offenders?
One
factor contributing to Mexico's high number of threatened mammal
species is the country's high biodiversity. According to the IUCN,
Mexico has the 4th highest number of mammal species of any country in
the world, at 523. Too bad nearly a fifth are in trouble.
Habitat
loss is the biggest threat the world's mammals face, IUCN says. Human
activity is the main cause of habitat loss, but it comes in many
flavors. In Mexico, IUCN data names agriculture as a key threat for 48
of the 101 threatened species, and logging is a problem for 42 of them.
The next biggest factor that eats away at animal habitats is developing
land for residential or commercial use, which is having a big impact on
17 mammal species in the country.
----------------------------
12 Animals In Danger Of Extinction in Mexico
2018
https://www.animalwised.com/12-animals-in-danger-of-extinction-in-mexico-2573.html
Contents
Mexican axolotl
Vaquita Marina
Mexican grey wolf
Scarlet macaw
Mexican prairie dog
West Indian manatee
Jaguars
Baird’s Tapir
Yellow-headed Parrot
Loggerhead sea turtle
Volcano Rabbit
Ocelot
----------------
Endangered and Threatened Animal Species of Mexico
2013
http://mexidata.info/id3705.html
----------------
Endangered species
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species
Mexican Wolf, the most endangered subspecies of the North American Grey Wolf. Approximately 143 are living wild.
----------------
Mexican president dismisses environmentalists as he destroys Jaguar Habitats for Train Project
March 24, 2022
https://www.vallartadaily.com/mexican-president-dismisses-environmentalists-as-he-destroys-jaguar-habitats-for-train-project/
----------------
Mexican president once again lashes out at environmentalists
March 23, 2022
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/mexican-president-lashes-environmentalists-83629120
----------------
Mexican Tourist Train Raises Fears For Subterranean Treasures
05/02/22
https://www.ibtimes.com/mexican-tourist-train-raises-fears-subterranean-treasures-3492058
----------------
Mexican environmentalists, Indigenous leaders denounce Mayan Train project
May 11, 2022
https://news.yahoo.com/mexican-environmentalists-indigenous-leaders-denounce-190820426.html
----------------
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
More than 27,000 species are threatened with extinction
That is more than 27% of all assessed species.
https://www.iucnredlist.org/
----------------
Gulf of Mexico’s Threatened and Endangered Species
https://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/section_7/threatened_endangered/Documents/gulf_of_mexico.pdf
----------------
List of mammals of Central America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Central_America
---------------
Endangered Mammals of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?ID=5
-----------------
Endangered Birds of Central America
http://earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?gr=B&view=c&ID=5
---------------
Endangered Fish of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=F
---------------
Endangered Insects of Central America
http://earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=c&ID=5&gr=I
------------------
World's insects could be wiped out 'within a century' as scientists warn they are dying out eight times faster than mammals
2019
Insects are dying out eight-times faster than mammals, birds and reptiles
Study suggests that insects could become extinct in 100 years at this rate
The decline, described as a worldwide crisis, is blamed on intensive agriculture
Scientist say we have entered the first mass extinction since the dinosaurs
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6689581/Scientists-warn-insects-extinct-century.html
-----------------
Endangered Centipedes of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=CEN
------------------
Endangered Arachnids of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=AR
------------------
Endangered Worms of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=W
------------------
Endangered Clams of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=CL
------------------
Endangered Crustaceans of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=CR
------------------
Endangered Corals, Jellyfish and Sea Anemones of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=COR
------------------
Endangered Snails of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=S
------------------
Endangered Plants of Central America
http://www.earthsendangered.com/continent.asp?view=&ID=5&gr=P
------------------
Are there Endangered Pine Species ?
http://www.pinetum.org/Lovett/11are.htm
The
official listings of "endangered" species began with the US Fish and
Wildlife Service's Division of Endangered Species List. This list
currently has about 600 species of plants and animals in the US and
about 500 species from other parts of the world. It includes no pine
species and only four gymnosperms. Two are in the US : Cupressus
abramsiana (Santa Cruz cypress) and Torreya taxifolia (Florida torreya)
and two are foreign: Abies guatemalensis (Pinabete or Guatemalan fir)
and Fitzroya cupressoides (Alere or Chilean larch).
However,
this list is not thorough for non-US species (as one would suspect by
the 6:5 ratio of US to foreign species on this list). There are in fact
endangered Pinus species in Mexico and in Asia.
There
are more species and subspecies of pines (about 70) in Mexico than in
the rest of the world combined. The most comprehensive single source on
Mexican pines is a book entitled "The Pines of Mexico and Central
America" written by Jesse Parker Perry, a member of the Rockefeller
Foundation's Agricultural Sciences Program. The last two chapters of
this excellent book (more information under the " books" section) are
devoted to the rapid disappearance of Mexico's and other Central
American pine forests due to disease, insects and, especially, human
activity. The population explosion in Mexico alone adds over a million
people per year, always requiring more firewood and agricultural land.
Jesse Perry lists 9 Mexican pines which are endangered &/or rare. They are:
Potosi pinyon (P. culminicola)
large cone Martinez pine (P. maximartinezii)
Rzedowski pine (P. rzedowskii)
weeping pinyon (P. pinceana)
Johannis pinyon (P. johannis)
Monterey pine (P. radiata var. binata)
Laguna pinyon (P. lagunae)
Jalisco pine (P. jaliscana)
Nelson pine (P. nelsoni).
The
first four on this list are classified by Perry as "very rare and very
endangered": the next two (johannis and radiata) as "rare and
endangered" and the last three as "rare."
------------------
Central America: Patches scattered through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
This
interesting dry forest ecoregion, which stretches along the Pacific
Coast, corresponds to a tropical habitat that has a prolonged dry season
of 5-8 months and is home to important plant and animal species, as
well as a significant degree of endemism. This totally fragmented
ecoregion, represented in less than 2% of the original habitat, is
threatened by strong pressures from man, cattle, burning, agricultural
expansion, and hunting operations. The dry tropical forests are now much
more rare than tropical rain forests, although the latter are also
disappearing at a very rapid rate (Janzen 1983).
https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0209
-----------------
Can spiders be used as bioindicators of environmental pollution in a geothermal area?
https://experiment.com/projects/can-spiders-be-used-as-bioindicators-of-environmental-pollution-in-a-geothermal-area1/methods
The
state of Puebla (Figure 1) is located in the central-eastern portion of
the Mexican Republic, bordering the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca,
Guerrero, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Mexico and Morelos. The state of Puebla has
6'168,883 inhabitants, which represents 5.2% of the total of the
country and 1.75% of the total area of the country (1).
The
state has a great diversity of climates, temperate climates are those
that cover most of its territory, secondly the warm ones and thirdly the
semi-dry ones, dry, semi-cold and cold. The north and northwest zones,
belonging to the coastal plain of the North Gulf and those corresponding
to the valleys of the Atoyac, Acatlán, Tehuacán and Petlapa rivers,
have temperatures of 24 ° C or more, while the areas above the the 4000 m
of altitude presents average annual temperatures between 2 ° and 4 ° C.
The months with the highest rainfall are from June to September (1).
The types of vegetation found in the state of Puebla (Figure 2) are
mainly forests, jungles and bushes, the rest is grouped in induced and
hydrophilic vegetation as well as in agricultural areas (2). The state
of Puebla has 4,426 plant species and 1,274 animal species. The most
abundant families of plant species in Puebla are Asteraceae, Fabaceae
and Poaceae, Pinaceae and Cupressaceae. In the case of mammals, 161
species have been recorded, represented mostly by the orders Chiroptera,
Rodentia and Carnivoda. In danger of extinction there are six species:
Romerolagus diazi, Tamandua Mexicana, Leopardus pardalis, Leopardus
wiedii and Eira barbara. It has 67 bird families that represent 55% of
the total wealth of Mexico, the best represented families are Parulidae
and Tyrannidae (2).
Sampling design
The sampling design will be based on the five environmental systems arranged in the study area, considering the geoforms and the types of vegetation. The stations will be based on a polar sampling system (4), with a distance of 10 km in diameter from the geothermal expression. The sampling stations will be selected randomly in the geothermal zones in a gradient distance from the emanation sites.
Sampling of organisms
The collection of organisms will be done in each sampling station, fall traps will be placed using a grid of 15 fall traps, 7 cm in diameter (5) and will be collected manually with entomological nets or tweezers.
Later they will be identified with specialized guides in the laboratory and, if necessary, samples will be sent to specialized molecular analysis laboratories for their identification.
Statistic analysis
One way ANOVA statistical tests will be performed to determine if there are differences between the variables with respect to the study area. Analysis of similarity and analysis of canonical correspondence will also be carried out to know the relationship between the presence / absence of species in each site and the environmental variables.
-----------------
Two endemic and endangered fishes, Poecilia sulphuraria (Alvarez, 1948) and Gambusia eurystoma Miller, 1975 (Poeciliidae, Teleostei) as only survivors in a small sulphidic habitat
2008
Abstract
In the Baños del Azufre in Tabasco, Mexico, only two poeciliid species, Poecilia sulphuraria and Gambusia eurystoma, were found in sulphidic habitats, whereas adjacent non‐sulphidic habitats were characterized by a vastly different fish community. Exposure of fishes to water from a sulphidic spring showed that all species except for P. sulphuraria quickly lost motion control, probably because of the toxic properties of H2S. It is suggested that the fishes endemic to the Baños del Azufre are highly specialized, and competitive exclusion allows them to survive only in this particular habitat type.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01716.x
-------------------
The Rediscovery of a Long Described Species Reveals Additional Complexity in Speciation Patterns of Poeciliid Fishes in Sulfide Springs
2013
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3745397/
Abstract
------------------
Toxic hydrogen sulfide and dark caves: phenotypic and genetic divergence across two abiotic environmental gradients in Poecilia mexicana.
2008
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18637957
Abstract
Divergent natural selection drives evolutionary diversification. It creates phenotypic diversity by favoring developmental plasticity within populations or genetic differentiation and local adaptation among populations. We investigated phenotypic and genetic divergence in the livebearing fish Poecilia mexicana along two abiotic environmental gradients. These fish typically inhabit nonsulfidic surface rivers, but also colonized sulfidic and cave habitats. We assessed phenotypic variation among a factorial combination of habitat types using geometric and traditional morphometrics, and genetic divergence using quantitative and molecular genetic analyses. Fish in caves (sulfidic or not) exhibited reduced eyes and slender bodies. Fish from sulfidic habitats (surface or cave) exhibited larger heads and longer gill filaments. Common-garden rearing suggested that these morphological differences are partly heritable. Population genetic analyses using microsatellites as well as cytochrome b gene sequences indicate high population differentiation over small spatial scale and very low rates of gene flow, especially among different habitat types. This suggests that divergent environmental conditions constitute barriers to gene flow. Strong molecular divergence over short distances as well as phenotypic and quantitative genetic divergence across habitats in directions classic to fish ecomorphology suggest that divergent selection is structuring phenotypic variation in this system.
-----------------------------
Local adaptation and pronounced genetic differentiation in an extremophile fish, Poecilia mexicana, inhabiting a Mexican cave with toxic hydrogen sulphide.
2007
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17305854
Abstract
We investigated genetic differentiation and migration patterns in a small livebearing fish, Poecilia mexicana, inhabiting a sulfidic Mexican limestone cave (Cueva del Azufre). We examined fish from three different cave chambers, the sulfidic surface creek draining the cave (El Azufre) and a nearby surface creek without the toxic hydrogen sulphide (Arroyo Cristal). Using microsatellite analysis of 10 unlinked loci, we found pronounced genetic differentiation among the three major habitats: Arroyo Cristal, El Azufre and the cave. Genetic differentiation was also found within the cave between different pools. An estimation of first-generation migrants suggests that (i) migration is unidirectional, out of the cave, and (ii) migration among different cave chambers occurs to some extent. We investigated if the pattern of genetic differentiation is also reflected in a morphological trait, eye size. Relatively large eyes were found in surface habitats, small eyes in the anterior cave chambers, and the smallest eyes were detected in the innermost cave chamber (XIII). This pattern shows some congruence with a previously proposed morphocline in eye size. However, our data do not support the proposed mechanism for this morphocline, namely that it would be maintained by migration from both directions into the middle cave chambers. This would have led to an increased variance in eye size in the middle cave chambers, which we did not find. Restricted gene flow between the cave and the surface can be explained by local adaptations to extreme environmental conditions, namely H2S and absence of light. Within the cave system, habitat properties are patchy, and genetic differentiation between cave chambers despite migration could indicate local adaptation at an even smaller scale.
------------------------------
Effects of extreme habitat conditions on otolith morphology: a case study on extremophile live bearing fishes (Poecilia mexicana, P. sulphuraria).
2011
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22000528
------------------------------
Microhabitat use, population densities, and size distributions of sulfur cave-dwelling Poecilia mexicana.
2014
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25083351
------------------------------
Gradient Evolution of Body Colouration in Surface- and Cave-Dwelling Poecilia mexicana and the Role of Phenotype-Assortative Female Mate Choice
2013
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3794506/
------------------------------
Divergent Evolution of Male Aggressive Behaviour: Another Reproductive Isolation Barrier in Extremophile Poeciliid Fishes?
2012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3270405/
------------------
The axolotl and the remnants of Mexico City’s ancient wetland
2018
https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/27472/the-axolotl-and-the-remnants-of-mexico-citys-ancient-wetland/
-----------------
The Mexican Hairless Dog Worshipped and Eaten by the Aztecs
https://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-mexican-hairless-dog-worshipped-and-eaten-by-the-aztecs/85649
-----------------
Jaguar Cult – Down’s Syndrome – Were Jaguar
https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/jaguar-cult-downs-syndrome-were-jaguar/
It
is also interesting to note that the Olmec seem to have felt a kind of
fascination for those individuals affected by deformities as shown in
their representations. Lacking scientific knowledge, it is possible that
all sorts of mystical concepts were used to evaluate or explain
deformities. This type of behavior was also characteristic of later
cultures and was commented upon by the Spaniards who found the emperor
Montezuma surrounded by hunchbacks and dwarfs. The Olmec left a generous
number of figurines representing different kinds of deformities, such
as dwarfs, hunchbacks, and even individuals with leper-like
characteristics.
A close look at the extreme micrognathia of the
serpentine figure of an infant from Iguala, Guerrero, for example, shows
it as strongly reminiscent of an individual affected by the Pierre
Robin syndrome. The fact that it is an infant supports this point of
view since individuals affected by this congenital defect rarely live
beyond infancy, even today, due to respiratory distress and/or feeding
difficulties. In other words, the Olmec were meticulous observers of the
pathos occurring in their gene pool and represented this in their
artifactual material with equal care and realism.
In
all ages and cultures there is one type of ailment that never failed to
impress the healthy members of any given society in a most peculiar,
even dramatic way; that is mental retardation. Some examples—in
Classical Greece the mentally feeble were allowed to perish from
exposure and even drowned. The ancient Romans had laws for the physical
elimination of these unfortunates. In Medieval Europe some regarded the
mentally retarded as humans without a soul and connected with
witchcraft, while others considered them holy. The latter attitude,
however, was more characteristic of Eastern cultures.
From
this observation, the question which now arises concerns Olmec behavior
towards the mentally retarded. The only way to speculate on this
matter would be through the careful observation of their cultural
production, comparing it to known facts regarding the attitudes of
primitive or advanced societies towards the feeble-minded. Olmec careful
representations of their pathos seem to indicate the presence of a great
degree of mysticism in their society.
------------------
Elongated Skulls Of The Maya Of Ancient Mexico: Cranial Deformation
In
many ancient societies, especially in Peru and Bolivia, cranial
deformation via head binding was a practice used to make the nobility
look physically different from the general population. Such practices
have been found on the 6 populated continents, and some islands in the
Pacific. The most famous elongated skulls are those of the Paracas
people of the coast of Peru, but the Maya of the Yucatan of Mexico also
performed this cultural practice.
https://hiddenincatours.com/elongated-skulls-maya-ancient-mexico-cranial-deformation/
--------------
'Alien-Like' Skulls Excavated in Mexico
2012
https://www.livescience.com/25743-alien-like-skulls-excavated-mexico.html
Human
skulls deliberately warped into strange, alien-like shapes have been
unearthed in a 1,000-year-old cemetery in Mexico, researchers say.
The
practice of deforming skulls of children as they grew was common in
Central America, and these findings suggest the tradition spread farther
north than had been thought, scientists added.
The
cemetery was discovered by residents of the small Mexican village of
Onavas in 1999 as they were building an irrigation canal. It is the
first pre-Hispanic cemetery found in the northern Mexican state of
Sonora.
The site, referred to as El Cementerio,
contained the remains of 25 human burials. Thirteen of them had deformed
skulls, which were elongate and pointy at the back, and five had
mutilated teeth.
-----------------
Hearts Ripped from 140 Children and 200 Llamas in Largest Child Sacrifice in Ancient World
March 2019
https://www.livescience.com/64924-children-llamas-sacrificed-ancient-peru.html
------------------
Mexico Will Ban Shark Fishing as Global Sanctuary Movement Grows
2011
--------------
Quest for shark fins brings Mexican fishermen to American waters ...
2011
-------------
Why Shark Finning Bans Aren't Keeping Sharks Off The Plate (Yet)
2015
------------
Mexico and China: An Ocean Apart
2015
https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/mexico-and-china-ocean-apart
This
remote corner of Baja is both unforgiving and inspiring—an austere
landscape well suited to desperados and epic tales. And on a small
island, tucked in against a lazy estuary, is the Cabo San Lázaro fishing
camp, where the Luceros and a handful of other fishermen stay in a
series of simple shacks, cobbled together and barely keeping out the
Pacific breeze. To reach the camp, you must drive to a quiet pueblo
three quarters of the way down Baja California, take a boat across the
estuary, then drive another thirty miles at low tide down a sprawling
beach littered with whale bones, then over a dirt road that takes you
past a lighthouse straight out of a romance novel. Craggy mountains line
the northern end of camp, and a long series of dunes stretches away to
the south. Between them, a slow, shallow river connects a small pocket
of marshes to the sea.
I’ve come to this isolated part
of Baja to better understand the dramatic decline of one of the ocean’s
most loved and feared inhabitants. Over the last decade, marine
scientists have been sounding the alarm about plummeting shark
populations. Up to 100 million sharks are caught by fishermen every
year. By some measures, commercial fishing has led to a decline in the
population of certain large shark species by more than 95 percent.
Experts believe that the scale of these hauls is unsustainable, and that
without strict policies to protect them, many of the biggest, most
recognizable sharks could disappear from our oceans, devastating the
ecosystems they help to regulate.
Two cultural forces
drive this trend, one related to supply and the other to demand. On the
supply side are the Luceros, men who follow their passion and tradition
onto lethal and increasingly unprofitable waters. The small-scale
fishermen of San Lázaro don’t catch nearly as many sharks as large
commercial boats farther out to sea, but they can have an outsized
effect on populations by catching juveniles and pregnant females closer
to shore. More importantly, though, the fishermen here represent the
cultural heart of the Mexican shark-fishing trade. If the countries
providing shark are to manage the fish sustainably, they must begin in
places like this.
The demand side, meanwhile, lies on
the other side of the Pacific Ocean, where booming economies meet
ancient traditions, and where a family’s hopes for its future are boiled
down into a bowl of soup. As China has grown into its role as a
dominant global economy, culture and conservation have come crashing
together. And unless something changes, sharks may end up just another
casualty to a growing national appetite.
Much like
America’s dolphin-safe tuna movement in the 1980s, the shark-fin boycott
is China’s first foray into consumer-led environmental action. In Hong
Kong, the effect has been dramatic. Ricky Leung Lak-kee, chairman of the
Hong Kong Marine Products Association, says that blue-shark fin, sold
for $150 USD per pound a few years ago, now sells closer to $20 per
pound. What’s more, imports of fin have dropped at least 30 percent,
with some types declining by as much as 70 percent. Few restaurants or
hotels in Hong Kong admit to serving shark fin, and even the popular
chain Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant is reportedly considering a
name change.
---------------
Anglers' online boasts reveal illegal shark hunting
2017
Researchers
fear sport fishing is a serious threat to endangered species — but
study of Internet forum also finds awareness of environmental issues.
https://www.nature.com/news/anglers-online-boasts-reveal-illegal-shark-hunting-1.22475
Marine
researchers have turned to an innovative data source to track the
impact of ‘game fishing’ on endangered shark species: Internet message
boards where anglers boast about their catches. An analysis of more than
a thousand posts revealed both illegal behaviour — and surprisingly
warm attitudes towards conservation1.
Commercial
overfishing is responsible for population declines in many marine
species. But researchers suspect that recreational, or sport, fishing —
done for the thrill of catching big fish — could be a serious threat to
some endangered species, particularly sharks. One in four shark species
worldwide is threatened with extinction, according to the International
Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
A 2004
study2 found that although recreational anglers landed only 4% of all
fish caught in US waters they landed 64% of endangered fish — including
sharks — caught from the Gulf of Mexico
-------------
Shark finning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_finning
Shark
finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest
of the shark. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but
without their fins. Unable to swim effectively, they sink to
the bottom of the ocean and die of suffocation or are eaten by other
predators. Shark finning at sea enables fishing vessels to increase
profitability and increase the number of sharks harvested, as they only
have to store and transport the fins, by far the most profitable part of
the shark; the shark meat is bulky to transport. Some countries have
banned this practice and require the whole shark to be brought back to
port before removing the fins.
---------------
------------
------------
------------
------------
Section 20: Air and Water Pollution
------------
------------
------------
------------
---------------
Do Mexicans care about air pollution?
2014
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40503-014-0009-z
Abstract
Mexico has many major problems such as corruption, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, pollution, etc. Regarding pollution, politicians have established some programs trying to improve air quality in Mexico. But they do not know if Mexicans care about air pollution or they prefer that government faces other problems. This paper answers this question and in fact, we conclude that Mexicans do care about air pollution (measured by Particulate Matter) and they agree to pay to reduce it. This paper follows a residential sorting model to calculate marginal willingness to pay for a reduction in air pollution. Our estimates imply that the household head in Mexico would pay $443.66 to $2,682.92 (in constant 2000 Mexican pesos) or 46.90–283.61 (2000 dollars) for a one-unit reduction in Particulate Matter emissions per year. Therefore, there are benefits to reduce this problem in Mexico and the government and private firms must face this problem since the costs are lower than those benefits.
-------------------
Mexico City Declares First Air Pollution Alert in 11 Years
2016
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mexico-city-declares-first-air-pollution-alert-11-years-n538716
MEXICO
CITY -- The Mexico City government declared its first air pollution
alert since 2005 Monday after ozone levels reached almost twice the
acceptable limit.
According to the city's environment
office, a high-pressure weather system and intense sunlight may have
caused the high ozone conditions.
The air alert
requires older and more heavily polluting vehicles to stay off the road
Tuesday, in an attempt to improve air quality.
Mexico
City used to regularly reach high smog levels, before a rule was
introduced to discourage cars more than 8 years old. That rule was
recently relaxed by a court order, and environmental activists and
officials say that has led to more cars on city streets.
Ozone
is a component of smog that can cause respiratory problems. Mexico
City's last city alert for ozone was in 2002. The last pollution alert
for air particles was 11 years ago in 2005.
--------------
Guadalajara beats Mexico City in poor air quality in 2018
https://www.vallartadaily.com/guadalajara-beats-mexico-city-in-poor-air-quality-in-2018/
Last
year, the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara had more days of atmospheric
pollution at a high level than Mexico City (CDMX). In the Jalisco city,
16 days were recorded with very poor air quality; that is, with more
than 150 points of the Metropolitan Index of Air Quality ( Imeca ),
while in CDMX only four days met this criterion.
--------------
This city's air is killing people. Who will stop it?
2018
Cities
on the U.S.-Mexico border suffer in toxic air. The pollution is making
people sick and cutting lives short. Little is being done to stop it.
https://www.desertsun.com/in-depth/news/environment/border-pollution/poisoned-cities/2018/12/05/air-pollution-taking-deadly-toll-u-s-mexico-border/1381585002/
--------------
Pollution and cleanliness in Uman, Mexico
Uman is a city in Mexico. There are 39.6K people living in the city. The next article discusses the air pollution levels and city cleanliness reported by residents and tourists.
https://info-travel.net/pollution/uman-mexico-pollution/
--------------
Breathing Mexico City’s air is sometimes as bad as smoking three cigarettes a day
2019
--------------
Haze Returns to Mexico City, Where Not Driving Is Hardly an Option
2016
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/world/americas/mexico-city-cars-pollution.html
-------------
Mexico’s urban air pollution remains the worst in Latin America
2013
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=9587
A recent study published by the Clean Air Institute analyzed air pollution in 22 Latin American cities:
Air Quality in Latin America: An Overview (May 2013; pdf file)
Six
Mexican cities were included in the study: Mexico City, Guadalajara,
Monterrey, Puebla, Ciudad Juárez and León. However, only limited data
were available for Puebla, Cd. Juárez and León. One of the main
conclusions of the study is that Mexico has about the worst urban air
pollution in Latin America. It is believed to be responsible for about
15,000 deaths in Mexico each year.
The focus was on the following air pollutants:
Particulate matter is divided into two measures; particles less 2.5
microns in diameter (PM2.5) and those less than 10 microns (PM10). PM2.5
pollution is extremely harmful because it penetrates deep into lungs
causing inflammation and worsening heart and lung diseases. This can be
fatal.
Ozone is formed in the air when oxides of nitrogen and
volatile organic compounds mix with intense sunlight. The very intense
sunlight in Mexican cities makes them particularly prone to ozone
pollution.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is caused by high
temperature combustion of fossil fuels in vehicles, factories and power
plants. It can aggravate lung diseases as well as contribute to ozone
and fine particle pollution.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2), which also
comes from burning fossil fuels, contributes to heart and respiratory
disease. Unfortunately, not all of the 22 cities had data on all four
pollutants. Consequently comparisons among cities are a bit limited.
According
to the study, Mexican cities had some of the worst urban particulate
pollution in Latin America, significantly above WHO standards. Of the 16
cities with data, Monterrey had by far the worst PM10 pollution with
85.9 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3); considerably worse than the
perennially dusty Lima with 62.2 ug/m3. Guadalajara came second with
70.1 ug/m3, Mexico City was 6th with 57.0 ug/m3, and León placed 11th
with 39.0 ug/m3, even worse than Sao Paulo at 36.5 ug/m3. Though not in
the study, Mexicali has worse PM10 pollution than Monterrey. Also
Monterrey’s PM10 levels are much better than many major world cities
including Cairo, Delhi, Kolkata, Beijing, Chengdu, Bangalore, Shanghai,
Dacca, Jakarta, and Karachi.
------------------
Air Pollution in Mexico City
April 2022
https://earth.org/air-pollution-in-mexico-city/
------------------
What are the effects of air pollution?
https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/publications/airquality_flyer.pdf
------------------
Pollution among Manufacturers in Mexico
http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/LASA97/strohl.pdf
-----------------------
Mexico City Orders Cars off the Road 1 Day Per Week to Reduce Smog
2016
http://time.com/4277638/mexico-city-smog-reduction-pollution/
------------------------
An approach to a black carbon emission inventory for Mexico by two methods
2014 Feb 20
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24561296/
------------------------
Atmospheric black carbon concentrations in Mexico
2019
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169809519302212
------------------------
Why Mexico citys pollution problem is so hard to solve
2016
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2016/05/11/why-mexico-citys-pollution-problem-is-so-hard-to-solve
------------------------
Mexico City's water crisis – from source to sewer
2015
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/12/mexico-city-water-crisis-source-sewer
--------------
How a city that floods is running out of water
By Melissa Hogenboom 14 May 2018
Mexico
City is running out of water – and that crisis is exacerbating
everything from sewage spills to subsidence to earthquakes.
http://www.bbc.com/future/gallery/20180510-how-a-city-that-floods-is-running-out-of-water
---------------------------
Mexico City Is Always Either Too Wet or Too Dry
2018
The
city has built massive infrastructure to get the water out when it
rains. Now it needs to figure out how to keep more of it or face a major
water-supply crisis.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-04-25/mexico-city-s-water-problem-is-going-to-get-worse
----------------------
Drinking Water Fluoride Levels for a City in Northern Mexico (Durango) Determined Using a Direct Electrochemical Method and Their Potential Effects on Oral Health
2013
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/186392/
Abstract
Fluoride is ingested primarily through consuming drinking water. When
drinking water contains fluoride concentrations >0.7 parts per
million (ppm), consuming such water can be toxic to the human body; this
toxicity is called “fluorosis.” Therefore, it is critical to determine
the fluoride concentrations in drinking water. The objective of this
study was to determine the fluoride concentration in the drinking water
of the city of Durango. The wells that supply the drinking water
distribution system for the city of Durango were studied. One hundred
eighty-nine (189) water samples were analyzed, and the fluoride
concentration in each sample was quantified as established by the law
NMX-AA-077-SCFI-2001. The fluoride concentrations in such samples varied
between 2.22 and 7.23 ppm with a 4.313 ± 1.318 ppm mean concentration.
The highest values were observed in the northern area of the city, with a
5.001 ± 2.669 ppm mean value. The samples produced values that exceeded
the national standard for fluoride in drinking water. Chronic exposure
to fluoride at such concentrations produces harmful health effects, the
first sign of which is dental fluorosis. Therefore, it is essential that
the government authorities implement water defluoridation programs and
take preventative measures to reduce the ingestion of this toxic
halogen.
1. Introduction
Water is a scarce resource in Mexico; thus, a plan was developed to exploit the country’s underground aquifers. Because fluoride is abundant in the earth’s crust, it is a common drinking water contaminant, and high fluoride concentrations in contaminated drinking water are rapidly becoming an endemic public health problem. The drinking water fluoride concentration limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 1 part per million (ppm), but this limit depends on an area’s geological characteristics. For Mexico, the drinking water fluoride limit is 0.7 ppm, as described by the national regulatory standard NOM-013-SSA2-2006 [1, 2]. Fluoride is an abundant ion in the earth’s crust that is highly electronegative; thus, it combines with various soil substances to form fluoride salts. When water passes through the soil, these fluoride compounds dissolve and increase the fluoride groundwater concentration in the presence of lithium, cesium, chloride, and bromide [3]. The groundwater composition is primarily determined by its time in the aquifer and the materials and ions dissolved therein. To establish suitable groundwater for human consumption, one must consider the water’s hardness and the concentrations of salts, iron, carbon dioxide, sulfur compounds, fluoride, arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese, and other ions.
The most common fluoride minerals in the earth’s crust are fluorspars (fluorite, cryolite, and apatite), which are typically composed of calcium, fluoride, carbonates, and sulfates. Fluoride is an extremely reactive element that combines with other elements through ionic or covalent bonds and is primarily found in igneous and alkaline rocks. Fluorite is the most abundant compound formed and is found in granite, gneiss, and pegmatite. The fluoride concentration in aquifers depends on various factors, including the fluoride concentrations of the surrounding minerals; the mineral decomposition, dissociation, and dissolution rates; the groundwater time in the aquifer; and the reaction kinetics. These factors determine the fluoride solubility in water for a given type of aquifer.
Fluoride contamination in drinking water can reach concentrations higher than 1 ppm, and fluoride can be ingested via bottled beverages, table salt, toothpaste, and various foods. Chronic ingestion and consumption of fluoridated products can cause diseases, such as dental and skeletal fluorosis, and increase the risk of developing kidney problems and cancer. Furthermore, consuming high fluoride concentrations reportedly impairs human mental development and lowers IQ in school-aged children.
Dental fluorosis occurs during odontogenesis and tooth development and produces hypomineralization as well as surface and subsurface enamel porosity. Dental fluorosis can exhibit varying degrees of severity, which cause tooth color changes and generate serious aesthetic, functional, and physiological problems. Thus, fluorosis is a public health problem with high treatment costs.
In 1996, a list was developed of municipalities in five states in which iodized and fluoridated salt should not be distributed due to high fluoride concentrations in the drinking water, including the state of Durango.
In 1997, Mexico reported that more than five million people were chronically exposed to high fluoride levels through drinking water. Because exposure to high fluoride levels is a major public health problem, it is essential to assess the fluoride levels in the drinking water supply for the city of Durango, particularly because the city fluoride concentrations have not been studied, and children exhibit clinical dental fluorosis symptoms. Therefore, it is important to analyze the drinking water fluoride concentrations in this area to determine the contribution of this mineral to potential negative health outcomes caused by exposure to excessive fluoride levels.
The purpose of this study was to determine the drinking water fluoride concentrations for Durango, establish whether diseases related to different levels of fluoride exposure are present, and disseminate the results to prevent dental fluorosis, which is an early sign of high fluoride levels.
------------------------
Pollutants up 2x in municipal water
2015
Concentrations of arsenic and fluoride have doubled in the Lerma-Chapala aquifer
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/pollutants-up-2x-in-municipal-water/
-----------------------
Arsenic Concentrations in Water, Soil, Milk and Forage in Comarca Lagunera, Mexico
1999
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1005095900193
------------------
Mexico has some of the best water laws around. So why are its rivers so contaminated?
-------------------
To Kill A River, How Mexico's Santiago Was Polluted Beyond Repair
2017
https://www.worldcrunch.com/food-travel/to-kill-a-river-how-mexico39s-santiago-was-polluted-beyond-repair
EL SALTO — When Enrique Enciso was a child, there was just one book at home. He grew up with his mom and siblings in El Salto, an industrial suburb of Guadalajara in western Mexico, founded in the late 19th century by the textile firm, Río Grande. Enciso says the firm "made the homes, brought in people, football, the town's bar, everything." In the yards of people's homes, carp fished from the River Santiago were left hanging in the sun, next to drying clothes that had been washed in the same river.
As a child, when Enciso was not playing or fishing, he read his mother's one encyclopedia volume. In particular, he remembers reading over and over again the entry for Juanacatlán Falls, a natural monument 20 meters high and 167 meters wide, outside his town. "I always remember it saying that for the flow volume, this was the world's seventh most powerful waterfall," he says.
Fifty years later, Enciso leads a tourist circuit ending at the waterfall often dubbed the Mexican Niagara, after exploring every bit of El Salto. "We're Guadalajara's bottom," says Sofía Enciso, 24, Enrique's daughter. The town receives 250 liters of fecal waters a second from the city through Santiago (also referred to by its Spanish name Río Grande de Santiago) and its tributaries, as well as the toxic substances that the 300 companies established nearby pour into the river.
Since 1998, about 5,000 tons of trash sent to Los Laureles, the biggest dump in the state of Jalisco, feeds a stream of leachate, or liquid that leaches from a landfill, which in turn seeps into the Santiago. This occurs at about 24 liters a second, according to Gerardo Bernache, an academic at CIESAS, a research institute in Guadalajara.
By the time visitors reach Juanacatlán, they have seen everything. But even there, they are shocked to see a wall of foam, and their noses are hit with the stench of rotten eggs emanating from over 1,000 pollutants detected in the Santiago river. The landscape there inlcudes a motorway to Guadalajara, which crosses the water, and a parking lot built on what was once the river bed.
It is what the organizers have dubbed the Horror Tour.
--------------------
Mexico's Santiago River Is Slowly Turning to a Chernobyl-Like Disaster
Mar 02, 2020
Santiago has been recognized by the officials of Mexico for its massive pollution for so many years. Miguel Angel Lopez Rocha, an 8-year-old boy, plunged into the stream in Santiago in the year 2008. He managed to make it out of the tributary but ended up having seizures and was vomiting the same day.
According to the National Human Rights Commission, he passed away a few days later due to arsenic poisoning he got from the stream.
The issue of the pollution of the river was acknowledged after Rocha's death and the state decided to request a study on it. The report of the Mexican Institute for Water Technology in 2011, discovered that the stream was highly polluted and had a high amount of chemicals such as arsenic, cyanide, nickel, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
After two years, the representatives, who established an agreement under the first North American trade agreement, examined Santiago's pollution and its neighboring Lake Chapala at the demand of their local communities. The investigation discovered that there was a failure in monitoring and implementation including the suspected proof of implementing an ecological restoration plan created for the region.
https://www.latinpost.com/articles/143863/20200302/santiago-river-mexico-slowly-turning-symbol-water-pollution.htm
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'A Slow-Motion Chernobyl': How Lax Laws Turned a River into a Disaster
2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/world/americas/mexico-environment-trade.html
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Grande de Santiago River
The Grande de Santiago River (Spanish: Río Grande de Santiago) is one of the longest rivers in Mexico,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_de_Santiago_River
Pollution
Less than fifty years ago the river was a place to fish, bathe, and swim.[citation needed] It is now a river full of pollutants. The Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA) found over a thousand different chemicals in the main channel and its tributaries. These substances included semi-volatile and volatile organic compounds, such as phthalates (hormonal disruptors), phenols (compounds that affect neuronal development), toluene (a neurotoxin), and carcinogenic flame retardants. This river is one of the most polluted in Mexico.[citation needed]
In February 2008 an eight-year-old boy, Miguel Angel Lopez Rocha, died after he fell into the river. Rocha fell near the El Salto Falls. He died nineteen days later. His autopsy indicated heavy metal poison was the reason for his death. This brought attention to the severe contamination of the river. After this unfortunate incident the local community organized a group called "Un Salto de Vida" ("A Leap for Life"), which sponsored the second National Assembly on Environmental Impacts held in El Salto in May 2009.
----------------------
Pollution whips up hazardous foam in Mexican river
2015
Activists say Mexico's Santiago River, among the dirtiest in Latin America, is making people sick.
https://phys.org/news/2015-12-pollution-hazardous-foam-mexican-river.html
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Imperial County’s Border Crisis: New River, Air Pollution
Monday, February 25, 2019
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/feb/25/imperial-countys-border-crisis-new-river-air-pollu/
-----------------------
Jalisco’s new governor announces Santiago river clean-up
2018
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/governor-announces-santiago-river-clean-up/
Over 3.4 billion pesos will be invested in correcting 'shameful example' of environmental abuse
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A Mexican kayaker is on a mission to clean up the Xochimilco canals
04-02-2022
On the Xochimilco canals in Mexico City’s floating gardens, 66-year-old Omar Menchaca cleans up garbage after the messy tourist.
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/environment/xochimilco-canals-mexican-kayaker-clean-up/
-----------------
Monitoring one of the most polluted rivers in the world
https://www.s-can.at/environmental-monitoring/item/185-monitoring-one-of-the-most-polluted-rivers-in-the-world
The Atoyac River in Mexico is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It is so contaminated, mainly by industrial polluters, that the river is in a constantly toxic situation. Therefore, it is important to find out where the pollution comes from, in order to take further action to protect the river and the people. Since December 2017 s::can has been operating 12 monitoring systems in 9 stations along the Atoyac River as a "Data as a Service" project for IPN CIEEMAD (Instituto Politécnico Nacional), financed by the government of the state of Puebla (SDRSOT). In order to measure the trends of water quality and to investigate the origin of industrial pollution, 15 to 20 parameters are being measured by s::can equipment. All measured data is collected and analyzed in s::can's cloud-based central monitoring system, called "moni::cloud".
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Chemical Quality of Waters of the Atoyac-Verde River As It Passes Through Forest Ecosystems of Oaxaca, Mexico
08 March 2022
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11270-022-05515-x
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Mexico on the Vanguard for Rights of Nature
2017
https://www.earthlawcenter.org/blog-entries/2017/11/mexico-on-the-vanguard-for-rights-of-nature
Upholding Legal Rights for the Atoyac River
This river, also known as the Balsas River, flows through the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala and has been ranked as one of the three most polluted rivers in Mexico. In the state of Puebla, 2.3 million people are directly affected by the contamination of the river. Each day, 146 tonnes of organic waste are dumped into it, along with 62.8 tonnes of suspended solids and 14 kilograms of heavy metals.
Threats to the river include the textile, metalworking and petrochemical industries, as well as over-diversion and dams. The restoration of this river will restore fish populations, wildlife habitat and clean water over a vast area, including within the Sierra Madre del Sur.
Environmental leaders have drawn attention to the impairment of the Atoyac River, and several positive developments have resulted. For example, Conagua (the National Water Commission) has sanctioned 34 companies for uncontrolled effluent dumping into the river. Additionally, the Council of Puebla, headed by Mayor Luis Banck, established the commitment "Vive Atoyac," which aims to recover and clean up the Atoyac River Basin in the stretch of the Municipality of Puebla over the next 15 years.
Despite these gains, the river continues to suffer from poor health. Local advocates believe that establishing rights for the Atoyac will modernize the legal dynamic between human and waterways and provide the permanent protections that this river needs.
-----------------
Atoyac River Study
2015
www.mestech.ie/2015/12/passive-sampling-project-atoyac-river-study/
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Bacterial Pollution in River Waters and Gastrointestinal Diseases
2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451930/
Abstract
Currently, one of Mexico’s most severe environmental problems is the high levels of pollution of many of its rivers. The present article focuses on the relationship between total coliform bacteria levels and the increase of human digestive tract diseases in the highly polluted Atoyac River in the central Mexican states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. Pollution has become a potential health hazard for people living in nearby river communities. Based on data collected from six of the most contaminated riverside municipalities, two environmental models were developed taking into consideration the health of the entire population, not simply that of its individual members. Such models estimate a health-disease function that confirm the link between Atoyac River pollution and the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases. The causal relation between pollution and gastrointestinal disease incentivizes the creation of epidemiological and public health programs aimed at reducing the environmental health impact of the pollution associated with the Atoyac River. The results presented here are the first of their kind of this river and will serve as basis for future research exploring other similarly contaminated riparian communities. As the causes of pollution are directly related to the economic development and population growth of the region, further research should be conducted for prevention of diseases, educational programs, water remediation and conservation programs that will have a positive impact on the quality of life of the population presently at risk.
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11 firms closed for pollution infractions
2015
Atoyac River called 'highly toxic' in 2014 Greenpeace study
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/11-firms-closed-pollution-infractions/
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The sudden disappearance of the Rio Atoyac in Veracruz
2016
http://geo-mexico.com/?tag=rivers
The River Atoyac, a river more than 120 kilometers (75 miles) long, in the state of Veracruz, has suddenly dried up. The dramatic disappearance of the river is believed to be due to the collapse of the roof of a cavern in the underlying limestone. This caused the formation of a narrow sinkhole, 30 meters (100 feet) long, that now swallows the river and diverts its water underground.
The collapse happened on Sunday 28 February; residents of the small ranch town of San Fermín heard a thunderous noise at the time. Within 48 hours, the river had disappeared.
The River Atoyac rises on the slopes of the Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest peak. Unfortunately, the cavern collapse occurred only 3 kilometers from the river’s source, leaving almost all of its course dry, with potentially serious consequences for up to 10,000 people living in the river basin who have now lost their usual water supply.
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Divers React to Mike Young Exploring Caves in Mexico
Feb 25, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSZASL4mJlE
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Ancient Caves - Exploring Devils Hole
2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGTKKws3gM
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DIVERS REACT TO DEVIL'S HOLE DEATHS (a story by MrBallen)
2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0T7StMqQUQ
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DIVERS REACT TO BODIES FOUND CHAINED TOGETHER UNDERWATER
Nov 5, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbRFCzTczNw
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Divers React to gorgeous cave about to be destroyed in Mexico
Jul 8, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPzoyngdl-g
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PICS: Mexican underwater archaeology site is imperilled
20 Feb 2018
https://www.news24.com/news24/pics-mexican-underwater-archaeology-site-is-imperilled-20180220
Mexico City — Pollution is threatening the recently mapped Sac Actun cave system in the Yucatan Peninsula, a vast underground network that experts in Mexico say could be the most important underwater archaeological site in the world.
Subaquatic archaeologist Guillermo de Anda says the cave system's historical span is likely unrivaled. Some of the oldest human remains on the continent have been found there, dating back more than 12 000 years, and now-extinct animal remains push the horizon back to 15 000 years.
He says researchers found a human skull that was already covered in rainwater limestone deposits long before the cave system flooded around 9 000 years ago.
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World's 'Most Important Underwater Archaeological Site' Under Threat From Pollution, Development
2018
https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2018-02-22-sac-actun-caves-archaeological-site-pollution
This undated photo released by Mexico's National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) shows a diver from the Great Mayan Aquifer project looking at human remains believed to be from the Pleistocene era, in the Sac Actun underwater cave system, where Mayan and Pleistocene bones and cultural artifacts have been found submerged, near Tulum, Mexico. Mexican experts said Monday, Feb. 19, 2018, that the recently mapped Sac Actun cave system "is probably the most important underwater archaeological site in the world," but is threatened by pollution.
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World’s longest underground river flows deep beneath the Yucatán Peninsula
2014
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=10921
The caverns of the Yucatán Peninsula were formed as a result of the
slow solution of limestone over thousands of years by percolating,
slightly acidic, rainwater. In some cases, cave formations, such as
stalactites and stalagmites, have later grown in the caves, formed
drip-by-drip from the slow deposition of calcium carbonate from
calcium-saturated ground water.
Because the average elevation of the Yucatán Peninsula is only a few
meters above sea level, the water in many of the caves is “layered”,
with a lens of freshwater overlying a layer of salt water. Rainwater
that soaks into the ground becomes ground water, which then moves slowly
along the watertable to eventually reach the ocean.
Cave researchers are worried that tourist developments in the Yucatán
Peninsula will have adverse impacts on underground water systems, both
in terms of water quantity (because of the amounts of fresh water extracted for domestic and tourist use) and in terms of water quality,
because even point sources of water pollution (such as excess
fertilizers from a golf course) could contaminate underground water
supplies over a wide area.
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Mexico City's Invisible Rivers
2016
https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/06/mexico-citys-invisible-rivers/486302/
One group is fighting to uncover the 45 rivers that flow under the Aztec capital, hidden underground for decades.
Millions of vehicles drive over the Piedad River in Mexico City every day.
Paved over in 1942, what was once one of the biggest rivers in the area now flows under the Miguel Alemán Viaduct, a major east-west highway. Traffic at peak times is so bad that cars average a speed of six kilometers per hour—less than four miles per hour.
But now, a group of experts is arguing that the solution to the traffic chaos is to return to the past, tearing down the overpass and reopening the river to the light of day.
This group of academics, designers, urban planners, environmentalists, and artists have been pushing for seven years to transform Mexico City by rescuing all of the 45 now-covered rivers in the capital's Anahuac watershed. The first phase would involve uncovering about 9.3 miles of the Piedad River, now part of a drainage network.
“This project shatters paradigms. It proposes to tear down a private road, which you cannot use unless you have a car. What we propose is that we remove the cars, open the pipes, and treat the water. We need to transform the model of our city,” says urban biologist Delfín Montañana.
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More Than Half of Mexican Rivers Severely Contaminated: Report
2017
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/More-Than-Half-of-Mexican-Rivers-Severely-Contaminated-Report-20170313-0026.html
The main sources of contamination in the rivers comes from wastewater dumped into the urban and rural sewage systems by corporations.
Sixty percent of the 51 main rivers of Mexico — or 35 of them — are heavily polluted, according to the 2016 Atlas of Water carried out by the National Commission of Water.
The rivers Balsas, Santiago, Panuco, Grijalva-Usumacinta, Turbio, Papaloapan, Coatzacoalcos and Tonala — representing 87 percent of the surface water of the country — are among the most contaminated, the study found.
The main sources of contamination of the rivers come from wastewater dumped into the urban and rural sewage systems of Mexican towns, as they are plainly discharged without the appropriate treatment after being used by several industries, including mining.
Mercury, lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium, arsenic, cyanide, toluene, benzene, chloroform and even compounds such as vinyl chloride and other endocrine disruptors like DEHP were found in the water at abnormal levels.
In the region of the Valley of Mexico, which comprises four states, 36 percent of the water is extremely contaminated.
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Workers remove trash from the Grijalva river.
2017
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/river-a-garbage-dump-for-15-municipalities/
River a garbage dump for 15 municipalities
State, federal authorities have been removing 22 tonnes of trash daily
Heavy
rain in Chiapas means even more solid waste pollution in the Grijalva
river and the Sumidero Canyon, where 29 cubic meters of trash, close to
22 tonnes, are being removed every day due to recent rainfall.
The
source of the trash — mostly plastic, discarded wood and construction
waste — are Tuxtla Gutiérrez and 14 other municipalities located on the
river, which begins in Guatemalan, meanders through Chiapas and Tabasco
and pours into the Gulf of Mexico, picking up garbage and sewage along
the way.
The state government accuses residents of throwing trash into streams and drains, which in turn carry it to the river.
The
state Civil Protection office has warned citizens against throwing
garbage on the streets or leaving it out when garbage trucks fail to
show (although no alternative was offered should that occur) because it
too will finish up in the river.
Another strategy to
reduce the garbage volume is to monitor riverfront properties to ensure
trash is not being deposited on the banks of the river. The state has
announced it will fine those who do.
Along with the
trash problem, there are at least 135 different locations along the
Grijalva river where untreated wastewater is discharged.
The
source of 30% of the wastewater is residential while farming activities
produce 55%. The state government did not indicate where the other 15%
comes from, nor how its plans to deal with the contamination.
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The Deadly Rio Lerma
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-deadly-rio-lerma-pueblo-nuevo-mexico
The Rio Lerma (Chignahuapan) in El Salto, Mexico, is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It’s covered in white foam, and falling in can kill.
In 2008 an eight year old boy named Miguel was kicking a ball with his friends alongside an industrial waterway in northwestern Mexico. The ball rolled into the water, and Miguel walked to the riverside to pick it up. When he reached down, he accidentally fell into the river. After grabbing the ball, he immediately pulled himself out. Later that night, Miguel began to vomit. He was sent to the nearby hospital, where he fell into a coma. 18 days later, Miguel died from arsenic poisoning.
Miguel had fallen into the Rio Lerma (Chignahuapan) in El Salto, Mexico, one of the most polluted rivers in Mexico. His brief contact with the water was enough to kill him.
El Salto is a former European colony that was declared an industrial area in 1964 by the Mexican government. Dozens of industries have since located themselves in El Salto, including Hershey’s, Honda, Pepsi, Huntsman (a chemical production company), and producers of plastic, asphalt, heavy metals, chemicals, textiles, petroleum, electronics, herbicides, and many other toxic substances.
Enrique Enciso Rivera, a resident of El Salto told Atlas Obscura, “to El Salto [industrialization] seemed like ‘progress’ without knowing that it would set up the foundations for our own demise. It killed the longest river in Mexico, the Chignahuapan (the old word of the Nahuas that means ‘the power of nine rivers’).”
Rivera isn’t exaggerating: the industries killed the river. As the companies moved in and discharged untreated waste, including lead, mercury, arsenic, phosphorus, and cyanide, directly into the river it became covered in a white foam and the fish died off in mass numbers. In total, more than 1000 different chemicals are deposited into the river each year.
It wasn’t just the wildlife that was effected. The town’s health began to suffer. Respiratory disease and kidney failure became two of the largest causes of death in the town. Supplies of food and water were poisoned with arsenic and mercury. Consequently, the cancer rate in El Salto grew to be nine times Mexico’s average. One El Salto woman lost three of her children, a daughter in law, and a cousin to cancer. One girl’s neck became rough and pitch-black, like the skin of a gorilla, from the pollution. When it looked like it couldn’t get any worse, it did.
Signed in 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) resulted in fewer environmental regulations for transnational corporations operating in Mexico. After NAFTA was signed, environmental inspections on businesses in Mexico dropped by 45%. As a result, the environment became increasingly worse–so bad that modern-day Mexico spends over 10% of its GDP cleaning up environmental damage.
The impact on El Salto was devastating. The number of industries in the town skyrocketed to 300, the majority being American-run maquiladoras. As of now, 80% of the companies in El Salto release their toxic discharge into the water at a rate of 215 gallons per second, yet not a single fine has been cast due to lack of regulation. Rivera says that NAFTA sparked “an aggressive process of reindustrialization, with maquiladoras, and non-Mexican key industries…this worsened the amount of environmental damage, in our case the very devastating hydrological damage. It dug the tomb for traditional agriculture; the old people went to the businesses and the young people deserted the fields.”
In short, says Enrique Enciso Rivera, “El Salto since its foundation is a very local example of what not to do in the world.”
There may be some small good news for El Salto. A group called Un Salto de Vida, whose members include Enrique Rivera, is fighting the contamination via protests and activism. The cost of fully cleaning up the mess is no laughing matter - $643 million - and regulating the actions of El Salto’s transnational corporations must be an integral part of the solution. Perhaps, with the support of the international community, the people of El Salto can eventually have their river back.
---------------------------------------------
River of Death
http://interactive.fusion.net/river-of-death/
An 8-year-old boy falls into one of Mexico’s most contaminated rivers. Eighteen days later, he’s dead. Fusion investigates how factories--many of them U.S. owned--get away with illegally dumping toxic chemicals into one of the country’s main waterways, with potentially deadly consequences.
It was a warm sunny afternoon in 2008 in the dusty suburb of La
Azucena. Eight-year-old Miguel Ángel Lopez Rocha was kicking a ball with
his friends. A group of boys were playing near the Ahogado Canal, a
tributary to the Santiago River and a recipient of factory discharge,
that cuts through one of the most prosperous industrial zones in Mexico,
located in El Salto, Jalisco.
Someone kicked the ball into the canal. It was Lopez Rocha’s turn
to retrieve it. As he reached down to pick it up, he tripped and fell
directly into the backwaters of the canal.
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Mexico City’s Last Living River
2017
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/31/mexico-city-last-living-river-pollution-water/
As urbanization spreads, pollution threatens a precious natural resource at the outer edge of the metropolis.
The most populous city in North America has only one living river not confined to underground pipes: the fragile Río Magdalena.
The forest ecosystem that nurtures it is the same one that supports the majority of Mexico City’s water sources, including the vital Cutzamala reservoir system. Though the Magdalena feeds into the water grid, it turns from clear to sludgy shortly after it makes contact with the periphery of the city. The river becomes a “disgusting sewer,” says photographer Luc Forsyth, as soon as it hits the urban sprawl. “I have never seen so dramatic a shift in a river within a few hundred meters.” Urbanites living along its banks could easily go their whole lives unaware that the Magdalena remains pristine just a few miles upstream. Farmers and shepherds whose rural countryside the Magdalena passes through have compelling incentives to protect the river.
Much is at stake. “People make the mistake of thinking the source of their water is the aquifer,” Forsyth says. But “the source of their drinking water is the forest—the ecosystem that feeds the Río Magdalena.”
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Three-eyed fish and two-headed turtles? The stench of this river spanning U.S.-Mexico border is legendary
2018
{Camouflage and dirty tactics}.
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-new-river-20180502-story.html
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Coca-Cola sucking wells dry in indigenous Mexican town - forcing residents to buy bottled water
2017
Bottling plant 'consumes more than a million litres of water a day'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coca-cola-mexico-wells-dry-bottled-water-sucking-san-felipe-ecatepec-chiapas-a7953026.html
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Sumidero Canyon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumidero_Canyon
Sumidero Canyon is a deep natural canyon located just north of the city of Chiapa de Corzo in the state of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.
Pollution problems
Via the Grijalva River, the wastewater of about 552,000 people in seventeen municipalities finds its way through the canyon according to park director Edda González del Castilla, with most coming from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapa de Corzo, Berriozábal and Chicoasén. Much of the sewage comes into the Grijalva via the Sabinal River, which carries most of the waste water of the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. In addition, trash and raw sewage makes its way into the river from the various tributary streams. Agricultural waste comes from the farms that line the river and its tributaries.
The most obvious pollution is garbage, especially plastic containers, which mostly comes from area homes and businesses tossed onto the ground or in streams, especially from Chiapa de Corzo and Tuxtla Gutiérrez due to the lack of environmental awareness according to Conanp. The quantity of this trash reaches its height during the rainy season, when runoff and swollen streams can carry more of it into the Grijalva. While bottles and other plastic are what the casual visitor generally notices, other indicators include the overgrowth of water lilies (due to high levels of fecal matter) and dead animals. However, this accounts for only about five percent of the total tonnage of waste that comes into the river each year. Somewhere between 80 and 90% of the waste solids found in the river is branches, wood, rocks, sediment and other debris from legal and illegal logging, which cause deforestation . These mostly come into the river during the rainy season, especially from the Villa Flores and Villa Corzo municipalities. Only a small part of the solid waste is visible on the surface of the water, most is hidden underneath.
As the solids flow along the Grijalva, they are constricted by the narrow channel of the canyon and then by the presence of the Chicoasén Dam.[14] This is particularly true at a point called “El Tapón” (The Plug), where two currents of water meet just before the reservoir back up of water from the Dam.
It is estimated that about 5000 tons of trash accumulate each year, and the river is considered to be one of the five most polluted in Mexico. 3700 tons of solids were extracted from the canyon area in 2010 alone. Many fish have died off or have developed abnormally due to contamination by fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. This threatens the native American crocodiles as the agrochemicals kill off and poison the fish they need to eat. In May 2011, the Fédération Internationale de Natation decided cancel its annual swim marathon in the canyon as they claimed that pollution levels in the river posed a risk to swimmers’ health. The Comisión Nacional del Agua and the government of Chiapas disputed this, presenting their own test results stating that levels were below such levels.
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Water quality of the Grijalva river on the Chiapas - Tabascob order
2018
http://ri.ujat.mx/bitstream/20.500.12107/979/1/1334-947-A.pdf
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Usumacinta River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usumacinta_River
The Usumacinta River (Spanish pronunciation: [usuma'sinta]; named after the Howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the Salinas River, also known as the Chixoy, or the Negro, which descends from the Sierra Madre de Guatemala. It defines part of the border between Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, then continues its northwesterly course, meandering through the Mexican state of Tabasco to the Gulf of Mexico.
History
The river and its tributaries were important trade routes for the ancient Maya civilization. Yaxchilan and Piedras Negras, two of the most powerful cities of the Maya Classic Period, lie along its banks.
Before roads, such as the Border Highway constructed by the Mexican Government in the early 1990s, penetrated the jungle, the river was the only means of travel in this region. Huge trunks of hardwood trees were floated downriver to the state of Tabasco.
In the 1980s, many Guatemalan refugees fled across the river to relative safety in Mexico. Other groups of refugees and Guatemalan guerrillas formed the so-called CPR communities in the jungle on the Guatemalan shores, hiding from the government until the peace accords of the nineties.
Frans and Trudi Blom first brought the idea of conservation to the watershed in the 1950s by proposing that a section of the Selva Lacandona be reserved for the Lacandon Maya. Their idea was as much the preservation of culture as of habitat, and this principle – that indigenous integrity and habitat are inextricably linked in the watershed – should help guide any future conservation planning. Conservationists working in the region, such as Nacho March, Ron Nigh, Fernando Ochoa, Roan Balas McNab and others, have all acknowledged and upheld the principle in their work.
The first large hydroelectric project on the Usumacinta in "Boca del Cerro", Tenosique, Tabasco, was proposed in the 1980s, and would have stretched all the way up the Pasion and Lacantun tributaries, flooding Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan, among other known and unknown Maya sites. At that time, the Guatemalan shore was held by rebels, whose presence discouraged illegal logging, poaching, and looting. It also discouraged dam engineers. In 1985 Jefferey Wilkerson's groundbreaking article in National Geographic brought the river and its glories to widespread public consciousness for the first time. Additionally, the Guatemalan journalist Victor Perera wrote about the river in The Nation and in his books, The Last Lords of Palenque and Unfinished Conquest, and Jan de Vos chronicled the region in his magisterial series of histories. Ultimately the hydro project failed under the weight of its own disincentives: siltation, geology, seismic activity, distance from markets, politics, etc., but the outcry from conservationists, archeologists, writers, and the public helped. It also established a pattern.
A thriving seasonal business in wilderness tourism began after the Wilkerson article. The river and its environs became a favorite destination of river travelers, amateur Mayanists and archaeologists, birders and wildlife tourists.
Carlos Salinas de Gortari proposed a smaller but still monumental hydro project in 1990, and completed the periferico surrounding the Montes Azules reserve. Articles in The New York Times and op-ed pieces by Homero Aridjis suggesting a binational reserve for the area, helped defeat this incarnation of the idea.
In the late 1990s, a consortium of scientists, and government and non-governmental organizations met in San Cristóbal de las Casas, under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Florida, to identify the extent and types of habitat remaining the region, and to draw maps of the watershed. The conference addressed many of the jurisdictional and administrative questions that still bedevil the idea.
The Zapatista Rebellion in 1994 and 1995, and the Guatemalan peace accords in 1996, reshaped the political lines in the watershed. As a direct consequence, and with the dramatic fall of the peso, bandits began robbing raft trips, ending wilderness travel in the corridor. One of the most promising tourist activities, with the least potential impact and the most possibility for helping conservation, archaeology, and cultural preservation, ended. Illegal activity of all types took over the corridor.
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Río Culiacán
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_Culiac%C3%A1n
The Culiacán River is a river in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico. Its course measures 87.5 km long, and its basin covers 17 200 km², with an annual flow of 3 280 million Hm3.
The river is formed at the confluence of the Tamazula River and the Humaya River, near the town of Culiacán. It runs along the Pacific coastal plain, initially flowing westward to the town of Navolato, where its course turns south, finally ending at the bay next to the Lucernilla peninsula in the Pacific Ocean.
It has been indicated that the Culiacán River has a certain level of contamination due to discharges of water contaminated by industrial processes.
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Pánuco River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A1nuco_River
The Pánuco River, also known as the Río de Canoas, is a river in Mexico fed by several tributaries including the Moctezuma River and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.
Ecology
The Montezuma swordtail is one of nine species of swordtail found only in the Pánuco River basin
The Pánuco River basin is rich in fish. There are almost 100 fish species, including a few that were introduced. There are many endemics: six Nosferatu cichlid species, five Tampichthys minnows, nine "northern swordtails" (genus Xiphophorus), three Gambusia species, two Ictalurus catfish, the bluetail goodeid (Ataeniobius toweri), dusky splitfin (Goodea gracilis), relict splitfin (Xenoophorus captivus), pygmy shiner (Notropis tropicus), checkered pupfish (Cualac tessellatus), broadspotted molly (Poecilia latipunctata), Tamasopo cichlid (Herichthys tamasopoensis), Calabazas shiner (Notropis calabazas) and fleshylip buffalo (Ictiobus labiosus). Additionally, a couple of still-undescribed species are known from this river basin. A few of the endemics are seriously threatened.
------------------------------
Air Pollutant Characterization in Tula Industrial Corridor, Central Mexico, during the MILAGRO Study
2013
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2013/521728/
Abstract
Pollutant emissions and their contribution to local and regional air
quality at the industrial area of Tula were studied during a four-week
period as part of the
MILAGRO initiative. A recurrent shallow stable layer was
observed in the morning favoring air pollutants accumulation in the
lower 100 m
atmospheric layer. In the afternoon the mixing layer height reached
3000 m, along with a featuring low level jet which was responsible of
transporting air
pollutants at regional scales. Average PM10 at Jasso (JAS) and Tepeji (TEP) was 75.1 and 36.8 μg/m3, respectively
while average PM2.5 was 31.0 and 25.7 μg/m3. JAS was highly impacted by local limestone dust, while TEP was a
receptor of major sources of combustion emissions with 70% of the PM10 constituted by PM2.5. Average hourly aerosol light absorption
was 22 Mm−1, while aerosol scattering (76 Mm−1) was higher compared to a rural site but much lower than
at Mexico City.
C values in the epiphyte Tillandsia recurvata show that the
emission plume directly affects the SW sector of Mezquital Valley and
is
then constrained by a mountain range preventing its dispersion. Air
pollutants may exacerbate acute and chronic adverse health effects in
this region.
--------------------------
10 Causes of Water Pollution in Mexico
May 4, 2022
1. Wastewater
2. Urban and household pollution
3. Sewage water
4. Industrial contamination
5. Agricultural pollution and Livestock contamination
6. Oil Spills
7. Cigarette Butts
8. Increase in Hotel and Restaurants/Multinational companies construction
9. Water Liberalization
10. Climate Change
https://earthandhuman.org/causes-of-water-pollution-in-mexico/
--------------------------
Bacterial Pollution in River Waters and Gastrointestinal Diseases
2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5451930/
-------------------------------
Statistics on Water in Mexico, 2010 edition
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/ceea/archive/Water/EAM2010Ingles_Baja.pdf
-------------------------------
Assessing water lead contamination in Torreón, México:
http://sistemanodalsinaloa.gob.mx/archivoscomprobatorios/_7_proyectosinvestigacion/15665.pdf
------------------------
Water pollution in the Rio Conchos of northern Mexico
2004
https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/ENV04/ENV04017FU.pdf
------------------------
Contamination of the Conchos River in Mexico: Does It Pose a Health Risk to Local Residents?
2010
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898037/
------------------------
Water Levels Declining in Areas Along San Pedro River
2016
https://www.usgs.gov/news/water-levels-declining-areas-along-san-pedro-river-near-sierra-vista-arizona
-----------------------
Heavy metals in water of the San Pedro River in Chihuahua, Mexico and its potential health risk
2008
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662230/
-----------------------
Mexico warns Arizona of toxic waste spill into river
2014
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2014/09/23/mexico-warns-arizona-of-toxic-waste-spill-into-san-pedro-river/
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities are testing water from the San Pedro River in southern Arizona that may be contaminated with toxic waste that traveled north after a massive copper mine spill in Mexico this summer.
Mexican officials on Monday issued a binational alert that contaminated water had made its way into the San Pedro River, which runs north to Pinal County in Arizona.
The contamination came from Buenavista del Cobre mine in Cananea, said Carlos Jesus Arias, director of the Sonora state civil protection agency.
Officials have not said how much waste leaked, or what exactly was in the spill.
-----------------------
Chemical partitioning of sediment contamination by heavy metals in the San Pedro River, Sonora, Mexico
2007
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3184/095422907X198013
-----------------------
Mercury transport and bioaccumulation in riverbank communities of the Alvarado Lagoon System, Veracruz State, Mexico.
2007
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17850849
Abstract
--------------------
Hexachlorocyclohexanes, Cyclodiene, Methoxychlor, and Heptachlor in Sediment of the Alvarado Lagoon System in Veracruz, Mexico
2007
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/76/pdf
Abstract:
Organochlorine pesticides are used in agricultural areas and health
campaigns, which reach the coastal environment through rivers, drains,
runoffs, and atmospheric transport. In aquatic environments, they are
adsorbed by particles of organic matter, depositing themselves in
sediments in the bottom of these bodies, in which benthic organisms of
commercial interest for human consumption inhabit. The objective of this
research was to evaluate the concentration of organochlorine pesticides
in sediment from the Alvarado lagoon system in Veracruz, Mexico. In 20
out of 41 sampling sites analyzed, 11 banned organochlorine pesticides
were identified, such as hexachlorocyclohexane(HCH), lindane, aldrin,
dieldrin, and endrin.The highest concentrations were as follows:
aldrin:46.05ngg−1; β-HCH:42.11ngg−1;
α-HCH:38.44ngg−1;gammaγ-HCH(lindane): 34.20 ng g−1; δ-HCH: 31.61 ng g−1;
methoxychlor: 29.40 ng g−1; heptachlor epoxide: 25.70 ng g−1;
heptachlor: 24.11 ng g−1; dieldrin: 22.13 ng g−1; endrin: 21.23 ng g−1;
endrin aldehyde: 12.40 ng g−1. Concentrations reported are prohibited in
international standards. There is a strong need to further evaluate,
with scientific studies, the level of concentration reported by impact of
compounds widely used in agricultural livestock activities.
-------------------
Pánuco River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A1nuco_River
Ecology
The
Pánuco River basin is rich in fish. There are almost 100 fish species,
including a few that were introduced. There are many endemics: six
Nosferatu cichlid species, five Tampichthys minnows, nine "northern
swordtails" (genus Xiphophorus), three Gambusia species, two Ictalurus
catfish, the bluetail goodeid (Ataeniobius toweri), dusky splitfin
(Goodea gracilis), relict splitfin (Xenoophorus captivus), pygmy shiner
(Notropis tropicus), checkered pupfish (Cualac tessellatus),
broadspotted molly (Poecilia latipunctata), Tamasopo cichlid (Herichthys
tamasopoensis), Calabazas shiner (Notropis calabazas) and fleshylip
buffalo (Ictiobus labiosus). Additionally, a couple of
still-undescribed species are known from this river basin. A few
of the endemics are seriously threatened.
------------------
Contamination of the Conchos River in Mexico: Does It Pose a Health Risk to Local Residents?
2010
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898037/
-------------------
Toxic Threads: Under Wraps
2018
Exposing the textile industry's role in polluting
Mexico's rivers
https://storage.googleapis.com/planet4-netherlands-stateless/2018/06/Toxic-threads-Mexico.pdf
------------------------
Rivers Network - Mexico (Map)
https://www.riversnetwork.org/rbo/index.php/river-blogs/central-america
------------------------------
Water Problems in Mexico
http://www.explorandomexico.com/about-mexico/8/297
-------------------------------
Indoor Air Pollution in Mexico
-------------------------------
Indoor Air Pollution in Mexico
2011
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221917200_Indoor_Air_Pollution_in_Mexico
---------------------------
Air that kills children
2019
https://www.idahostatejournal.com/opinion/columns/air-that-kills-children/article_f0e6ca67-c60f-5d81-9ca6-712fd50d0e6e.html
Overpopulation,
poverty, a lack of education and greed play large parts in the
pollution problem. Chiapas, Mexico, where I have volunteered the last
two winters is the poorest area in the country. It has serious issues
with water pollution (streams can be open sewers), and the national
government does little to ensure the region solves the problem.
------------------------------
Environmental Threats and Conservation in Southern Mexico (2000)
https://planeta.com/0004mexicotropics/
------------------------------
7 Environmental Problems in Mexico Very Serious
The 7 most important environmental problems in Mexico
1- Air pollution
2- Deforestation
3- Contamination of water by chemical spills
4- Water contamination by household drainage
5- Species in danger of extinction
6- Plagues
7- Fishing overexploitation
https://www.lifepersona.com/7-environmental-problems-in-mexico-very-serious
------------------------------
The 10 dirtiest beaches in Mexico and the effects of pollution on your health
2018
https://themazatlanpost.com/2018/10/13/the-10-dirtiest-beaches-in-mexico-and-the-effects-of-pollution-on-your-health/
1)
Papagayo Beach, Acapulco, Guerrero. On this beach, the level of
contaminants is found in 198 of 200 which is the limit before it is
determined that the water of that place is not suitable for submerging.
2)
Nuevo Vallarta II beach, in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, with 191.
According to representatives of the Riviera Nayarit, the poor results in
the water measurement were due to the fact that between June 11 and 19,
2018, a period of the one that took the sample, the hurricane Bud
affected the coasts, “generating a series of intercontinental washes”,
because in a normal measurement the pollution levels do not exceed 10
bacteria per liter.
3) Icacos Beach, in the area of Acapulco, Guerrero, with 189.
4) Copacabana Beach, in Acapulco, Guerrero, with 183.
5) Chuquiapan Beach, located in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, with 173.
6) Bucerías Beach, in Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit, with 165. Bucerías was also affected by Hurricane Bud.
7) Chacala Beach, in the Compostela area, Nayarit, with 163.
8) Hornos Beach, located in Acapulco, Guerrero, with 158.
9) Caletilla Beach, in Acapulco, Guerrero, with 154.
10) Carabali Beach, in the area of Acapulco, Guerrero, with 152.
------------------------------
Mexican government reveals list of Mexico’s dirtiest beaches
2018
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2018/07/mexican-government-reveals-list-of-mexicos-dirtiest-beaches/
------------------------------
Isla Mujeres and Cancun beaches, amongst the dirtiest in Mexico -COFEPRIS-
2019
http://therivieramayatimes.com/isla-mujeres-and-cancun-beaches-amongst-the-dirtiest-in-mexico-cofepris/
------------------------------
Most contaminated beaches with feces in Mexico April 2019
2019
https://themazatlanpost.com/2019/04/15/most-contaminated-beaches-with-feces-in-mexico-april-2019/
-----------------------------
Assessment
of pollution of the Boca de Camichin Estuary in Nayarit (Mexico) and
its influence on oxidative stress in Crassostrea corteziensis oysters
2016
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/302059648_Assessment_of_pollution_of_the_Boca_de_Camichin_Estuary_in_Nayarit_Mexico_and_its_influence_on_oxidative_stress_in_Crassostrea_corteziensis_oysters
------------------------------
Diversity of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in the Sediments of a Hypernutrified Subtropical Estuary: Bahía del Tóbari, Mexico
1 December 2006
https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/AEM.00946-06
------------------------------
E-waste In Mexico: A Case Study Of Tepic, Nayarit
2016
https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/202/35474
Abstract
In
Mexico, in the past 30 years, urban solid waste has become a serious
problem of environmental pollution and a cross cutting issue. In this
sense, the lifestyles of modern societies lead to primary consumer
dynamics of various technologies, which include electronic equipment.
Once their useful life is finished, they become waste that ends up in
open dumps. Likewise, as they are mainly composed of metals, various
substances harmful to health and producing toxic gas emission to soil,
water, air substances, waste then generate environmental and public
health problems that may be of great magnitude that deteriorate both
local and regional surroundings. This research study focuses on the
evaluation of an e-waste selective collection program called
“Reciclatron” that has been developed at higher education, as a case
study at the Autonomous University of Nayarit (UAN), Mexico. The
methodology consisted of the classification of e-waste considering the
stages of collection, characterization, quantification, recovery and
reuse, and marketing 3064.95 kg of e-waste were collected, projected to
exceed 6 tons in the next edition. This program is an opportunity to
promote the culture of prevention, environmental awareness and knowledge
in the treatment of waste for both the university community and society
as a whole.
------------------------------
Water Pollution Plagues Mexico’s Scenic Pacific Coast
2013
http://www.atl.org.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344:water-pollution-plagues-mexicos-scenic-pacific-coast&catid=114:contaminacion-del-agua&Itemid=576
The Way the Waters Flow
The magnificent El Salto Falls was the “Niagara of Mexico” but now it's flow is much diminished and the water is putrid.
A
journey through central Mexico’s industrial heart reveals a glimpse of
its pre-Colombian glory, when all waters connected to form a super
highway for the Aztecs empire. Flat boats and canoes carrying colorful
fruits and exotic food travelled the water system to Tenochtitlan, the
Aztec capital (now Mexico City). The rivers and lakes still all flow
into each other but humans now use them for quite a different purpose —
the disposal of waste.
From Mexico’s biggest lake, Lake
Chapala which is situated between Guadalajara and Mexico City, the
Santiago River begins its journey to the Pacific Coast. It moves north
through industrial zones outside of Guadalajara and the heavy industry
zone of Ocotlán.
Near Ocotlán are the twin towns of
Juanacatlán and El Salto that face one another across the Santiago River
and are connected by a bridge. Once a huge waterfall dominated the
landscape where the bridge is today and the river was the center of the
towns’ life.
The magnificent El Salto Falls was the
“Niagara of Mexico” but it has now been reduced to a putrid trickle best
avoided. In 2008 and 2009, a series of frightening images and videos
showed the El Salto Falls choked with white foam from industrial
effluents, causing the local government and industries a lot of
embarrassment.
Valentino Llanas, who has run the
grocery store across the road from the El Salto Fall bridge in
Juanacatlán, told me that until 2010 the river smelled so badly of acid
that nobody could go near. It no longer smells, but it is shallow and
the water has a slight yellow tinge.
From Ocotlán, the
Santiago flows through massive agricultural zones that produce crops
like alfalfa and tomatoes for local and international consumption.
(There’s a gigantic Wal-Mart food production center back at Ocotlán).
Twenty-four miles northeast of Tepic, the capital of Nayarit state, the
river’s flow is regulated by the Aguamilpa Hydro Electric Dam.
This region is home to communities of the Cora and Huichol Indigenous people who say the river water has been making them sick.
In
March 2012, the president of the Foundation for Defense Wirrarika of
Nayarit, Braulio Muñoz Hernandez, requested Mexicoo’s National Water
Commission to investigate the pollution level in the waters near the
dam. But so far, no study has been done of either the waters or of its
impact on the health of people living near the river.
The
Santiago also breaks off into the Huaynamota River not far from here.
This tributary river is around 174 miles long and runs southeast for
around 1,920 miles along the coast of Nayarit, an area tourists love to
visit, and eventually branches into several smaller rivers, including
the San Blas River, the San Francisco River, and the Sayulita River.
How
long it takes for pollutants to reach the coast and how concentrated
they are depends on many factors including rainfall and river water
levels, hydrological experts say. It also depends on what the factories
are flushing their waste into the rivers at given points in time, they
say. While many factories do treat their waste, many others don’t.
------------------------------
Mexican government reveals list of Mexico’s dirtiest beaches
2018
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2018/07/mexican-government-reveals-list-of-mexicos-dirtiest-beaches/
Beach-goers
beware: according to the Federal Environment Secretariat (Semarnat),
some beaches in the Pacific coast states of Guerrero, Nayarit and
Michoacán are the dirtiest in all of Mexico.
The
department has found that although all Mexican beaches are currently
within acceptable pollution levels, there are a few that are on the
brink of becoming unsuitable for recreational enjoyment.
Water
quality testing revealed that Papagayo beach in Acapulco is the
dirtiest in Mexico, at 198 fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters of water.
Anything over 200 is considered unsafe for swimming.
Papagayo is the worst of the six Acapulco beaches that made Semarnat’s list of the dirtiest 10.
Ranked
second with 191 fecal coliforms is Nuevo Vallarta II beach in Bahía de
Banderas, Nayarit, followed by Acapulco’s Icacos beach, 189, and
Copacabana beach, 183.
The only Michoacán beach to make the list is Chuquiapan in the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, scoring 173.
Two
more Nayarit beaches followed: Bucerías in Banderas Bay and Chacala in
Compostela, with test results of 165 and 163 respectively.
The list closes with three more Acapulco beaches: Hornos, Caletilla and Carabali, all testing between 152 and 158.
Environmental
authorities warn that high fecal coliform levels can cause stomach flu,
salmonella, cholera, ear inflammation, pink eye and other skin and
respiratory conditions.
Beach-goers should be aware of cold-like symptoms, fever, diarrhea and digestive upset.
-----------------------------
Swim at your peril through the murky data for Mexico’s beaches
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=9114
------------------------------
Water Pollution Plagues Mexico’s Scenic Pacific Coast
2013
http://www.atl.org.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344:water-pollution-plagues-mexicos-scenic-pacific-coast&catid=114:contaminacion-del-agua&Itemid=576
---------------------------
Beaches in Mexico Pass the Clean Test (Cleanest Mexican Beaches)
2017
https://luxurylatinamerica.com/blog/2017/04/17/10-cleanest-mexico-beaches/
-------------------------
A COOPERATIVE APPROACH (LATE 1980’S)
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/rwqcb7/water_issues/programs/new_river/historical/ch5.pdf
In a January 30, 1987, letter U.S. IBWC announced plans for a joint $1.2 million dollars New River cleanup projects follows:
-------------------------
Water Arsenic and Fluoride Contamination in Zacatecas Mexico: An Exploratory Study
-------------------------
Correlation of Arsenic and Fluoride in the groundwater for human consumption in a semiarid region of Mexico
2017
http://ciep.ing.uaslp.mx/publicaciones/17102018NAVARRO_2017.pdf
---------------------------
Concentrations of Environmental Chemicals in Urine and Blood Samples of Children from San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
2017
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28646397
Abstract
Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an appreciated tool used to evaluate human
exposure to environmental, occupational or lifestyle chemicals.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the exposure levels for
environmental chemicals in urine and blood samples of children from San
Luis Potosí, Mexico (SLP). This study identifies environmental
chemicals of concern such as: arsenic (45.0 ± 15.0 µg/g creatinine),
lead (5.40 ± 2.80 µg/dL), t,t-muconic acid (266 ± 220 µg/g creatinine),
1-hydroxypyrene (0.25 ± 0.15 µmol/mol creatinine), PBDEs (28.0 ± 15.0
ng/g lipid), and PCBs (33.0 ± 16.0 ng/g lipid). On the other hand, low
mercury (1.25 ± 1.00 µg/L), hippuric acid (0.38 ± 0.15 µg/g creatinine)
and total DDT (130 ± 35 ng/g lipid) exposure levels were found. This
preliminary study showed the tool's utility, as the general findings
revealed chemicals of concern. Moreover, this screening exhibited the
need for HBM in the general population of SLP.
-----------------------------
Plants and Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals in Agricultural Areas of Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico
2011
https://www.intechopen.com/books/environmental-contamination/plants-and-soil-contamination-with-heavy-metals-in-agricultural-areas-of-guadalupe-zacatecas-mexico
----------------------------
Mexico: Citizens, Activists Fight Against Mining in Zacatecas
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Peoples-Fight-Against-Mining-in-Zacatecas-Mexico-20180411-0010.html
The
Canadian First Majestic Silver Corp operates three mines in
Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, and pollution is harming locals and killing
cattle.
Members of the Chalchihuites Citizen Movement
(MCC) are calling on Mexico's federal government to revoke the mining
licenses granted to First Majestic Silver Corporation. The Canadian
company is currently operating three mines in the northern state of
Zacatecas, Mexico, and citizens say the company's reckless practices are
damaging the environment and the health of the locals...
-------------------------
Preliminary Atmospheric Emissions Inventory of Mercury in Mexico
https://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/conference/ei12/mexico/acosta-ruiz.pdf
ABSTRACT
A
preliminary inventory of atmospheric emissions of mercury (Hg) from
stationary sources in Mexico was prepared for the year of 1999.
Atmospheric emissions of mercury from the sources of interest in Mexico
were estimated through indirect approaches, based on annual process
throughputs for these sources, using either commonly acceptable
emission factors, available data on mercury content in feedstock or
product, best typical values of mercury concentration in oil and fuel
oil, and by using similar operations as a surrogate to estimate
potential atmospheric mercury emissions. In Mexico there is very limited
official information on atmospheric mercury emissions from the source
categories of interest. Mercury emissions are regulated in Mexico only
for incinerator facilities of hazardous waste and medical waste, and for
cement plants burning waste combustibles, but only since 1998. No
other sources are required to monitor their mercury emissions or to
analyze mercury content in feedstock or wastes. Even the ìRegistro de
Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes (RETC)î, Mexicoís equivalent
to the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory or the Pollutant Release and
Transfer Register, contained practically no data on mercury emissions or
mercury concentration in process feedstock or waste streams. This was
the case even for gold mine operations that included mercury retorts
and condensers in their process schematics or flow diagrams submitted to
the National Institute of Ecology (Instituto Nacional de Ecologia,
INE). Relevant information such as mercury content of smelters
feedstock, heavy fuel oil, diesel fuel and carbon, required to estimate
mercury emissions from potentially important sources was neither
available. For these reasons, a fundamental objective of the project
was to identify a comprehensive list of potential stationary sources of
atmospheric mercury emissions in Mexico, to provide annual process
throughputs for these sources and to estimate mercury emissions using
indirect approaches. This preliminary inventory of atmospheric emissions
of mercury from stationary sources in Mexico was prepared under
contract for the North American Commission for Environmental
Cooperation.
----------------------
Mexican Mercury Market Report
http://www3.cec.org/islandora/en/item/10100-mexican-mercury-market-report-en.pdf
---------------------
Zacatecas (Mexico) Companies Extract Hg from Surface Soil Contaminated by Ancient Mining Industries
2003
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025497726115
Abstract
In
Zacatecas, Mexico, four plants are operating to extract Ag, Au, and Hg
using CaS2O3 solution from surface soil containing tailings from the
amalgamation method used during 1550–1900. The metal ions extracted are
cemented by scrap Cu wires. Hg is separated by evaporation from the
cemented amalgam and Ag and Au are obtained from the residue. A part of
the soil to be leached was separated and leached as in the industrial
process. Only 121 ppm of Hg was freed from 168 ppm of extractable Hg.
About a half of the remaining Hg in the soil evaporated during 18
months. This confirms that the Hg in the soil is metallic. Pb and As are
also freed in the same process. It is estimated that 13 000–34 000 t of
Hg had been discarded in the extraction of Ag.
-------------------------
MEXICO'S SILVER CURSE
https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/2002/11-14/5472_mexico_s_silver_curse.html
Sun | Nation & World
Mark Stevenson, The Associated Press — Nov 14th, 2002
EL
PEDERNALILLO, Mexico -- Thousands of laborers were killed and maimed in
Spanish mines that extracted tons of silver from Mexico between 1550
and 1820. Centuries later, the long-closed mines still pose a threat.
In
one of the world's oldest cases of industrial pollution, millions of
pounds of mercury used in ancient silver mines still lie beneath the
soil in dozens of sites around Mexico, including the shallow waters of
El Pedernalillo Lake.
"To find it's still there after
almost 400 years, that's pretty amazing," said Evan Lloyd, spokesman for
the environmental cooperation commission of the United States, Mexico
and Canada.
In October, the commission released a map
of 66 "mercury hotspots" around Mexico -- most clustered closely around a
dozen old Spanish mining towns where Indian laborers were often worked
to death.
Some men who worked recovering mercury and
silver from the centuries-old mine waste blame their health problems on
the mercury. They maintain Spain should acknowledge its historical debt
-- and contribute to a massive cleanup. On Saturday, King Juan Carlos II
of Spain is scheduled to visit Mexico.
"You have left
us a tragic legacy with this pollution," read a note that Mexican mining
engineer Martin Sutti tried to hand the king during his last visit to
Mexico in 1998. Police kept Sutti from reaching the monarch.
Emilio Cerro, spokesman for the Spanish Embassy in Mexico, said he hadn't heard about the mercury problem.
"We
would wait for a formal request from the (Mexican) government," Cerro
said. "We would certainly consider it. ... Something would certainly be
done, at least technical assistance or advising."
There
have been no comprehensive studies of the effects of the mercury. But
some who live and work around the old mines say there's no doubt it is
still deadly.
Rodolfo Garcia, a retired worker at an
old mercury-recovery plant who lives on the shores of El Pedernalillo,
cites some fellow workers who died after years of inhaling mercury
vapor.
"They just dropped away, one by one," he said. He blames his own respiratory problems and anemia on mercury exposure.
The
recovery plants -- which stopped working two decades ago -- would
dredge loads of silt that literally dripped with mercury from the lake's
bed, to get at the silver missed by the Spaniards' primitive mining
techniques.
But the recovery plants didn't get even a small percentage of the mercury.
"This
is all old mine waste, and it's very rich in mercury and silver,"
Garcia said as he looked out over corn and bean fields near the lake.
The
Spaniards mixed between two and four pounds of mercury with ore to
leach out each pound of silver. The mercury was then burned off or
released into the ground.
The sheer dimension of the problem is staggering: Spain sent 50,000 tons of mercury to Mexico during the colonial period.
Similar
problems cropped up in U.S. mining sites from the gold rush, but only a
fraction as much mercury was used there before more modern techniques
were introduced. Last year, health officials warned about eating fish
caught in California's Englebright Lake.
Both fish and some food crops tend to concentrate mercury, and that has experts worried.
Studies
in Mexico have so far focused on El Pedernalillo, 315 miles north of
Mexico City, because it is the best-documented case.
Some
local corn from El Pedernalillo showed mercury concentrations as high
as one part per 10,000. For human blood levels, 5 parts per billion is
considered the maximum safe limit. At high doses, mercury can cause
severe birth defects and neurological damage.
About
four years ago, the lake dried up in a drought and the Mexican army used
bulldozers to dig pits and bury its dead fish. But heavy rains this
year filled the lake back up and now Mayor Felipe Alvarez says he wants
to restock the lake with fish, "to generate some eco-tourism."
That
could be a very bad idea: The worst incident of mercury poisoning
involved tainted fish from a polluted bay in Minamata, Japan, in the
1950s. Some 1,400 people died and thousands were sickened.
Zacatecas
health officials say they have detected no such poisoning cases here.
But neither have they done the kind of widespread testing that could
detect chronic low-level exposure, which can cause learning
disabilities, concentration problems and delayed development.
--------------------
Mercury pollution assessment of mining wastes and soils from former silver amalgamation area in North-Central Mexico
2017
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320719256_Mercury_pollution_assessment_of_mining_wastes_and_soils_from_former_silver_amalgamation_area_in_North-Central_Mexico
Abstract
Mining
wastes and soils from Cedral, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, were studied to
assess mercury (Hg) pollution in areas of historical silver (Ag)
amalgamation and in areas where amalgamation mining wastes were recently
reprocessed for Hg and Ag recovery. The total, soluble and
bioaccessible Hg concentrations from eight mining waste and nine soil
cores were determined at varying depths, which fluctuated from the
surface up to 1.0 m depth. The total Hg concentrations in the mining
wastes samples ranged from 8 to 548 mg/kg. The total Hg concentrations
in the soil samples were lower (1 to 116 mg/kg) than those in the mining
wastes. Eighty percent of the soil samples exceeded the maximum
permissible limit for residential soils according to the Mexican
regulations, demonstrating the impacts of the amalgamation process in
Cedral. The soluble Hg concentrations were low, from 0.009 to 0.32 mg/kg
in the mining wastes, and from 0.003 to 0.02 mg/kg in soils. The latter
represents 0.007 % to 0.54 % and < 0.03 % of total Hg, from mining
wastes and soils, respectively, indicating low aqueous Hg transport
during rainfall events. The bioaccessible Hg concentrations in the
mining waste samples (0.
---------------------
Status of Mercury in Mexico First Draft
(June 2000)
http://www.cec.org/files/documents/publications/1788-status-mercury-in-mexico-en.pdf
---------------------
Mercury Concentration in Hair Due to Environment on Two Populations in Mexico
2017
Abstract
The study of mercury pollution has been intensified through the last decades due to the high toxicity of this heavy metal and its increasing availability in the environment; since mercury is produced by both natural and anthropogenic processes. Mercury is an element naturally present in air, water and soil, leading to its accumulation in all living beings without being essential for any biological process. The measurement of the corporal mercury load in humans is made through the use of different biological markers such as nails, teeth, bones, saliva, urine, blood and hair. Our objective was to quantify total mercury in hair of two populations: one rural population (miners of the region of San Joaquin, Queretaro, Mexico) and one urban population of the Metropolitan Area of Mexico, and to compare the results of a population potentially exposed by the explotation of mercury in mines and a community not affected by mercury emissions. Each participant provided a hair sample and completed a questionnaire assessing potential exposures and health outcomes. We found average mercury concentrations of 32.07 µg g−1 and 2.62 µg g−1 in the rural and urban population, respectively. The great difference between these values is probably due to a difference in the time of exposure for each population. In both cases, the populations studied exceeded the maximum allowable limit established in standards and by national and international agencies, mainly due to the direct exposure of mercury vapors in miners and by anthropogenic sources in the urban population.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-70560-6_15
---------------------
Ancient Maya cities were dangerously contaminated with mercury
September 23, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-09-ancient-maya-cities-dangerously-contaminated.html
---------------------
Liquid mercury found under Mexican pyramid could lead to king's tomb
2015
Researcher reports ‘large quantities’ of the substance under ruins of Teotihuacan in discovery that could shed light on city’s mysterious leaders
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/24/liquid-mercury-mexican-pyramid-teotihuacan
---------------------
Mercury Levels in the Gulf of Mexico Quantified in NOAA Report
09/18/2012
https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/mercury-levels-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-quantified-in-noaa-report/
---------------------
Mercury in the Gulf of Mexico: sources to receptors
2012 Oct 23
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23098613/
---------------------
Mercury pollution in the ocean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_pollution_in_the_ocean
---------------------
Water resources in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources_in_Mexico
Water
resources in many parts of Mexico are under stress, especially in the
arid northwest and central regions where most of the population lives
and most of the economic activities are located. The country has put in
place a system of water resources management that includes both central
(federal) and decentralized (basin and local) institutions.
Despite
many achievements, the water resources sector in Mexico still faces
some challenges, including: (i) increasing water scarcity, (ii)
over-exploitation of freshwater resources, especially groundwater, (ii)
deteriorating water quality, (iii) lack of financial sustainability of
the water sector, (iv) modernizing water supply and sanitation services,
(v) improving competitiveness and efficiency of irrigation, (vi)
strengthening water institutions, (vii) adapting to climate change
impacts, especially droughts and floods.
Water quality and pollution
Information
on the water quality of Mexico's rivers published by the National Water
Commission is limited to only two parameters, Biological Oxygen Demand
(BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). No other water quality
indicators are used to classify water bodies and no water quality data
using other pollutants as parameters are readily available.
Surface
water bodies in Mexico are classified in five different ambient water
quality classes, using BOD and COD as indicators. In 2005 surface
water quality was measured in 509 sites using these parameters.
Using
BOD as an indicator, in 2005 5% of water bodies were classified as
highly contaminated (BOC > 120 mg/l) and 10% as contaminated.(BOD
> 30 mg/l). If COD is used as an indicator, the respective shares
increase to 12% for highly contaminated (COD > 200) and 26% for
contaminated (COD > 40) waterbodies.
The highest
levels of contamination are found in the hydrological regions of the
Northeast, Balsas, Valley of Mexico and Lerma-Chapala.
-----------------------
Lead pollutionin - Torreón, Mexico
-----------------------
Chronicling a Century of Lead Pollution in Mexico: Stable Lead Isotopic Composition Analyses of Dated Sediment Cores
December 20, 2005
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es048478g
-----------------------
Environmental lead in Mexico.
1991
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1994458
-------------------------
Tighter US Lead Pollution Standards Shifted Industry to Mexico
11, November 2021
After the United States restricted lead emissions, the Mexican lead-acid battery-recycling industry expanded rapidly, and the incidence of low birthweight infants near recycling plants in Mexico increased.
https://www.nber.org/digest/202111/tighter-us-lead-pollution-standards-shifted-industry-mexico
-------------------------
Mexico’s toxic lead-acid battery industry
27 January 2015
Mexico is still failing to adequately address the environmental and occupational risks of lead, making it a haven for the recycling of spent lead-acid batteries from Canada and the United States.
But news that the Mexican government is about to introduce a new regulation covering lead recycling management and the maximum limits on blood lead levels, is seen by some as proof that the negative environmental impact of the practice could finally be curtailed.
In addition, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is discussing a set of voluntary technical guidelines (the draft of which Equal Times has been able to consult) on best practices and technologies fostering the environmentally-sound management of spent lead-acid batteries.
Experts, however, argue that these tools are unlikely to change how the industry operates or to reduce the impact on the environment and workers’ health...
https://www.equaltimes.org/mexico-s-toxic-lead-acid-battery?lang=en#.Y4FE333MI2w
-------------------------
Lead from recycled U.S. batteries polluting Mexico
Dec. 8, 2011
A global shortage of lead has transformed some Mexican towns into recycling centers for batteries disposed in the U.S. Workers extract the lead without any protection, and environmental safeguards are non-existant.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/lead-from-recycled-us-batteries-polluting-mexico/
-------------------------
U.S companies halt battery recycling in Mexico on Lead pollution and health concerns
Oct 29, 2014
https://news.metal.com/newscontent/100066023/us-companies-halt-battery-recycling-in-mexico-on-lead-pollution-and-health-concerns/
-------------------------
Mexico as a Lead Pollution Haven
February 9, 2013
https://legal-planet.org/2013/02/09/mexico-as-a-lead-pollution-haven/
-------------------------
High arsenic levels in 18% of water sources in Torreón, Coahuila
2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/high-arsenic-levels-in-18-of-water-sources/
The situation looks worse when World Health Organization standards are applied
-----------------------
ARSENIC CONCENTRATIONS IN WATER, SOIL, MILK AND FORAGEIN COMARCA LAGUNERA, MEXICO
1997
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0ae2/b7f9d776351a0e3089e6ceaf8d4d53bb6d1d.pdf
-----------------------
Arsenic Induces DNA Damage in Environmentally Exposed Mexican Children and Adults. Influence of GSTO1 and AS3MT Polymorphisms
2010
https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/117/1/63/1681412
----------------------
Chronic Arsenic Poisoning in the North of Mexico
1983
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/096032718300200110
----------------------
Fluoride levels in well-water from a chronic arsenicism area of Northern Mexico
1993
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/026974919390015G
----------------------
Water Scarcity Could Deter Energy Developers From Crossing Border Into Northern Mexico
2015
https://www.circleofblue.org/2015/world/water-scarcity-could-deter-energy-developers-from-crossing-border-into-northern-mexico/
----------------------
Measurement of the fraction of exhaled breathtemperature as a biomarker of asthma control inpatients in northeastern Mexico
2018
https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(17)32214-5/pdf
-----------------------
Industrial and agricultural ammonia point sources exposed
2018
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0747-1?WT.feed_name=subjects_astronomy-and-planetary-science
----------------------
Impact of air pollution on pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms in children. Longitudinal repeated-measures study
2010
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001700/
----------------------
Construction Boom Creates Air Pollution in Monterrey, Mexico
Impact of air pollution on pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms in children. Longitudinal repeated-measures study
2008
https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/construction-boom-creates-air-pollution-in-monterrey-mexico.html
---------------------
Air quality deterioration in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey is everyone’s responsibility
http://sds.uanl.mx/en/air-quality-deterioration-in-the-metropolitan-area-of-monterrey-is-everyones-responsibility/
----------------------------
In Photos: A Massive Oil Spill Is Threatening Mexico’s Third Largest City’s Water Supply
2014
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/pa8w9n/in-photos-a-massive-oil-spill-is-threatening-mexicos-third-largest-citys-water-supply
For
Mexico's state oil giant, the expansion of organised crime into fuel
theft is a growing menace. Now, a bungled attempt to illegally tap an
oil pipeline has threatened an environmental disaster in the northern
state of Nuevo Leon, after an estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil
poured into the San Juan River.
The alleged failed
theft on August 16 caused an oil spill of up to 15 thousands tons,
according to the national oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). The
slick has already advanced five miles, authorities say — and it is
feared that rain forecast for the coming days and weeks will spread the
contamination further.
-------------------
Ground Water Pollution With Chromium in Leon Valley, Mexico
1992
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03067319308044422
--------------------
Metal pollution in coastal areas of Mexico.
1998
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9666741
Abstract
Metals
are natural constituents of the earth core and can be widespread in all
environments, forming part of sediments, rocks, animal and plant
tissues, crude oil, hemoglobin, pigments, proteins, and enzymes.
However, some of these metals, such as lead, chromium, and mercury, have
been widely used in industrial and human activities, thus provoking an
alteration in their geochemical balance and causing high concentrations,
frequently three to four orders of magnitude higher than their natural
concentrations. The aggressive industrialization and urbanization of
coastal areas in Mexico have given rise to singular pollution problems
in which such metals play an important role. Thus, this review
identifies the main sources and quantifies the concentration levels of
metals in the water, sediments, and organisms of coastal ecosystems
(rivers, estuaries, coastal lagoons, Continental Shelf) in the Gulf of
Mexico as well as the Mexican Pacific. The results show high
concentrations of lead, chromium, and nickel in sediments and animal
tissues from coastal states (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, and
Campeche) in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in areas close to
industrialized towns such as Tampico, Veracruz City, and Villahermosa.
On the other hand, studies conducted on Mexican Pacific coasts indicate
low levels of metals in sediments and organisms, an indication that the
metal pollution here is closely tied to human, industrial, and oil
activities.
-----------
Veracruz spill: 300 evacuated, thousands of animals dead, Coatzacoalcos river threatened
2018
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/veracruz-oil-spill-300-evacuated/
Pemex blames vandals for pipeline spill in Nanchital
--------------
Assessment of petroleum pollution in a Mexican river by molecular markers and carbon isotope ratios
1997
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0025326X87905066
Abstract
Sediments
sampled within bed of the Coatzacoalcos river, Veracruz, Mexico were
used as geo-accumulators for the assessment of the status of petroleum
pollution in the Coatzacoalcos river. Stable carbon isotope ratios and
the composition of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons were determined
in order to evaluate the importance of the petrogenic inputs as well as
to ascertain their spatial distribution. Molecular markers, namely
acyclic isoprenoid hydrocarbons, steranes and hopanes were studied for
source identification. As result, high levels of petroleum were found in
the whole studied area, with no defined spatial trends, corresponding
to an overall pollution by the same type of crude oil products.
-------------
Exposure
to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and DNA damage as an indicator
of environmental stress in fish of different feeding habits of
Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico
2010
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10646-010-0508-x
--------------
Physicochemical Changes of the Water of Alvarado Lagoon, Veracruz, Mexico in Interrupted Periods in Middle Century
2017
https://medcraveonline.com/JAMB/JAMB-05-00118.pdf
---------------
Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies, Spring 2007
ENERGY: Black Rain: Veracruz 1900–1938
https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/energy-black-rain-veracruz-1900%E2%80%931938
---------------
The environmental impact of human activities on the Mexican coast of the Gulf of Mexico: review of status and trends
2014
https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/EID14/EID14004FU1.pdf
-------------
Veracruz dry forests
The
dry forests of Veracruz constitute an ecological island in the middle
of tropical forests. The region is considered among the richest regions
for herpetofauna in Mexico (Flores-Villela 1993). Avifauna diversity is
high with over 280 species, and more than one hundred species of mammals
are found here. Most of the original forest has been replaced by scrub
and secondary communities. Pollution, human development, and cattle
raising are the main threats to the remaining habitat.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0233
--------------
Air Pollution in the Gulf of Mexico
2015
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4f5b/140b4b9879cdba1e9902eb20fec665b94766.pdf
------------
Black Carbon and Particulate Organic Toxics Emitted by Sugarcane Burning in Veracruz, México
2016
http://www.ijesd.org/vol7/786-R0011.pdf
-----------
The tragedy of Tampico, Mexico: a city of violence, abandoned to the trees
2014
Years
of gang warfare has turned the spring-breaker destination into a
Gotham-style nightmare. Now some of its remaining residents are taking
to the streets in a desperate call for peace
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/02/the-tragedy-of-tampico-mexico-a-city-of-violence-abandoned-to-the-trees
---------
Mexico Needs to Improve Control of Toxic Chemicals
2016
http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/05/mexico-needs-to-improve-control-of-toxic-chemicals/
Two
Greenpeace technicians take water samples from a river that runs by the
Pajaritos Petrochemical Complez in the Mexican city of Coatzacoalcos,
where an Apr. 20 explosion in the Planta Clorados III plant left 32
people dead and 136 injured.
---------
Explosion at Mexico chemical facility kills at least 32
April 22, 2016
A massive explosion at a Mexican petrochemical plant on April 20 has killed at least 32 people and forced the evacuation of surrounding neighbourhoods.
The blast at the Petroquimica Mexicana de Vinilo SA de CV (PMV) plant in the Pajaritos petrochemicals complex in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz state, also injured approximately 136 others, state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos and petrochemicals giant Mexichem SAB de CV said in a joint news release on April 21.
https://www.canplastics.com/materials/explosion-mexico-chemical-facility-kills-least-24/1003437848/
---------
2012 Gas plant explosion Mexico
Aug 17, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdEqC5oMdrI
---------
Sewers explode in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing hundreds
April 22, 1992
Dozens of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, kill more than 200 people and damage 1,000 buildings on April 22, 1992. The series of explosions was caused by a gas leak, the warning signs of which were ignored by the Mexican government and the national oil company...
https://pophistory.org/2009/11/13/sewers-explode-in-guadalajara-mexico-killing-hundreds/
-----------------------
-----------------------
Which cities have the best and worst water systems in Mexico?
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=4888
The
Water Advisory Council (CCA), a Mexican NGO specializing in water
research, education and policy, has published its 2011 report on
Mexico’s water management, sewerage and sanitation. The report looks at
data for 50 Mexican cities, each of which has a population in excess of
250,000.
The report —Gestión del Agua en las Ciudades
de México (Water Management in Mexican Cities)— uses data for 20
variables to develop the following 10 indicators: drinking water
coverage; drainage and sewerage coverage; continuity and extension of
services; productivity; metering; physical efficiency; business
efficiency; operating income; wastewater treatment; and
institutionalization.
--------------------
PERCEPTION
OF AIR AND WATER POLLUTION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CANCER RISK
PERCEPTION IN A REGION WITH HIGH CANCER MORTALITY IN MEXICO.AN
EXPLORATORY STUDY
2018
http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/rica/v34n2/0188-4999-rica-34-02-347.pdf
------------------
Industrial and agricultural ammonia point sources exposed
2018
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0747-1?WT.feed_name=subjects_astronomy-and-planetary-science
-------------------
Air pollution kills 20,000 people a year in Mexico, report says
2015
https://www.efe.com/efe/english/technology/air-pollution-kills-20-000-people-a-year-in-mexico-report-says/50000267-2641052
Air
pollution kills more than 20,000 people each year in Mexico and can
trigger asthma attacks, especially in urban áreas like Mexico City, one
of the world's largest metropolitan areas, the National Institute of
Statistics and Geography, or INEGI, said in a report.
The
report, titled "National Report on Air Quality in Mexico, 2013,"
estimated that air pollution caused around 20,500 deaths in Mexico in
2010, with obstructive pulmonary chronic diseases, or OPCDs, ranking as
the No. 8 cause of death.
In addition, between 10
percent and 20 percent of deaths from respiratory conditions and cancer
are directly associated with air pollution, Justino Regalado, deputy
medical director at the National Institute for Respiratory Diseases,
told Efe.
"These are people who have never been exposed
directly to known carcinogenic compounds, like tobacco smoke.
Therefore, the only explanation for their illnesses is their continued
residence in large cities," Regalado said.
Mexicans
living in large cities, such as the capital, which, along with its
suburbs is home to more than 20 million people, are exposed daily to
multiple toxic particles, like ozone, sulfur dioxide, ammonium dioxide
and other nitrogen oxides, suspended in the air.
These
compounds are derived from fossil fuels burned mostly by motor vehicles
and "including some metals and sulfur" from industrial emissions, as
well as ground particles, such as aluminum and silicates, National
Autonomous University of Mexico, or UNAM, Center for Atmospheric
Sciences researcher Gerardo Ruiz told Efe.
In addition
to aggravating serious respiratory conditions like OPCDs and causing the
development of related tumors, direct exposure to the airborne
compounds causes inflammation of tissues in airways and irritation of
the eyes, and some particles have "a high cardiovascular impact,"
Regalado said.
Higher levels of such compounds in the
atmosphere is directly associated with the incidence of asthma attacks,
pharyngitis and rhinitis, Regalado said.
---------------------------------------------
Does the Effect of Pollution on Infant Mortality Differ Between Developing and Developed Countries? Evidence from Mexico City
2015
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecoj.12273
---------------------------------------------
Babies in Mexico City Show Signs of Alzheimer’s. Blame Air Pollution.
2018
https://www.thedailybeast.com/babies-in-mexico-city-show-signs-of-alzheimers-blame-air-pollution
A
new study, published Wednesday, suggests the disease takes shape
earlier than previously suspected and that environmental factors may be
to blame.
---------------------------------------------
Radioactivity detected in Guanajuato aquifers
2015
https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/english/2015/12/14/radioactivity-detected-guanajuato-aquifers
The rapid growth of cancer in the state seems to be linked to the consumption
of water contaminated with arsenic, fluoride and radioactivity.
--------------------------------
The War for Mexico’s Water
2015
Struggling
with aging infrastructure, strapped resources, and poor access,
privatization is being pitched as the cure to Mexico's water woes. But
will it leave people high and dry?
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/31/the-war-for-privatization-mexicos-water/
--------------------------------
Nayarit is home to three of the dirties beaches in Mexico
2018
https://www.vallartadaily.com/nayarit-dirty-beaches/
---------------------------------
Guerrero river poses serious health risks
2018
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/guerrero-river-poses-serious-health-risks/
Slaughterhouse a major polluter, discharging nearly 1,000 liters of blood daily
------------------------------------
The environmental impact of shrimp aquaculture and the coastal pollution in Mexico
1998
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X98900352
Abstract
The moderated, but continual development of the shrimp aquaculture in Mexico, in conjuction with municipal and agriculture effluents, in the last decade has created the first symptoms of negative environmental impacts, due mainly to the discharge of nutrients and organic matter into adjacent coastal waters. Similarly, the increasing impairment of coastal water quality resulting from the discharge of domestic, agricultural and industrial wastes into coastal waters has affected the aquaculture profitability in certain areas. The cumulative impact of the main anthropogenic sources of nutrients in the Mexican coastal states was estimated in 190 088 ton N yr-1 and 51 831 ton P yr-1. The input from shrimp aquaculture is only 1.5% and 0.9% of the main sources of nitrogen and phosphorus. This last input, though small, is related to local and adverse effects on coastal ecosystems. The introduction of management measures to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of shrimp aquaculture development has now become necessary and urgent.
------------------------------------
Atoyac River Pollution in the Metropolitan Area of Puebla, México
2018
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/10/3/267/htm
-----------------------------------
Pollution by organochlorine pesticides in Navachiste-Macapule, Sinaloa, Mexico.
2012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21484297
------------------------------
Environmental and pollution condition of the huizache-caimanero lagoon, in the north-west of Mexico
1997
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X97000817
------------------------------
Migrant Farm Workers Exposed to Pesticides in Sinaloa, Mexico
2010
https://www.intechopen.com/books/pesticides-in-the-modern-world-effects-of-pesticides-exposure/migrant-farm-workers-exposed-to-pesticides-in-sinaloa-mexico
-------------------------------
Potential
of vegetated ditches to manage organic pollutants derived from
agricultural runoff and domestic sewage: A case study in Sinaloa
(Mexico).
2017
https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/28482458
------------------------------
Effects of organic pollution in the distribution of annelid communities in the Estero de Urías coastal lagoon, Mexico
2011
http://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/viewFile/1257/1328
---------------------
Organic carbon and pesticide pollution in a tropical coastal lagoon-estuarine system in Northwest Mexico
2006
https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJEP.2006.009109
---------------------
TOXIC EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO PESTICIDES IN FARM WORKERS IN NAVOLATO, SINALOA (MEXICO)
2018
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de2a/57f9c13da52cb779df2f4aed12b28ebd5345.pdf
ABSTRACT
The
impact of chronic exposure to pesticides, especially among farmworkers,
contin-ues to be an area of research interest, especially in developing
countries. This study aimed to measure and compare levels and profiles
of pesticides in farm environments and farmworkers in an
agricultural area of Mexico, as well as their effects in this
cohort. Organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides were
measured in soil and water samples from farms in the Navolato
Valley, Sinaloa, Mexico. Levels of these pesticides as well as
transaminases, alkaline phosphatase, acetylcholinesterase and
hemoglobin were also measured in blood and urine from
farmworkers of the study area and compared with levels in a control
population. All 17 target organochlorine pesticides and four of nine
target organophosphate pesticides were detected in soil and water
samples. In farmworkers, 14 of 17 target organochlorine pesticides and
seven of nine organophosphate pesticides were detected. Pesticide
profiles were similar in farmworkers as in the environment. In
comparison, only six organochlorine pesticides and three
organophosphate pesticides were detected in control population,
in much lower concentrations and with lower detection frequencies.
Clinical analyses indicated that levels of transaminases and alkaline
phosphatase were elevated while levels of hemoglobin and
acetylcholinesterase were depressed in farmworkers compared to the
control group. The results indicate that farmworkers are suffering from
chronic exposure to workplace pesticides and could endure adverse health
effects.
------------------------------
Mercury in blood and eggs of the sea turtle Lepidochelys olivacea from a nesting colony in Oaxaca, Mexico
2011
http://www.seaturtle.org/PDF/Paez-OsunaF_2011_MarPollutBull.pdf
------------------------------
Assessment of coastal pollution by combined determination of chemical and biochemical markers in Mullus barbatus
2002
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v235/p205-216/
------------------------------
Nayarit leads in tobacco production but wants to see more
2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/nayarit-leads-in-tobacco-production/
'What is more painful — dying from tobacco-related illness or dying from hunger?'
------------------------------
After a shaky start, US $5-billion fertilizer plant under way in Sinaloa
Government describes it as 'world's safest' but a local organization fears pollution of Topolobampo bay
August 31, 2018
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/5-billion-fertilizer-plant-under-way-in-sinaloa/
----------------------------
A new way to make fertilizer and produce fewer emissions
April 26, 2019
https://www.earth.com/news/make-fertilizer-fewer-emissions/
------------------------------
Climate rewind: Scientists turn carbon dioxide back into coal
2019
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190226112429.htm
New technique can efficiently convert CO2 from gas into solid particles of carbon
-----------------------------
Aftermath To The World's Deadliest Natural Disasters [4K] | Mega Disaster | Spark
May 6, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm3EPmKFO9o
-----------------------------
Megadeath in Mexico
2006
Epidemics followed the Spanish arrival in the New World, but the worst killer may have been a shadowy native—a killer that could still be out there.
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/feb/megadeath-in-mexico
-----------------------------
Statistics on Water in Mexico
2010
http://www.conagua.gob.mx/CONAGUA07/Publicaciones/Publicaciones/SGP-6-10-EAM2010Ingles.pdf
-----------------------------
Mexico’s shrimp farms tackle disease crisis
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=11908
--------------------
Pollution in Manzanillo, Mexico
https://www.numbeo.com/pollution/in/Manzanillo-Mexico
---------------------
Air
Quality Regarding to TSP in Six Cities of Sonora, Mexico, a Criticism
to the NOM-025-SSA1-1993 and a Proposed Criterion for Its Non-Compliance
2014
http://file.scirp.org/Html/8-6702366_48130.htm
Abstract
In
the present study, the air quality is assessed for the year 2010
regarding to the Total Suspended Particles (TSP) for six cities of
Sonora, Mexico, representing the first regional study in Sonora in air
quality. The assessment used performance indicators and indicators of
compliance with the regulations. It is established that in all the
cities the maximum limit value of daily concentration of 210 µg/m3 is
exceeded, being the percentage of days above the rule of 30%, 78%, 76%,
6%, 3% and 62% for Agua Prieta, Nogales, Puerto Peñasco, Hermosillo,
Guaymas and Obregón respectively, classifying these days with poor air
quality. According to the annualized index used, the air quality was not
satisfactory for the period of study in the six cities. Nogales and
Puerto Peñasco presented the most adverse conditions of air quality with
annual average values of TSP of 363 and 345 µg/m3 and maximum daily of
1047 and 1239 µg/m3 (498% and 590% above the norm) respectively. The
requirements of coverage that establishes the Mexican Official Standard
NOM-025-SSA1-1993 (SSA, 2005) are questioned for its compliance,
proposing in this paper a criterion of non-compliance by prioritizing
the protection of health and the precautionary principle. It is
recommended to implement air quality management programs (PROAIRE) in
these cities.
-------------------------------------
Environmental Pollution in Hermosillo II
2014
http://www.cec.org/sem-submissions/environmental-pollution-hermosillo-ii
-------------------------------------
Border sewage breaks, hazards likely to worsen as accountability debated
2017
https://tucson.com/news/local/border-sewage-breaks-hazards-likely-to-worsen-as-accountability-debated/article_0de5ac86-1c30-5b0e-a1be-4dcc230a23a8.html
It’s
a situation residents of the Sonora-Arizona border region are used to:
Every summer, heavy monsoons overfill the shallow washes and swell over
the banks of the Santa Cruz River. Every summer, gravity pulls the
water, full of erosive grit and debris, northward, flooding streets and
damaging homes and property. Residents usually wait out the rains, then
get on with their lives.
But with those storms arriving
earlier and hitting harder, putting extra stress on old pipes that
already carry millions of gallons of sewage from south to north,
researchers and floodplain specialists say the potential risks for
public and environmental health are severe.
“Water and
rivers don’t observe political boundaries,” said Margaret Wilder, a
professor of geography and development at the University of Arizona who
has conducted several studies concerning water security along the
U.S.-Mexico border. “Water contamination, air pollution, climate-change
risks — these are all things Mexico and the U.S. share.”
Record-breaking
rainfall this summer exacerbated longstanding issues with binational
sewer systems. In July, the International Outfall Interceptor (IOI), a
46-year old concrete pipe that can carry up to 14 million gallons of raw
sewage and runoff a day from Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona, to a
treatment plant in Rio Rico, ruptured under the strain of heavy floods
from Mexico, spilling raw sewage into a tributary of the Santa Cruz
River and causing a significant spike in E. coli bacteria levels near
the breach, government testing showed.
--------------------------
Mexico Probes Copper Mine Spill, Waterways Polluted
2014
http://savethewater.org/2014/08/31/mexico-probes-copper-mine-spill-waterways-polluted/
-----------------------------
--------------------------
--------------------------
--------------------------
Section 21: Crimes
---------------------------
---------------------------
---------------------------
-----------------------------
Clipperton Island: Mexico's Forgotten Murder Colony
Feb 21, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsJqZt9439E
-------------------------------
Scam City: Mexico City - Kidnapping, Pickpockets & Counterfeits | Free Documentary
2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDAi3eAGXHk
-------------------------------
How Safe Are Mexican Prescription Drugs?
2011
US State Department Warning:
U.S. law enforcement officials believe that as many as 25 percent of the medications available in Mexico are counterfeit and substandard. Such counterfeit medications may be difficult to distinguish from the real medications and could pose serious health risks to consumers.
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/fulano_de_tal/2011/aug/24/how-safe-are-mexican-prescription-drugs/
-------------------------------
US FDA warns over fake drugs bought in Mexico
2004
https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/us-fda-warns-over-fake-drugs-bought-in-mexico
--------------------------------
Pill presses for counterfeit drugs seized in record numbers
2017
https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/17/health/pill-presses-counterfeit-fentanyl/
Machines used to make counterfeit pills are reaching the US border in record numbers.
US Customs and Border Protection is seizing pill presses at a rate 19 times higher than in 2011. That's the year the synthetic drug fentanyl exploded in the US drug market, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
--------------------------------
Deadly Blue 'Mexican Oxy' Pills Take Toll on US Southwest
2019
Arizona and the rest of the southwestern U.S. states are becoming a hot spot in the fentanyl crisis as blue pills known as 'Mexican oxy' are flooding across the border.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-02-14/fentanyl-deaths-from-mexican-oxy-pills-hit-arizona-hard
-------------------------------
Counterfeit Percocet pills widely available in Nogales, Mexico
2019
https://www.azfamily.com/news/investigations/opioid_crisis/fentanyl/counterfeit-percocet-pills-widely-available-in-nogales-mexico/article_106dfe54-406d-11e9-a675-df4431cc8256.html
-----------------
Dangerous fentanyl masked as counterfeit oxycodone, 20,000 pills seized in the Bronx and Manhattan
2019
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2019/02/11/dangerous-fentanyl-masked-counterfeit-oxycodone-20000-pills-seized-bronx
New Yorkers cautioned against purchasing black market prescription pills
--------------
The Chinese Connection to the Flood of Mexican Fentanyl
2017
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/chinese-connection-flood-mexican-fentanyl
---------------
PHARMACEUTIAL ALERT ECUADOR: COUNTERFEIT MEDICINES FROM CHINA
2017
http://latinamericacurrentevents.com/pharmaceutial-alert-ecuador-counterfeit-medicines-from-china/39251/
A few weeks ago elcomercio.com reported a raid by authorities on a clandestinne laboratory outside of Cuenca, Ecuador. Here is developing information:
.The clandestine lab was allegedly shipping counterfeit drugs from China to Ecuador. Primary shipments were to pharmacies in 31 cities in the provinces of Loja, Azuay, Cañar, El Oro, Sucumbíos, Tungurahua, Pichincha and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. Authorities discovered hundreds of boxes of medications ready to be distributed. Evidene was located evidene showing routes and destiatios of the illegal booty of counterfeit medications. They were delievered to to cities in the Amazon (oriente), the Coast and the Sierra.
---------------
India pharma firms caught for exporting counterfeit drugs
---------------
The Fake Drug Industry Is Exploding, and We Can’t Do Anything About It
2015
https://www.newsweek.com/2015/09/25/fake-drug-industry-exploding-and-we-cant-do-anything-about-it-373088.html
-------------------------------
Counterfeit medicines: the pills that kill
2008
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/3354135/Counterfeit-medicines-the-pills-that-kill.html
-------------------------------
The Real Impact of Counterfeit Medications
2014
https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/counterfeit-meds
Drugs Most Often Counterfeited
High-demand, expensive medications such as various chemotherapeutic drugs, antibiotics, vaccines, erectile dysfunction drugs, weight loss aids, hormones, analgesics, steroids, antihistamines, antivirals, and antianxiety drugs are common counterfeiting targets.1,3,4 Among those deceived into buying counterfeit drugs are consumers who use medicines inappropriately or who seek to purchase medications at discounted prices. In addition to being very cheap to make, counterfeit medicines often closely resemble actual medications, with nearly identical labels and tablets, thus duping unsuspecting pharmacists and patients. It has been reported that oftentimes drug counterfeiters use cheap and sometimes harmful materials such as brick dust, sheetrock, and flour to create their bogus tablets.13 Pfizer reported discovering 14 of its counterfeited pharmaceutical products in at least 36 countries, including the U.S., in the first 9 months of 2009 and reportedly seized more than 11 million counterfeit tablets, capsules, and vials that year.1,14,15 Also in 2009, a U.S. government crackdown uncovered some 800 packages of counterfeit medications, including Viagra (sildenafil citrate), Vicodin (hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen), and Claritin (loratadine).16 Mui and Ylan state that some of the drugs had as much as three times the amount of API than is typically prescribed, while others contained no API at all or harmful substances.
Internet Sites the Largest Suppliers
Increasing access to the Internet coupled with new methods of manufacturing and distributing illegal pharmaceuticals have created new challenges to safeguarding the legitimate pharmaceutical supply chain.2 Thousands of websites openly sell unapproved and/or counterfeit drugs, as well as prescription drugs without requiring a valid prescription, all in violation of federal and state laws. Many of these sites are hosted by U.S. registrars, accept payment by U.S. payment processors, and ship their products via U.S.-based express courier companies or the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
-------------------------
Bulgarian Biochemist in Mexico Gives Glimpse of the Future
2019
https://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/bulgarian-biochemist-mexico-gives-glimpse-future-fentanyl/
In January 2018, US authorities began following a Bulgarian biochemist named Antov Petrov Kulkin who they believed was running a small carfentanil/fentanyl laboratory in Mexico.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has proliferated in recent years in the United States, and close to 30,000 people died by overdosing on the drug in 2017. Its potency could be a gamechanger for the illicit drug industry. Small amounts mean less risk in the production and transport process but still significant profits. Production of fentanyl is also relatively simple and cheap, opening the door for smaller groups to enter the trade using small spaces and moving small quantities over the dark web.
This article is part of a series on the growing demand for fentanyl and its deadly consequences done with the support of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. See the rest of the series here.
-------------------------------
DOSED WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION: PREVENTING PHARMACEUTICAL CONTAMINATION OF OUR NATION’S DRINKING WATER
2009
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/hea_10012001a.pdf
------------------------------
Pharmaceuticals in the Water Supply
https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/clean-water/pharmaceuticals-personal-care/
In recent years there has been mounting concern about the presence of chemicals from pharmaceuticals and personal care products, such as cosmetics, in the nation’s streams and rivers.
There is no question that these chemicals are present in the nation’s waterways. The USGS conducted the first major investigation in 2002 and found, on average, seven chemical compounds in the streams they surveyed.
-----------------------
Drugs in the Drinking Water? Don't Ask and Officials Won't Tell
2016
https://www.organicconsumers.org/essays/drugs-drinking-water-dont-ask-and-officials-wont-tell
The problem has only grown worse. By 2008, the Associated Press reported that 46 million Americans were drinking water containing psychiatric, cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, heart and pain drugs as well as antibiotics.
Among the AP’s findings:
• Epilepsy and anxiety drugs in Southern California water used by 18.5 million people
• Heart and epilepsy drugs in Northern New Jersey water used by 850,000 people
• An antibiotic in Tucson drinking water
• A sex hormone in San Francisco drinking water.
In 2013, an EPA study confirmed the serious situation, finding that at least half of all water samples tested positive for some of 25 drugs.
The EPA found:
• Opioids, acid reflux and congestive heart failure drugs were common
• Over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol and ibuprofen were common
• The highest residues were high blood pressure drugs
Government appears clueless
It is not clear that decisive government action followed the reports. In fact, drugs in the drinking water system seem to be governed by a “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy.
For example, New Orleans water department officials reported that the city’s water had not been tested for drugs at the same time that Tulane University researchers in New Orleans found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and a cholesterol drug byproduct in treated water.
Whom should we believe? According to journalist Dawn Fallik:
“No one seems to know which compounds need to be removed or how to remove them from the water safely. And no one seems to know which government agency should step forward and take action.”
The problem is compounded, Fallik says, by the fact that EPA monitors only about 10 drugs as “contaminant candidates” and no safety levels or required testing exist for other drugs. (The government does test for naturally occurring microorganisms like cryptosporidium and coliform bacteria, barium, copper, lead and other metals and herbicides such as atrazine.)
As we saw in Flint, a water crisis endangers entire communities and provokes huge public distrust in municipal officials. “It’s a hard topic to talk about without creating fear in the general public,” admitted a Water Research Foundation spokesman to the Associated Press.
Fish on hormones
Like canaries in the coal mine, the first signs of drug effects from the water often manifest in the fish. As early as 2003, scientists began finding egg cell precursors on male smallmouth bass testes which they attributed to endocrine disrupters. By 2014, an astounding 100 percent of male smallmouth bass in some polluted sites were "intersex”—male fish that produce eggs. The same intersex phenomenon has been widely reported with amphibians.
Human drugs also contribute to the fish hormonal mutations. In 2011, after French anglers spotted abnormal fish, a study of wild gudgeon near a Sanofi plant making steroids found an average of 60 percent of tested fish had both male and female sexual characteristics. Fish near drug manufacturing plants in the U.S., United Kingdom, other European Union countries and India were also altered. "Many ecotoxicologists had assumed that water-quality standards, along with companies' desire to avoid wasting valuable pharmaceuticals, would minimize the extent of bioactive compounds released by factories into wastewater, and ultimately into rivers," lamented Nature about the high residues found. The diabetes Type II drug metformin is also a culprit in fish mutations.
Fish on psychoactive drugs
Hormones are not the only drugs increasingly found in fish. In 2009, a study by Baylor researchers found traces of cholesterol, high blood pressure, allergy, bipolar and depression drugs in fish caught near wastewater treatment facilities in Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Orlando and West Chester, Pa., near Philadelphia. Some of the drugs actually change fish behavior.
When scientists at Clemson University, in South Carolina studied hybrid striped bass exposed to the antidepressant Prozac, they found fish stayed at the top of the water sometimes with their dorsal fin out of the water. Maintaining "a vertical position in the aquaria" could increase the bass' susceptibility to predators and decrease their survival, noted the researchers. They also found that Prozac-exposed bass did not eat as much as normal fish.
A similar loss in survival behaviors is seen in shrimp exposed to Prozac. They are five times more likely to swim toward light than away from it, making them also more susceptible to predators report researchers: ''Crustaceans are crucial to the food chain and if shrimps' natural behaviour is being changed because of antidepressant levels in the sea this could seriously upset the natural balance of the ecosystem," says Dr. Alex Ford, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences.
Fathead minnows exposed to the amounts of antidepressants and anticonvulsants found in tap water at the University of Idaho also showed dramatic changes. After only 18 days they exhibited 324 genetic neurological alterations, some similar to the human disorder of autism said researchers. Perch fed anxiety drugs "socialized less but ate more zooplankton and swam further, behaviors with potential long-term consequences for local ecosystems," reported the New York Times.
----------------------
Sources, impacts and trends of pharmaceuticals in the marine and coastal environment
2014
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213585/
---------------------
Prozac Pollution Making Shrimp Reckless
2010
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100715-shrimp-prozac-antidepressants-environment-science/
---------------------
Banana Cultivation Is Pesticide-Intensive
2014
https://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2014/04/bananas
Bananas are Americans' favorite fruit. The average American eats 10 pounds of the sweet yellow fruit yearly, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA 2012a). In 2012, the U.S. imported 9,589 million pounds of bananas, more than 95 percent of them grown in five tropical Latin American nations (USDA 2013).
Peeled bananas are generally tainted with very few pesticide residues, according to USDA analyses, probably because those tested are peeled first. In 2012 USDA scientists found just four fungicides on bananas they analyzed, compared to 10 on plums (USDA 2012b).
However, industrial banana farming is pesticide-intensive because bananas are grown in massive monocultures, without crop rotation. These ill-advised methods render the plants vulnerable to insect pests and fungal diseases. Some experts estimate that banana cultivators use 35 pounds of pesticide per acre (van Wendel de Joode 2012, citing Wesseling 2001 and Ramírez 2009), dramatically more than for other produce crops.
To prevent pest damage, each bunch of bananas on a tree is enclosed in a large plastic bag into which pesticides are inserted. Few of these applications reach the edible tissue of the fruit, but they still pose a risk to workers and the surrounding environment.
One toxic insecticide widely used in banana production is chlorpyrifos, a potent neurotoxicant member of the organophosphate insecticide family. Chlorpyrifos can harm workers, communities and the environment but is not generally detected on peeled bananas. Children are especially sensitive to chlorpyrifos toxicity. The chemical can disrupt brain development and impair cognitive functions, measured by intelligence tests, when the child is exposed during pregnancy and early childhood (Rauh 2011). Costa Rican researchers found that children living near banana fields where pesticides were used had much higher concentrations of chlorpyrifos in their bodies than children living where only 12 percent of farmers reported using pesticides. (van Wendel del Joode 2012). Farm workers who apply pesticides directly or work in fields where they are used would almost certainly test positive for even higher levels of chemicals.
One recent study found that spectacled caimans, fish-eating crocodiles native to Costa Rica, had higher concentrations of pesticides in their blood if they lived near banana fields than caimans in wilderness (Grant 2013).
For these reasons, bananas bearing either an organic and Fair Trade certification are preferable to fruit grown with socially- and environmentally-destructive processes.
The vendors of bananas bearing the Fair Trade certification have agreed to some restrictions on toxic pesticides, greater protection for workers and reasonable minimum pricing for producers (Fair Trade 2014).
Organic bananas grown without synthetic insecticides and fungicides are often slightly more expensive than conventional bananas.
But the days of organic bananas – and perhaps all exported bananas – may be numbered, according to recent reports. A highly virulent and incurable strain of a fungus known as Panama disease, which afflicts the Cavendish banana – the major type of banana that is imported into the U.S. -- is spreading across plantations around the world (Butler 2013). The Cavendish banana is especially susceptible to the fungus because every one of these bananas is a cloned, genetic replica of all the others. The Cavendish has not developed variants that may be resistant to Panama disease.
The Cavendish isn't the only type of banana in the world. . In fact, there are hundreds of others that are said to be even more delicious. The issue is, the Cavendish is uniquely suited to export. Because scientists believe the Panama disease fungus will spread to all Cavidish plantations around the world, the future of bananas on the American table is in doubt.
The Gros Michel banana, the first type imported into the U.S., succumbed to a different strain of Panama disease. The Cavendish banana, which was immune to that particular strain of fungus, saved the export banana industry. Whether history will repeat itself in the case of the Cavendish is far from certain (Koppel 2008).
---------------------
The challenges of banana cultivation in Mexico
http://geo-mexico.com/?p=9138
Pesticide applications and pollution
Numerous studies have suggested that commercial banana production is often accompanied by high levels of pollution, both of the soil and of water courses. For example, the authors of “Soil and Water Pollution in a Banana Production Region in Tropical Mexico” studied an area of 10,450 hectares in Tabasco where the “agricultural activities are primarily banana production and agro forestry plantations (Spanish cedar and bananas).”
The area had been sprayed weekly with the pesticide Mancozeb for a decade at an application rate of 2.5 kg/ha/week. The study monitored soil, surface, subsurface and groundwater pollution. It found that there was a “severe” accumulation of manganese in the soil, while surface and subsurface water was “highly polluted” with ethylene thiourea, the main metabolite of Mancozeb. The authors concluded that “The level of pollution in the region presents a worrisome risk for aquatic life and for human health.”
---------------------
How the global banana industry is killing the world’s favorite fruit
2014
https://qz.com/164029/tropical-race-4-global-banana-industry-is-killing-the-worlds-favorite-fruit/
During harvest last year, banana farmers in Jordan and Mozambique made a chilling discovery. Their plants were no longer bearing the soft, creamy fruits they’d been growing for decades. When they cut open the roots of their banana plants, they saw something that looked like this:
Scientists first discovered the fungus that is turning banana plants into this rotting, fibrous mass in Southeast Asia in the 1990s. Since then the pathogen, known as the Tropical Race 4 strain of Panama disease, has slowly but steadily ravaged export crops throughout Asia. The fact that this vicious soil-borne fungus has now made the leap to Mozambique and Jordan is frightening. One reason is that it’s getting closer to Latin America, where at least 70% of the world’s $8.9-billion-a-year worth of exported bananas is grown.
Randy Ploetz, professor of plant pathology at University of Florida who discovered Tropical Race 4, says it may already be in Latin America. “The story on the Mozambique situation was that workers brought over to establish the plantations—some of them were from Latin America,” he says. “And this is an insidious disease in that it can move… by soil-contaminated machinery, tools—that kind of thing.”
Chiquita, the $548-million fruit giant with the world’s largest banana market share, is downplaying the risk. ”It’s certainly not an immediate threat to banana production in Latin America [where Chiquita’s crops are],” Ed Lloyd, spokesman for Chiquita, told the Charlotte Business Journal in late December, explaining that the company is using a “risk-mitigation program” to approach the potential spread.
Even if it takes longer to arrive, the broader ravaging of the commercial banana appears inevitable. And we don’t need to imagine what that would mean for banana exports—the exact scenario has already happened. Starting in 1903, Race 1, an earlier variant of today’s pathogen, ravaged the export plantations of Latin America and the Caribbean. Within 50 years, Race 1 drove the world’s only export banana species, the Gros Michel, to virtual extinction. That’s why 99% of the bananas eaten in the developed world today are a cultivar called the Cavendish, the only export-suitable banana that could take on Race 1 and live to tell.
Over the half-century it took to wipe out the Gros Michel, Race 1 caused at least $2.3 billion in damage (around $18.2 billion in today’s terms.) And that was in the commercial heart of global banana production. Tropical Race 4, by comparison, has damaged $400 million in banana crops in the Philippines alone.
But the bigger difference now is that, compared its 20th-century cousin, Tropical Race 4 is a pure killing machine—and not just for Cavendishes. Scores of other species that are immune to Race 1 have no defenses against the new pathogen. In fact, Tropical Race 4 is capable of killing at least 80%—though possibly as much as 85%—of the 145 million tonnes (160 million tons) of bananas and plantains produced each year, says Ploetz.
--------------
Under Pressure, Whole Foods Agrees to Stop Selling Produce Grown in Sewage Sludge
2014
https://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/01/12359/whole-foods-agrees-stop-selling-produce-grown-sewage-sludge
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) broke the story that the $12.9 billion-a-year natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market had a policy of "don't ask, don't tell" when it comes to "conventional" -- or non-organic -- produce being grown in fields spread with sewage sludge, euphemistically called "biosolids." Certified organic produce cannot be fertilized with sewage sludge, which is the industrial and hospital waste and human excrement flushed down the drains and later -- in some cases -- spread on some crops.
---------------------
Prison to Table: The Other Side of the Whole Foods Experience
2014
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/prison-to-table-the-other-side-of-the-whole-foods-experience
---------------------
Boycott Whole Foods
https://sproutpeople.org/sprout-politics/boycott-whole-foods/
---------------
Stop the Sewer Sludge From Ending up in Your Food
2019
https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/stop-sewer-sludge-ending-your-food
---------------------
Agriculture in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Mexico
---------------------
---------------------
---------------------
---------------------
---------------------
Section 22: China & Mexico
----------------------
----------------------
----------------------
----------------------
----------------------
Fake Chinese Foods That May Actually Kill You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODZfJ7nY3I
---------------------------
Chinese flock to USA to give birth to U.S. citizens
2015
-------------------------
Will Donald Trump end the Chinese boom in US birthright citizenship?
2018
- Agencies flooded with calls from the public seeking advice after US president says he plans to end the system through executive order
--------------------------
Trump has Chinese birth tourists running scared
----------------------
Global Western Genocide 24 - Russia, Mexico & China
https://archive.org/details/GlobalWesternGenocide24
---------------------------
Divided island: How Haiti and the DR became two worlds
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvKeYuwifc
---------------------------
Alex Jones Freaks Joe Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixxTwcAELB8
-------------------------
How Chinese Doctors Who Harvest Organs Get Away With Murder
2019
---------------------
Organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_practitioners_in_China#United_States
----------------
Mexican cartel member busted for child organ trafficking
2014
https://nypost.com/2014/03/18/mexican-cartel-member-busted-for-child-organ-trafficking/
------------------
Mexican cartel henchman arrested for killing children to harvest their organs
2014
Atrocities committed by Mexican narcotics syndicates have reached a new
low with the announcement that a henchman for the vicious Knights
Templar has been arrested on suspicion of killing children by removing
their internal organs.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/mexican-cartel-leader-accused-killing-children-harvest-organs-article-1.1725522
-----------------
Police nab cartel member in organ trafficking case
2014
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/17/cartel-mexico-organ-trafficking/6548691/
-----------------
Inside The Mexican Cartel's Unspoken Child Organ Harvesting Ring
https://www.ranker.com/list/mexico-child-organ-harvesting/amandasedlakhevener
------------------------
Mexican Radio to Beam Chinese Propaganda
August 13, 2018
U.S. probes links between buyer of Tijuana station and China's Phoenix TV
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/mexican-radio-beam-chinese-propaganda/
---------------------------------
China and the New Triangular Relationship in the Americas
China and the Future of US-Mexico Relations
https://clas.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/docs/papers/China%20and%20the%20New%20Triangular%20Relationships%20in%20the%20Americas-%20China.pdf
--------------------------------
USC Pacific Asia Museum reopens with surprising Mexico-China exhibit
December 7, 2017
The museum highlights unexpected ties across the Pacific as it reopens after a yearlong renovation project
https://news.usc.edu/132572/usc-pacific-asia-museum-reopens-with-surprising-mexico-china-exhibit/
-------------------------
Money Talks: Relations between Greece and China
2016
----------------------
Is Google Helping China’s Military? | Trump vs Google on CCP | China Uncensored
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqWVH38jtQo
------------------------
How China Is Taking Over Europe’s Ports | CCP Trade, Economy, and Politics
2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XHdGPT11fk
---------------------
China’s Secretive Spy Agency | CCP Politics | China Uncensored
2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO8vNGcYV6s
----------------------
5 Ways China Is Trying to Dominate India | China Uncensored
2017
----------------------
CHINA vs FRANCE: Battle for AFRICA? - VisualPolitik EN
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY8pCRSBd_o
----------------------
{We can
see that Russia is being controlled by socialist and communist Jews, and that China is also under control of the Communist Party. Some say that Russia wants to make a new Khazarian type empire, and that Jews are trying to
gain power in Russia and China through communism. We can see how the
Rothchilds are also behind this communist plot to take over the world}.
----------------------
China's Dystopian Social Credit system
2018
-----------------
The Mass Exodus of Foreigners from China
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrzJcnK_c-4
--------------------
Why China is building islands in the South China Sea
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luTPMHC7zHY
----------------------
China Is Not As Powerful As You Think
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z368WScfjyw
-----------------------
5 Reasons Why The Chinese Military Is WEAKER Than You Think
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPH-_LVlxmc
-----------------------
5 Countries That Have Fallen into China's Debt Trap
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh9xSA2gOZQ
------------------------
Malaysia Hits Brakes on China’s Corrupt Investment
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThedGta_zr4
------------------------
Malaysia Warns Philippines Over China Debt | Mahathir Mohamad Warns Duterte about CCP Loans
2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY6FZioxlgw
-------------------------
Barred from Leaving China!
2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDuy7mBzCEk
---------------------------
China's Trillion-Dollar P2P Loan Industry Goes Bust
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnish4g6aGk
---------------------
Why Is China Treating North Carolina Like the Developing World?
How lax regulation made it cheaper for China to outsource pork
production – and all of its environmental and human costs – to the U.S.
March 2018
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-is-china-treating-north-carolina-like-the-developing-world-w517973#content-start
-----------------
China Removes Presidential Term Limits, Enabling Xi Jinping To Rule Indefinitely
--------------
China Yuan Crude Oil Market Opens March 26! Will China Destroy the PETRODOLLAR?
Feb 16, 2018
http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/china-yuan-crude-oil-market-opens-march-26-will-china-destroy-the-petrodollar/
---------------
EMERGENCY ALERT: Communist Chinese Now Taking Over US Media
Jan 26, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeG7C7X36yI
----------------
Chinese Billionaire Warns America: China Has 25,000 Spies Who Are “Ready To Destroy The U.S.”
Mac Slavo | SHTFplan.com - July 12, 2017
https://www.infowars.com/chinese-billionaire-warns-america-china-has-25000-spies-who-are-ready-to-destroy-the-u-s/
----------------
China's Secret War Against the US | China Uncensored
Jun 19, 2015
For over a decade, the Communist Party of China has been engaged in a
full scale war with the United States. But the average American doesn't
know, because China never declared war or fired a single bullet.
Nonetheless, the Communist Party of China is engaged in a full-scale,
multi-billion-dollar war with the United States, and it threatens every
American worker and taxpayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlr_AUIxvIs
-----------------
China Poised to DEMAND US Land As Payment for Debt
Jun 4, 2015
Could real estate on American soil owned by China be set up as
“development zones” in which the communist nation could establish
Chinese-owned businesses and bring in its citizens to the U.S. to work?
That’s part of an evolving proposal Beijing has been developing quietly
since 2009 to convert more than $1 trillion of U.S debt it owns into
equity.
Under the plan, China would own U.S. businesses, U.S. infrastructure and
U.S. high-value land, all with a U.S. government guarantee against
loss.
Yu Qiao, a professor of economics in the School of Public Policy and
Management at Tsighua University in Beijing, proposed in 2009 a plan for
the U.S. government to guarantee foreign investments in the United
States.
WND has reliable information that the Bank of China, China’s central
bank, has continued to advance the plan to convert China’s holdings of
U.S. debt into equity owned by China in the U.S.
The Obama administration, under the plan, would grant a financial
guarantee as an inducement for China to convert U.S. debt into Chinese
direct equity investment. China would take ownership of successful U.S.
corporations, potentially profitable infrastructure projects and
high-value U.S. real estate.
The plan would be designed to induce China to resume lending to the U.S. on a nearly zero-interest basis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iln_HcAgLTs
______________________________________________
America is Up for Sale! | China Uncensored
Mar 30, 2013
Even if the rest of the world doesn't, China still believes in buying
American. So much so that the Chinese government has started buying up
land, communities, businesses, infrastructures...the US owes China over a
trillion dollars in debt and pays millions of dollars A DAY in interest
on that. Is the Chinese Communist Party silently taking over the
country? Has the Chinese regime become the nation's greatest enemy?
Suddenly my student loan debt doesn't sound so terrifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK9fWNuC3U0
---------------------
Why Are China's Rich Moving to the US? | China Uncensored
Oct 2, 2015
China's wealthy are moving to the US and they seem to have taken an
interest in real estate. What does their immigration mean for China?
Find out on this episode of China Uncensored!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcORDNGqsMQ&list=PLTSP8TRXTny79I-F2E8LWQoiBAfqHznmK
----------------------
China and the United Nations | China Uncensored
Mar 27, 2014
What is China's relationship with the United Nations? One of the world's
biggest violators of human rights and frequent aggressor in territorial
conflicts sits not on the United Nations Security Council, but also the
UN Human Rights Council as well as a democracy building committee. On
top of that, it's an open secret that the Chinese Communist Party is
behind several Chinese NGOs and they use them to push government policy
and intimidate and spy on dissidents abroad. On this episode of China
Uncensored, discover how the Chinese Communist Party manipulates the
United Nations for its own purposes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mmfHjfNNzk
------------------------
The Rockefeller Plan for the BRICS New World Order, in their own words… (Update 1 – Putin and Kissinger’s friendship)
----------------------
Visa program for wealthy investors maxed out by Chinese demand
Aug 29, 2014
That
money been used to build projects across California and elsewhere,
including the JW Marriott hotel at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0830-chinese-visas-20140830-story.html
----------------------
How China Is Weaponizing Mexican Cartels Against America | Ed Calderon
Nov 15, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHxM8cX_OdA
----------------------
Pollution Science 101 - China
2015
Pollutionscience101china.blogspot.com
----------------------
----------------
------------
------------
------------
------------
Section 23: Immigration Crisis & Border Crisis
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
------------------
How the US outsourced border security to Mexico
Nov 21, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xbt0ACMbiA
----------------------
Mexico's Hidden War | Fault Lines
2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rc72FZYlCM
----------------------------
The Child Soldiers Of Mexico's Drug Gangs
2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPdSzH12mo4
-------------------
After the Pittsburgh Shootings, a Thanksgiving Pilgrimage to the Texas Border
2018
Rabbi
Josh Whinston from Ann Arbor, Michigan, led his people to the desert in
El Paso to help asylum seekers from Central America.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/jews-and-christians-go-border-thanksgiving/576538/
{Look
at how it is the Jews and these so-called Christians that are always
trying to bring in more Jews into Western nations such as the nations of
Europe and in America.
We want the Militias to start rounding up any person giving assistance to the enemy illegal Mexicans trying to illegally cross the border, we will have these traitors deported or arrested for their treason at the border when we find them, we have had enough of this already. We want all the people in this video giving assistance to the enemy Mexicans to be arrested or deported for treason}.
---------------------
Women Convicted of Leaving Water, Food for Migrants
2019
http://www.newser.com/story/270178/women-convicted-of-leaving-water-food-for-migrants.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_world_img_b
----------------
Guidelines ask agents to target Spanish speakers at border
https://www.mail.com/news/politics/9044902-guidelines-agents-to-target-spanish-speakers-borde.html#.7518-stage-hero1-1
The Trump administration launched the program in late January in what
marks a potentially seismic shift on how the U.S. handles the cases of
immigrants seeking asylum and fleeing persecution in their homeland.
The program initially applied only to those who
turned themselves in at official border crossings. But a memo from a
division chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector says it expanded
Friday to include people who cross the border illegally.
The guidance includes instruction about various
groups of immigrants who are not to be sent back to Mexico and instead
go through the traditional asylum process in the U.S. immigration court
system. They include pregnant women, LGBT migrants and people suffering
medical issues. Authorities said previously that Mexican asylum seekers
are excluded, as are children traveling alone.
-----------------
Tucker Carlson: 1 million illegal aliens at the border is a crisis -- 'manufactured' or not
-------------------
Singer Joy Villa wears 'Build the Wall' dress at Grammy's and people can't believe it
2019
https://www.indy100.com/article/grammys-2019-joy-villa-donald-trump-build-wall-border-dress-mexico-us-border-red-carpet-8773331
--------------------
Trump To Declare National Emergency To Build Border Wall
2019
The president will also sign a spending bill that would avoid a second government shutdown.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-emergency-border-wall-trump_n_5c65cb83e4b0bcddd40fe7e1
-------------------------------------------
CRACKDOWN: DHS Preparing To File Criminal Charges Against Sanctuary City Leaders
Jan 17, 2018
https://www.dailywire.com/news/crackdown-dhs-preparing-file-criminal-charges-ryan-saavedra
-------------------------------------------
"We've got to start charging some of these politicians with crimes."
January 17, 2018
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has
requested that federal prosecutors at the Justice Department (DOJ) begin
reviewing the legalities of filing criminal charges against the leaders
of sanctuary cities for not complying with federal immigration
authorities.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/25978/crackdown-dhs-preparing-file-criminal-charges-ryan-saavedra
--------------------------------------------------
{Check on our main site for a list of government officials we want prosecuted and arrested for allowing illegal aliens and illegal Mexicans to stay in America with sanctuary cities. These government officials allow illegal Mexicans and South Americans to sabotage America from the inside}.
-------------------------------------------------
Poll: Fewer Than 30 Percent of Americans Want Amnesty for DACA Illegals
9 Nov 2017
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/11/09/poll-less-than-30-percent-of-americans-want-to-give-amnesty-to-daca-illegal-aliens/
-------------------------------------------------
U.S. Military Could Invade Mexico to Stop Migrant Caravan, Ann Coulter Says
10/27/18
https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-could-invade-mexico-stop-migrant-caravan-ann-coulter-says-1190365
------------------
Biden's immigration policies hurt environment? Arizona green groups react to state AG's lawsuit
2021-04-29
https://network-bussiness.com/2021/04/29/bidens-immigration-policies-hurt-environment-arizona-green-groups-react-to-state-ags-lawsuit/
------------------
Arizona’s water supplies are drying up. How will its farmers survive?
November 12, 2019
As the mighty Colorado River dwindles and cropland dries out, farming families face a grim choice: give up or somehow adapt.
https://thefern.org/2019/11/arizonas-water-supplies-are-drying-up-how-will-its-farmers-survive/
------------------
Desertification and Migration: Mexico and the United States
1994
https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=437731
------------------
Western water wells are going dry
September 28, 2017
https://blogs.agu.org/waterunderground/2017/09/28/western-water-wells-going-dry/
------------------
19 million people under drought emergency in Southern California
Nov. 11, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded with residents to cut their water use by 15 percent, but early indications show Californians conserved just 5 percent.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/19-million-people-drought-emergency-southern-california-rcna5163
------------------
Texas Groundwater Supplies Are in Danger, Reports Say
https://www.edf.org/media/texas-groundwater-supplies-are-danger-reports-say
Groundwater districts have the authority to steer communities toward sustainability
November 16, 2021
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – Nov. 16, 2021) Across Texas, groundwater is being pumped out of aquifers so quickly that more wells are in danger of going dry, and more springs and surface water may begin to dry up, according to two reports released today.
The reports — issued by researchers at The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) — paint an unstable, unsustainable picture for the millions of Texans, the cities and communities, and the rivers, streams and springs that depend on groundwater:
Statewide, Texas is losing groundwater at nearly twice the maximum sustained rate — and according to plans already pending with local management agencies, that rate is likely to increase in coming years unless officials change course.
Groundwater is being pumped out of the Ogallala Aquifer — the primary source of water for Texans in the High Plains and Panhandle regions — 6.5 times faster than its sustainable rate.
In many cases, groundwater conservation districts have adopted plans and goals that will accelerate these depletion trends — in some districts, officials have set long-term management goals that will lead to unsustainable pumping.
------------------
Opinion | Not Dried Up: US-Mexico Water Cooperation
2020
https://mexicotoday.com/2020/10/23/opinion-not-dried-up-us-mexico-water-cooperation/
For weeks, a water dispute between the Mexican government and Mexican farmers and between the United States and Mexico was brewing and escalating. October 24 was the deadline by which Mexico was supposed to have provided the United States with all of the water from the Rio Grande it owes the United States every five years. But this year’s expected water delivery set off months-long protests in Chihuahua, where drought-stricken farmers took over the Boquilla dam and opposed the water disbursement to the United States, fearing that even more of their livestock and crops would perish. Unlike previous Mexican administrations that since mid-1990s habitually failed to deliver the Rio Grande water to the United States on time, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has been determined to send the water to the United States. He even deployed the Mexican National Guard to confront the farmers and protestors, with the Guard killing one of them. At the last minute, a deal was struck between the two countries to resolve the latest immediate water crisis.
The recent tensions are merely the latest episode of accumulating water stress in the Rio Grande basin. Deep challenges of long-standing water overuse and depletion in the Rio Grande remain. The problem requires comprehensive and innovative solutions as well as major changes to agricultural and other water-use practices on both sides of the Rio Grande basin to preserve adequate water supply for people, food production, economic activity, and a vital biodiversity-rich ecosystem and to prevent the emergence of systematic theft and smuggling of water that plagues countries such as Pakistan, India, Nigeria, and Brazil. The U.S.-Mexico collaboration on innovative solutions for the Colorado River provides an important example.
------------------
The Costs of Drought on the Rio Grande
June 3, 2021
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/costs-drought-rio-grande
------------------
Groundwater pumping is draining rivers and streams worldwide
November 6, 2019
Over half of pumped watersheds could pass a serious type of limit by 2050
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/groundwater-pumping-draining-rivers-and-streams-worldwide
------------------
Mega-dairies, disappearing wells, and Arizona’s deepening water crisis
2021
A US mega-dairy farm
The water usage of mega-dairies like this one has been accused of contributing to shortages for smaller farmers and residents in Arizona’s Willcox basin. Photograph: Greg Bedinger/LightHawk
When wells run dry in the Willcox basin those who can afford to just dig deeper – leaving homes high and dry as the aquifer is drained
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/02/mega-dairies-disappearing-wells-and-arizonas-deepening-water-crisis
------------------
22-year drought is drying up America's largest reservoir
June 16, 2021
With water levels at the nation's largest reservoir hitting an all-time low, officials are preparing for what that could mean for the region's water supply.
Cradled between Nevada and Arizona, Lake Mead has the potential to hold an impressive 26.12 million acre-feet of water, earning itself the title of largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity -- when it's full. However, its current state reflects only a puddle of its potential.
As of June 14, 2021, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam held roughly 9 million acre-feet of water, about 36% of its full capacity after the region experienced over two decades of drought.
https://news.yahoo.com/22-drought-drying-americas-largest-165544419.html
------------------
Severe drought threatens Hoover dam reservoir – and water for US west
Jul 2021
The wellspring of Lake Mead created by the dam’s blocking of the Colorado River has plummeted to a historic low as states in the west face hefty cuts in their water supplies
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/13/hoover-dam-lake-mead-severe-drought-us-west
------------------
The shocking numbers behind the Lake Mead drought crisis
June 17, 2021
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/17/us/lake-mead-drought-water-shortage-climate/index.html
------------------
Groundwater Flow to Colorado River May Decline by a Third over Next 30 Years
October 29, 2021
https://informedinfrastructure.com/68949/groundwater-flow-to-colorado-river-may-decline-by-a-third-over-next-30-years/
------------------
40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River, and Now It's Drying Up
Aug 14, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CADLfXOhkU
------------------
Assessing desertification risk in the semi-arid highlands of central Mexico
2015
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140196315000932
------------------
Integration of remote sensing techniques for monitoring desertification in Mexico
2016
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10807039.2016.1169914
------------------
Study: Most extreme drought in 1,200 years hits Southwest
03/01/22
https://thebl.tv/us-news/study-most-extreme-drought-in-1200-years-hits-southwest.html
------------------
West megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years
February 14, 2022
https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-west-megadrought-f02449c2db4f0ebeb1557bb39504c62d
------------------
Mexico’s drought reaches critical levels as lakes dry up
April 22, 2021
https://apnews.com/article/latin-america-environment-and-nature-droughts-business-lakes-8cd80326b3de118db7226d1277a96fac
------------------
Mexican town toasts tequila fish saved from extinction
February 23, 2022
A Mexican fisherman works in Teuchitlan where the tequila fish has been successfully reintroduced
https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/mexican-town-toasts-tequila-fish-saved-from-extinction/news-story/a7658a6dc883a98c8288db33f5d6aab3
------------------
Jungle Lakes Evaporate and Disappear Completely in Mexico
Aug 27, 2019
Some of the mystical blue-green lakes of the Lacandon jungle in southern Mexico are drying up this year.
The Metzabok lake, which normally covers 220 acres (89 hectares), dried up completely this month, leaving cracked mud where the translucent waters normally reflect the surrounding jungle and Lacandon Indians travel by canoe.
Jungle lakes in Mexico are drying up and disappearing. Picture of the Metzabok Lagoon by Mexico’s National Commission for Protected Nature Areas (CONANP)
We are familiar with Mexican rivers and lakes suddenly disappearing underground in cracks or sinkholes. But now, lagoons in the jungle are completely drying up, evaporating, disappearing. Experts say, this strange phenomenon is the result of an extended drought and rising temperatures in the region.
Moreover, about 350 Lacandones, an indigenous group that still uses traditional dress of long hair and white cotton tunics, depend on tourism, fish and water from the lake and 20 other jungle lagoons nearby for their livelihood.
In recent days they worked with biologists to capture and transfer crocodiles, fish and turtles from the dried-up lake to those nearby that still have water. The area is part of a nature preserve known as Naha-Metzabok, and the Lacandones have preserved the surrounding jungle for decades by avoiding the slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle ranching.
Some of the older Lacandones remember that the Metzabok lake (the name means “The god of thunder” in the Maya language) had dried up once ago, in the 1950s.
But experts worry that such episodes will become more frequent as rainfall declines and peak temperatures rise in the area, located just a few dozen miles from the Guatemalan border.
Mexico’s National Water Commission lists most of the Lacandon jungle as being in a “moderate drought” situation, but some areas whose waters normally feed the lagoons are listed as “severe to extreme” drought.
Several Lagoons May Disappear in Mexico
But it is not just Metzabok lake that has suffered.
Adrián Méndez Barrera, a biologist who serves are regional director for Mexico’s National Commission for Protected Nature Areas, said he knowns of six lagoons outside the nature reserve that have dried up.
“Rainfall over the last four years has been down by about 30%,” Méndez Barrera said. “On the other hand, we have seen average maximum temperatures rise from 30 degrees to 34 degrees (86 to 93 Fahrenheit). These two factors have a combined effect.”
“The lakes are not very deep,” he noted, “and we are seeing a high level of evaporation.“
The better-known Lagunas de Montebello lakes are also suffering. The main lake in that area — also located in southern Chiapas state — is 60 meters (yards) below its average high-water mark this year.
“I don’t know if the lakes are going to recover, or if this (drought) is going to become a more frequent and more widely-seen experience,” Méndez Barrera said.
Rivers and lakes have disappear into cracks and sinkholes in Mexico. They are now flowing again. Please, send some rain to southern Mexico. These mystical jungle lagoons need a revival…
https://strangesounds.org/2019/08/mexico-jungle-lakes-disappear-video-picture.html
------------------
‘Doomed to stay’: The dying villages of Mexico’s Lake Cuitzeo
2021
As Mexico’s reservoirs run dry, the fishermen, farmers and ranchers stuck on the drying lake beds wonder how they will survive.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/7/25/doomed-to-stay-the-dying-villages-of-mexicos-lake-cuitzeo
------------------
7 Facts About Access to Clean Water in Mexico
August 1, 2020
Water insecurity
Natural Disasters
Polluted Water
Mexico city is Shrinking
Rural Towns
Regulatory Laws
Vulnerable Populations
https://borgenproject.org/tag/polluted-water-in-mexico/
------------------
Texas Military Base Prepping for 10,000 Afghans
August 19, 2021
Thousands of illegals already housed at El Paso base
https://www.newswars.com/texas-military-base-prepping-for-10000-afghans/
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Afghanistan On Brink Of A Health Crisis, Reports 2,400% Surge In COVID-19 Cases In A Month
18th June, 2021
The International Committee of the Red Cross on June 17 said that Afghanistan is at a "crisis point" as cases and deaths are "spiralling out of control".
https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/afghanistan-on-brink-of-a-health-crisis-reports-2400-percent-surge-in-covid-19-cases-in-a-month.html
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Permanently Temporary: The Truth About Temp Labor (Full Length)
Mar 16, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waeMkka60po
---------------------------------
San Antonio to begin receiving overflow of undocumented migrants, South Texas lawmaker says
---------------------------------------
Undocumented immigrants to be transported to San Antonio, congressman says
Mar 11, 2021
https://www.ktsa.com/undocumented-immigrants-to-be-transported-to-san-antonio-congressman-says/
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Pollution Science 101 - Texas
https://pollutionscience101texasvsbpoil.blogspot.com
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Texas Resident Tests Positive for Monkeypox Virus
Jul 17, 2021
Related to smallpox though less deadly
https://www.newser.com/story/308673/traveler-brings-monkeypox-back-home-to-texas.html
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Texas battling whooping cough epidemic
September 11, 2013
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-battling-whooping-cough-epidemic/
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Texas reports rise in rabies in cattle
July 16, 2021
http://outbreaknewstoday.com/texas-reports-rise-in-rabies-in-cattle-36630/
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FAA restricts Fox drone after showing images of migrant surge
Sep 17, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAAMBQOpyWg
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Plano Mayor Proposes Plano as Sanctuary City for Undocumented Californians
December 3, 2018
Plano,
Texas — In a highly controversial move, Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere
has proposed a citywide Sanctuary Act to provide shelter to undocumented
Californians moving into Plano without Texas citizenship.
https://starkravingplano.com/?p=22
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Does Texas Have Any Sanctuary Cities?
February 11, 2016
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/does-texas-have-any-sanctuary-cities/
Late
last month, a group of immigration activists met Austin Mayor Steve
Adler with demands that the Austin Police Department no longer cooperate
with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would make
Austin what conservatives have dubbed a “sanctuary city.” The Texas
Tribune defines a sanctuary city as “municipalities that have
established policies prohibiting police officers from enforcing
immigration laws or cooperating with federal immigration officials.”
Generally, when local police departments make a criminal arrest of
someone who is in the country illegally, ICE can put in a detainer
request for the department to hold the person for a period of up to 48
hours, giving ICE ample time to pick them up.
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Texas Gov. Wants Dallas to Revoke 'Sanctuary City' Policy
Oct. 27, 2015
Gov.
Greg Abbott sent a letter to Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez saying
she must reverse the policy changes she made regarding immigration
holds.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/texas-gov-wants-dallas-revoke-sanctuary-city-policy-n452211
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Sanctuary cities: What are they?
3-22-2018
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sanctuary-cities-what-are-they
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Coincidence? Coronavirus Outbreak Map Mirrors Refugee Resettlements and Sanctuary Cities
3-16-2020
https://pulpitandpen.org/2020/03/16/coincidence-coronavirus-outbreak-map-mirrors-refugee-resettlements-and-sanctuary-cities/
There’s lots of dust that will have to settle in the following months
regarding the spread of coronavirus. A post-mortem on what’s left of
America’s economy and the integrity of our infrastructure will need to
be carefully conducted. Right now, our leaders must be focused on
mitigating damage due to the spreading virus and employing all legal
means necessary to deal with the fallout. The country’s state is
critical as hospitals are projected to be filled way beyond capacity and
our medical system will soon be buckling under the pressure. But in the
midst of this crisis, it should not go unnoticed that a coronavirus
outbreak map mirrors almost precisely a map of refugee resettlements in
the United States.
And sooner or later, we need to ask why.
As America’s evangelicals have pushed for refugee resettlement in the
name of Jesus without showing a single ounce of regard for
considerations relating to national security, it seems that health
security has also been gravely overlooked. And political conservatives
should notice that those who advocate the strongest for forced
vaccination also advocate for open immigration and refugee resettlements
among people are nearly 100% unvaccinated for common ailments.
But is it possible that refugee resettlements, in particular, are
correlated with coronavirus outbreaks? And if they are correlated, is it
possible that they’re causal as well?
Here is a map of the coronavirus outbreaks in the United States from the
Centers for Systemic Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins Medical
Center…
--------------------------------------
Map of all US Refugee Resettlement Sites 2012-2015 By Municipality. See the online article for the color version of this figure.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-all-US-Refugee-Resettlement-Sites-2012-2015-By-Municipality-See-the-online_fig2_327064823
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Is Trump Still a Racist? Are Sanctuary Cities Racist? And the Coronavirus…
Feb 28, 2020
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-trump-still-a-racist-are-sanctuary-cities-racist-and-the-coronavirus/
San Francisco, a Sanctuary City in a Sanctuary State, declared in a
terrifying crescendo, the Coronavirus is an emergency, a potential
catastrophe. Never mind the population is not suffering from a broad
general infection…yet. It is was what might happen that has them
scared.
The uncontrolled flow of migrants, most of whom are economic migrants
destined for the public welfare rolls, free health care, free education,
free housing, free food, and on, are eligible for broad-based benefits
that American citizens can’t get. The uncontrolled flow of migrants
across American borders is not a concern or crisis until the risk is
unfettered, entrance to potential Coronavirus infected people.
Blind admission of migrants, some of whom could be carrying disease,
such as T.B., potentially to the good people of San Francisco, did not
matter to the mother Sanctuary of Sanctuaries. But the Coronavirus…that
has them scared. There is no treatment for Coronavirus, unlike T.B. The
Virus can and is spreading easily far and wide. The Bay Area City knows
it.
Trump’s border wall, which Liberals have fought hard against, is slowing
down the cross border flows the San Fran Liberals are suddenly
terrified of. Trump, and any reasonable government intent on protecting
its citizens from obvious risk, demanded a wall to stop unvetted
migrations. Trump never wanted to stop immigration, only uncontrolled
migrations. The Wall requires migrants to go through defined entry
points where they can be checked for diseases, like the fearful
Coronavirus… before they are released into the American interior.
330,000,000 Americans will be at risk.
A Wall can stop biological terrorists sending Coronavirus infected
suicide killers across the border into America. The idea has certainly
occurred to them. It is cheap and effective. They may be trying it
right now.
Is Trump still a racist for wanting to protect America first? Is Trump a
racist for wanting to keep out the sick coming for free medical care,
free everything? What if the Virus turns into a pandemic, will the
Sanctuary City and State have enough beds to care for Americans? Will
Americans be turned away because the city and state is flooded by sick,
infected migrants?
Jewish law mandates, before we save the world, we must save our families and our communities – first.
The silence of Liberals, as the unrestricted migrants streaming across
America’s borders flood continues, is deafeningly, hypocritically, brain
dead. That is until it is their families that are impacted.
Perhaps it is Liberalism that needs to be examined for mental Coronavirus, not Trumpism.
Israel is closing its borders to migrants, tourists, anyone from
Coronavirus infected areas. Is Israel racist? Those who hate Israel
insist Israel is racist. Bernie Sanders and his supporters affirm that
loudly.
--------------------------------------
Reality is smashing the sanctuary city charade
2020
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/487396-reality-is-smashing-the-sanctuary-city-charade
---------------------------------------
More U.S. cities become coronavirus hot spots as confirmed cases surpass 640,000 globally
3-28-2020
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-hotspots-grow-as-virus-cases-surpass-640000-globally-2020-03-28
---------------------------------------
Trump Administration Can Withhold Grants From ‘Sanctuary Cities’: Court
Feb. 26, 2020
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-can-withhold-grants-from-sanctuary-cities-court-rules
--------------------------------------
President Trump Starts Implementing Ban on Welfare-Dependent Immigration to U.S. – Geller Report News
3-2-2020
https://www.witsnews.com/president-trump-starts-implementing-ban-on-welfare-dependent-immigration-to-u-s-geller-report-news/
--------------------------------------
Trump says undocumented immigrants can get tested for coronavirus without fear of deportation
03/22/20
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/488940-trump-says-undocumented-immigrants-can-get-tested-for-coronavirus
---------------------------
Border agents stopping illegal immigrants exposed to COVID-19, 'several hundred' infected
June 25, 2020
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/border-agents-stopping-illegal-immigrants-exposed-to-covid-19-several-hundred-infected
Waves
of illegal immigrants carrying COVID-19 are crossing the U.S.-Mexico
border, likely spiking the number of cases along the southern border and
also infecting agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
according to officials.
A new report said that the spike in cases
in Texas, Arizona, and California are competing in numbers with those
blamed on reopening the economy.
“Evidence continues to mount
that spikes in COVID cases in U.S. border states are due to successive
waves of infected people fleeing Mexico's dysfunctional and overwhelmed
hospitals to get American medical care at least as much, if not more
than, to the re-opening of those states' economies,” said the latest
border report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
In Texas,
for example, the CIS said that “the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations
in trauma service areas along the Mexican border more than doubled to
886 of the state's 3,711 hospitalizations in just the past week.”
---------------------------
Texas Gov. Abbott blames Covid spread on immigrants, criticizes Biden’s ‘Neanderthal’ comment
Mar 4 2021
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/04/texas-gov-abbott-blames-covid-spread-on-immigrants-criticizes-bidens-neanderthal-comment-.html
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday criticized President Joe Biden for
calling his decisions to lift Covid restrictions and mask mandates
earlier this week “Neanderthal thinking.”
Abbott claimed the
Biden administration has been “releasing immigrants in South Texas that
have been exposing Texans to Covid.”
Abbott defended his
decision to lift most of the state’s Covid-19 restrictions and mask
mandate, a move that has been widely criticized.
“The Biden
administration has been releasing immigrants in South Texas that have
been exposing Texans to Covid. Some of those people have been put on
buses, taking that Covid to other states in the United States,” Abbott
told CNBC. “That is Neanderthal-type approach to dealing with the Covid
situation.”
While the Republican governor didn’t provide
specifics, Telemundo reported on Tuesday that some migrants released by
Border Patrol in the Texas city of Brownsville subsequently tested
positive for Covid-19. Since the city began testing on Jan. 25, 108
migrants have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 6.3% of all those
who took a test, according to the report.
“The Biden administration must stop importing Covid into our country,” Abbott said...
---------------------------
108 Illegal immigrants released by Border Patrol in Texas test positive for coronavirus, officials say
March 3, 2021
Texas city says it doesn't have authority to prevent migrants who test positive from traveling elsewhere
https://www.foxnews.com/us/108-migrants-released-border-patrol-texas-positive-coronavirus
---------------------------
Hundreds Of Illegal Immigrants Are COVID-19 Positive In Brownsville
03/16/2021
https://www.kurv.com/hundreds-of-illegal-immigrants-are-covid-19-positive-in-brownsville/
Hundreds
of illegal immigrants test positive for COVID-19 in Brownsville. Mayor
Trey Mendez says due to a lack of state and federal support, it is
falling on local non-profits and labs to conduct COVID-19 tests and
handle shelter and transportation services for the immigrants.
Mayor
Mendez says from late January when the asylum seekers started to come
back into the U.S. of three-thousand who have been processed, more than
two-hundred-ten immigrants have tested positive for COVID-19. The Mayor
says he still doesn’t consider the situation a crisis...
---------------------------
Coronavirus Investigation News - Race Virus 201 - Pollution Science 101 (COVID-19 & SARS-CoV-2)
---------------------------
Surge in COVID-positive migrants being released in US
March 8, 2021
https://nypost.com/2021/03/08/surge-in-covid-positive-migrants-being-released-in-us/
The
number of migrants testing positive for the coronavirus before being
released into the US by the Border Patrol is surging, almost doubling
the amount from last week, according to a report.
Felipe
Romero, a spokesman for Brownsville, Texas, said 185 migrants
rapid-tested at the city’s main bus station showed they were infected
with COVID-19, up from the 108 who tested positive last week, Fox News
reported Monday.
Since Jan. 25, 1,553 individuals have been tested for coronavirus after crossing the US border there, he said.
Romero
said there’s little that Brownsville can do to restrict the migrants
from traveling beyond Texas other than advising them to follow Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention safety precautions and quarantine.
Migrants
who were once held in border camps while they were being processed in
the courts for entry are no longer detained as part of the Biden
administration rolling back former President Donald Trump’s immigration
policy.
“The president of the United States, Biden, helps the
people because it’s necessary, you know,” Mario, a Honduran migrant who
spent eight months at a camp with his family and is still awaiting
entry to the US, told Fox News.
Thousands of illegal immigrants
are being set free across the country as the crisis on the southern
border escalates — and the White House admitted Monday it isn’t doing
enough to discourage people from seeking unlawful entry to the United
States.
---------------------------
Are Illegal Aliens Receiving COVID-19 Relief Checks? Yes
March 29, 2021
Millions of immigrants known to be in the U.S. illegally are nonetheless issued Social Security numbers — and given money.
https://cis.org/Oped/Are-Illegal-Aliens-Receiving-COVID19-Relief-Checks-Yes
---------------------------
Europost: Illegal immigrants increased COVID-19 cases in Evros, Mayor Mavridis says 161% increase
May 2021
https://greekcitytimes.com/2021/05/11/illegal-immigrants-covid-19-mavridis/
A
cry of agony and despair from the Mayor of the remote city of
Orestiada, which is the stronghold of the defensive line of Greece
against Turkey in the Northeastern part of the prefecture of Evros, as
COVID-19 explodes in the region.
Mayor Vassilis Mavridis in a
message posted on social media, broadcasts SOS [Save Our Sales] three
times and explained that in the last week in the Municipality of
Orestiada there is an increase of 161% in active COVID-19 cases.
---------------------------
Breaking! Biden Set To Announce New Lockdown Through 2022 Midterm Elections
Jul 31, 2021
https://banned.video/watch?id=6105caf190ef7c20a87f2b0a
---------------------------
Biden lawyers defend COVID-19 eviction ban at US Supreme Court
Landlords argue the ban is illegal and renew request the US high court toss out Biden’s order.
08/23/21
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/23/biden-administration-defends-eviction-ban-at-us-supreme-court
---------------------------
Biden asks Supreme Court to leave eviction moratorium intact
08/23/21
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/569024-biden-asks-supreme-court-to-leave-eviction-moratorium-intact
---------------------------
Coronavirus Investigation News - Race Virus 201 - Pollution Science 101 (COVID-19 & SARS-CoV-2)
2022
---------------------------
------------------
---------------
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---------------
Section 24: Illegal Immigration & Crimes
---------------
---------------
---------------
------------------
Mexico Reports Highest Ever Homicide Rate In 2018, Tops 33,000 Investigations
2019
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687579971/mexico-reports-highest-ever-homicide-rate-in-2018-tops-33-000-investigations
-----------------------------
In three months, an unprecedented 300,000 migrants have entered Mexico
April 24, 2019
In the first three weeks of April, 11,800 migrants were deported
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/300000-migrants-have-entered-mexico/
-----------------------------
Temporary migrant employment program begins in Chiapas
Federal government says 5,300 migrants are currently in Chiapas camps
Sunday, April 21, 2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/temporary-migrant-employment-program/
------------------------------
Juárez swamped with migrants; over 1,000 arrived in just 4 days this week
More than 12,000 have arrived in the border city since October
Friday, April 19, 2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/juarez-swamped-with-migrants/
------------------------------
Asylum Seekers Forced to Wait at Mexican Border
2018
https://www.kqed.org/news/11714297/asylum-seekers-forced-to-wait-at-mexican-border
-----------------------------
15,000 trucks stranded in Ciudad Juárez as border chaos enters week No. 4
In Tijuana, a line of trucks 10 kilometers long yesterday
Friday, April 19, 2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/15000-trucks-stranded-in-juarez/
------------------------------
Mexico's Mass Arrests of Central American Migrants Follow Years of U.S. Pressure
2019
https://psmag.com/news/mexicos-mass-arrests-of-central-american-migrants-follow-years-of-us-pressure
The story of Mexico's latest crackdown on U.S.-bound Central American migrants began long before Trump's presidency.
---------------------------------
Mexico getting tougher on migrants as thousands wait for visas in Chiapas
Aid organizations say humanitarian crisis unfolding
Thursday, April 18, 2019
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexico-getting-tougher-on-migrants/
--------------------------
{We must put an end to the pollution being caused by the government of Mexico, we
need to shut down the government of Mexico at all costs}.
---------------------------
Migrant trash piles up at remote U.S.-Mexico border areas
2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-immigration-usa-trash/migrant-trash-piles-up-at-remote-u-s-mexico-border-areas-idUSTRE80S0QB20120129
---------------
Millions of gallons of Mexican waste threaten US Border Patrol agents
2017
https://www.foxnews.com/us/millions-of-gallons-of-mexican-waste-threaten-us-border-patrol-agents
---------------
Border Patrol failed to count hundreds of migrant deaths on US soil
2018
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/us/border-patrol-migrant-death-count-invs/
{Good job, get these enemy combatants out of America. We want many border
patrol officers released for killing illegal Mexicans attempting to sabotage America}.
---------------
The Deported Americans
More than 600,000 U.S.-born children of undocumented parents live in Mexico. What happens when you return to a country you’ve never known?
https://story.californiasunday.com/deported-americans
{Please keep this Third World trash out of Western nations}.
-------------------------
Cradling children, migrant families cross border in waves
2019
"We have an unprecedented crisis upon us," Robert Perez, deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, said in an interview. The Border Patrol says it made about 66,000 apprehensions of people crossing the border illegally in February, including 36,000 parents and children, an all-time monthly high. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, meanwhile, said since Dec. 21 it has released 107,000 family members while they await court dates.
Immigration authorities expect the number of parents and children to surpass 50,000 in March during the traditional spring spike in migration and potentially reach 180,000 in May, according to two U.S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly about internal documents.
The Border Patrol ordered expanded medical screenings after the December deaths of two children in its custody. The agency received $30 million to upgrade its South Texas processing center and additional funding to build a similar facility in El Paso.
https://www.mail.com/news/politics/9071752-cradling-children-migrant-families-cross-border-wa.html#.7518-stage-hero1-1
------------------------
{Jews are responsible for much of the illegal immigration in America and Europe}.
--------------------
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Section 25: Jews & Kidnapping
------------------
------------------
------------------
------------------
--------------------
Mexico City’s Jewish mayor wants to be identified by her policies, not her ethnicity
By Alan Grabinsky December 6, 2018
https://www.jta.org/2018/12/06/global/mexico-citys-new-mayor-distances-herself-from-her-jewishness-but-one-political-rival-doesnt
{A Jew trying to act like a Mexican.}
------------------------
Israel and Mexico swap notes on abusing rights
21 May 2013
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-and-mexico-swap-notes-abusing-rights/12475
-------------------
Israeli firm helps NSA spy on Americans and Mexicans
15 June 2013
Verint Systems has been contracted since 2006 for the mass interception of Mexican telecommunications, Wired magazine recently revealed, as part of US and Mexican interventions in the drug trade. Verint is the Israeli-American firm implicated in the National Security Agency’s mass wiretapping of US citizens beginning in 2001.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jimmy-johnson/israeli-firm-helps-nsa-spy-americans-and-mexicans
-----------------------
ADL Poll Finds Sharp Rise in Anti-Semitic Attitudes in Mexico
2017
https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-poll-finds-sharp-rise-in-anti-semitic-attitudes-in-mexico
56 Percent of Population Says Jews Have “Too Much Power” in Finance
he biggest increase in anti-Jewish stereotypes involved canards about Jewish power in finance and questions about Jewish loyalty to their own country. The poll found:
56 percent of Mexicans believe that Jews have “too much power in the business world, an increase from 40 percent in 2014;
49 percent believe Jews are more loyal to Israel than to Mexico, up from 32 percent.
49 percent say “Jews have too much power in international financial markets;
44 percent agreed with the statement, “Jews don’t care about what happens to anyone but their own kind.”
Nearly two-thirds of Mexicans say they’ve heard about the Holocaust, but of those, 27 percent think the Holocaust was a “myth” or “exaggerated by history.”
------------------------
Why Mexico’s Jews have a new crisis hotline
2017
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/why-mexico-s-jews-have-a-new-crisis-hotline-1.432803
The new crisis hotline — dubbed 1118 — is the brainchild of the Maguen David Community (which incorporates Syrian Jews from Aleppo) and the Ashkenazi Kehila. The two Orthodox groups have teamed up to launch the service for the entire Mexican Jewish Community, regardless of affiliation or religious denomination.
“The hotline 1118 is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year,” said Tania Chontkowsky, a member of the oversight committee for the new service, “and we have specialists who are trained to assist a person in crisis, with absolute discretion”.
The conversation will be anonymous and confidential, although the caller can choose to give his or her name in order to ask for more direct care. In fact, the hotline serves as a link to several Jewish support organisations. “Depending on the type of crisis, we can assist the person to get them the help they need..
------------------------
Jewish 'Cult' Tied to Brooklyn and Mexico is accused of kidnapping 2 children
2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/nyregion/lev-tahor-cult-kidnapping.html
------------------------
Children allegedly kidnapped by Jewish ‘cult’ found in Mexico
2018
https://nypost.com/2018/12/28/children-allegedly-kidnapped-by-jewish-cult-found-in-mexico/
------------------------
Four members of extremist Jewish sect are charged with kidnapping siblings, 12 and 14, in New York and taking them to Mexico
2018
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6537239/3-charged-kidnappings-tied-sect-victims-located.html
-----------------------
Fifth Member of Jewish Sect Arrested in Child Kidnapping Plot
2019
https://www.theepochtimes.com/fifth-member-of-jewish-sect-arrested-in-child-kidnapping-plot_2860321.html
------------------------
Mexican Vigilante Justice Hits $7 Billion Gold Mine
Apr. 14, 2017
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mexican-vigilante-justice-hits-dollar7-billion-gold-mine
When members of a regional mafia kidnapped laborers and fishermen, locals pleaded for government help. When they shut down a billion-dollar gold mine, they got it.
-----------------------
Rabbi and Orthodox Jewish Man Plotted to Kidnap and Murder Husband to Get Divorce for His Wife, Officials Say
2016
http://time.com/4483189/orthodox-jewish-men-arrested-kidnap-murder-plot/
-----------------------
Mexican Jews: Stop kidnapping
2004
https://www.jta.org/2004/06/30/lifestyle/mexican-jews-stop-kidnapping
------------------------
The Colombia-Israel Nexus: Toward Historical and Analytic Contexts
https://larrlasa.org/articles/10.25222/larr.111/galley/112/download/
Israel’s historical relationships with Argentina, Nicaragua, and Guatemala during the Cold War in the 1980s provides one context for understanding the parameters of Israeli foreign policy in the region. These relationships allied Israel with right-wing military regimes suppressing a variety of subversive others in Argentina and Guatemala, and also a right-wing counterinsurgency in Nicaragua. In the post–Cold War era, the Colombian case is distinctive because conflict is shaped by a number of different armed actors, including the state, right-wing paramilitaries, left-wing insurgents, and the narcotics industries. Israel’s role in the complex Colombian milieu involves relationships with both the state and the parastate, both the military and the paramilitaries. The Israeli and Colombian states are substantively and conceptually intertwined around a common obsession with national security and armed conflict with subversive others of many types. I ask whether a special relationship sutures Israel to Colombia linked to the expanding interventions of paramilitaries and parastate apparatuses. This article provides historical and analytic contexts to elaborate the Colombia-Israel relationship, toward a future in which “peace” may play an important role
------------------------
The Kidnap Industry in Colombia our Business?
https://www.paxforpeace.nl/media/files/the-kidnap-industry-in-colombia-our-business-112001_0.pdf
Evidence of leaks was also revealed in a case involving the members of the Colombian Jewish community. In 1984, the M-19 and ELN guerrilla groups started to abduct rich businessmen and industrialists of the Jewish community, who had taken out individual kidnap and ransom insurance for themselves from English companies. Apparently, guerrilla factions had succeeded in infiltrating the insurance file-keepers through a member of the Jewish community, and actually obtained names and information on the amount covered by their kidnap and ransom insurance. From 1984 to 1989, there were more than 40 kidnapping cases, one after the other, of insured members of the Jewish community. In all these cases the negotiator and mediator between the family and the kidnappers was the same man, Víctor Sassón. These suspicious extortions eventually came to an end after the assassination of Sassón, who was suspected of having provided the information to the guerrillas in the first place. The assassination is attributed to the Israeli secret service Mossad.
------------------------
7 Countries Where You're Most Likely to Get Kidnapped
2015
https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/the-7-countries-where-you-re-most-likely-to-get-kidnapped-for-ransom
Mexico
Haiti
Brazil
The Philippines
India
Colombia
Venezuela
--------------------------
Kidnappings in Mexico surge to the highest number on record
2014
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/kidnappings-in-mexico-surge-to-the-highest-number-on-record/2014/08/15/3f8ee2d2-1e6e-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html
-------------------------
Kidnapping in Mexico - Safety Tips for the Traveler
https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-safety/north-america/mexico/mexico-kidnapping-and-other-crimes
Serious crimes of all sorts can occur in Mexico, and they increasingly involve foreigners. Secuestro exprés, or express kidnapping, is one such safety risk.
--------------------------
100 people 'kidnapped' from migrant caravan by drug cartels in Mexico
2018
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/06/100-people-kidnapped-migrant-caravan-drug-cartels-mexico/
----------------------------
Mexico: Where More Americans Are Murdered Than In All Other Foreign Countries Combined
2018
https://www.forbes.com/sites/garystoller/2018/02/21/mexico-where-more-americans-are-murdered-than-in-all-other-countries-combined/#3d230564de37
Advisories released last month by the U.S. State Department tell Americans not to set foot in five Mexican states — Sinaloa, Colima, Michoacan, Guerrero and Tamaulipas — because of violent crime. Traveling to those states is as dangerous, according to the State Department's safety ratings, as traveling to Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. And Americans with plans to go to 11 other Mexican states should “reconsider,” the agency says.
Most recent State Department data may also cause travelers to pause before booking a trip to Mexico. In 2016, according to my analysis of the data, more Americans were reported killed by homicide in Mexico than the combined total of Americans killed by homicide in every other country abroad.
----------------------------
Mexican TV host found dead, becomes sixth journalist killed in Mexico this year
Feb. 23, 2022
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/mexican-tv-host-found-dead-becomes-sixth-journalist-killed-in-mexico-this-year-133904453830
----------------------------
Journalist and his police bodyguard shot dead while leaving a restaurant in Mexico
May 18, 2020
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jorge-miguel-armenta-avalos-journalist-mexico-police-protection-shot-dead/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3b
----------------------------
19 police in Mexican state charged in kidnappings, killings
2018
Authorities in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz announced charges Thursday of “forced disappearance” against 19 current or former state police officials and officers, saying they kidnapped and killed 15 innocent civilians.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/02/08/mexican-police-kidnappings-killings/322062002/
----------------------------
Mexico unable to cope with kidnapping epidemic
2018
A person is abducted every two hours in Mexico. After Syria, it leads the world in kidnappings. DW spoke with families of missing persons about their plight and what they view as a lack of urgency from the government.
https://www.dw.com/en/mexico-unable-to-cope-with-kidnapping-epidemic/a-45295999
----------------------------
Mexican truckers travel in fear as highway robberies bleed economy
2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-crime-transport/mexican-truckers-travel-in-fear-as-highway-robberies-bleed-economy-idUSKCN1IN1D2
----------------------------
No-Go Zones - World’s Toughest Places | Tepito, Mexico | Free Documentary
May 15, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlCFUeD6NII
----------------------------
Mexican Cartel Shows Off It's Might As A Warning To Their President!
July 18, 2020
https://worldstar.com/video.php?v=wshh7TsHv5h231d2uIp9
----------------------------
Hundreds of people in Mexico are kidnapped every year. And the problem’s getting worse.
It’s part of a trend experts refer to as the “democratization” of kidnapping.
2018
https://www.vox.com/2018/5/11/17276638/mexico-kidnappings-crime-cartels-drug-trade
----------------------------
Mexico’s Drug War Leads to Kidnappings, Vigilante Violence
2014
The past year has seen a decline in murders in Mexico's brutal drug war, but a rise in kidnappings and the growth of self-defense vigilante militias
http://world.time.com/2014/01/17/mexico-drug-war-kidnapping/
----------------------------
Mexico's Record Violence Is a Crisis 20 Years in the Making
2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/world/americas/mexico-violence.html
----------------------------
Airlines are trimming flights to Mexican resort areas as demand softens after reports of tourist blackouts
2018
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2018/08/03/airlines-trimming-flights-mexican-resort-areas-demand-softens/875348002/
----------------------------
2014 Iguala mass kidnapping
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Iguala_mass_kidnapping
On
September 26, 2014, 43 male students from the Ayotzinapa Rural
Teachers' College were forcibly taken and then disappeared in Iguala,
Guerrero, Mexico. They were allegedly taken into custody by local police
members from Cocula and Iguala, in collusion with organized crime.
According to official reports, the students' annual commandeering of
several buses to travel to Mexico City to commemorate the anniversary of
the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre turned deadly. During the journey, local
police attempted to intercept several of the buses, commandeered by the
students, through the use of road blocks and the firing of weapons.
Details
of what happened during and after the assault remain unclear, but the
government investigation concluded that once 43 of the students were
forcibly taken into custody, they were handed over to the local
Guerreros Unidos ("United Warriors") crime syndicate and presumably
killed. This official version from the Mexican government is disputed.
In September 2015, the results of a six-month investigation by a panel
of experts assembled by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
stated that the government's claim that the students were killed in a
garbage dump because they were mistaken for members of a drug gang was
"scientifically impossible" given the setting's conditions.
---------------------
What Happened To Mexico's Missing 43 Students In 'A Massacre In Mexico'
https://www.npr.org/2018/10/21/658900014/what-happened-to-mexicos-missing-43-students-in-a-massacre-in-mexico
--------------------
Missing Mexican students were killed, dissolved in acid after mistaken identity: authorities
2018
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/missing-mexican-students-were-killed-dissolved-acid-after-mistaken-identity-n868636
------------------
Mercenaries, Spies, and Double Agents Gather En Masse in Bogotá
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-16/mercenaries-spies-and-double-agents-gather-en-masse-in-bogot?utm_source=pocket-newtab
---------------
Mexican President Says to Return 'Stolen' Wealth to the People
April 15, 2019
https://www.voanews.com/americas/mexican-president-says-return-stolen-wealth-people
MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he will create a "Robin Hood" institute to return to the people the ill-gotten wealth seized from corrupt politicians and gangsters.
---------------
Mexican Vigilantes Stand Up Against Crime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XiSnCt9fDc
---------------
10 PLACES WITH NO LAWS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFxlhxesiuc
#7 Mexico
---------------
7 Most Unforgiving Places on Earth
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLCVvk12Hpc
{The Darien Gap, the border area between Colombia and South Panama.
The Darien Gap is home to the FARC, a Communist military group who have
been fighting against the Colombian government for decades. Many researchers
and scientists are being abducted by these Communist Guerrillas.
For more information on how Communism has turned into giving power over to different
royal families, view our videos on Global Western Genocide. We can see the Communist Party
in China is now owned by different elite families that now gain control over countries that fall to communism. We can see that Jews are behind bringing Communism to Russia, Europe and
and South America}.
----------------------
Soviet Policies and Activities in Latin America and the Caribbean
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/19820625.pdf
-----------------------
The U.S. War on Communism, Drugs, and Terrorism in Colombia
2013
http://www.coha.org/the-u-s-war-on-communism-drugs-and-terrorism-in-colombia/
------------------------
{We should invade Central America and kick out all the Communists ruining
the environment}.
------------------------
The CIA's Secret Genocide in Guatemala
Feb 26, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BIA4dgAJ9A
------------------------
Guatemala, Through Flooded Mountains | Deadliest Journeys
Aug 2, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK7RNAPi7Gk
------------------------
Oh, so this is why people hate America!
Jun 22, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdofGK2jY88
------------------------
United States invasion of Panama
The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, occurred between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. The invasion was led by the administration of President George H. W. Bush, ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama by 1 January 2000.
During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, military general and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed, president-elect Guillermo Endara sworn into office, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama
------------------------
8 Panamanian Jews get Spanish citizenship under law of return
2017
Sephardi Jews, descendants of those expelled in 1492, swear allegiance to king in ‘an act of historical reparation’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/8-panamanian-jews-get-spanish-citizenship-under-law-of-return/
-----------------------
The Strange Side of Jewish History
Panama Canal
2016
http://strangeside.com/panama-canal/
---------------------------
Jewish Population in the Americas
CENTRAL AMERICA - PANAMA
http://www.jewishwikipedia.info/panama.html
--------------------------
The Jews of Panama: Small Numbers, Great Impact
2014
https://www.bnaibrith.org/digital-exclusives/the-jews-of-panama-small-numbers-great-impact
-------------------------
Panama says new evidence shows 1994 plane crash 'terrorist' incident
2018
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44207991
--------------------------
Panama says not opening a Jerusalem embassy
2018
A Jerusalem embassy opening, President Juan Carlos Varela said, should only happen within the context of a renewed peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Panama-Were-not-opening-a-Jerusalem-embassy-558016
---------------------------
How the US Created a ‘Little Hiroshima’ in Central America
From 1989 to 1990, thousands of civilians died and were buried in mass graves in President George H.W. Bush's search for one suspected drug trafficker.
https://www.thenation.com/article/how-us-created-little-hiroshima-central-america/
---------------------
War Crimes And Genocide By The Israeli Government 14
https://archive.org/details/WarCrimesAndGenocideByTheIsraeliGovernment14
{Watch this video to see how Jews have overthrown different countries such as Russia
and the Nations of Europe.
It is the Communist third world Latin Americans, Communist Chinese and
Communist Jewish families behind the Communist uprisings. Many people do
not understand that if the Communist Party wins, that these Jewish families
such as the Rothschilds are behind the Communist Party. The Jews created
the Communist Party, and that power goes back to these communist Jewish
families. Look at how the Communist Jews just take over Russia and Eastern
Europe. We see how under the Communist and Socialist Party, that
these New World Order style elitist families get to take control.
Even many people that wanted socialism just to get free stuff, now are against
the Socialist Party and Communist Party, simply because they realize that this
just gives certain royal families such as the Rockefellers and Rothschilds more power.
We see how the Rockefellers are behind a lot of the socialist movements in
South America}.
----------------------
Emerging market borrowing spree lifts global debt to record $217 trillion -IIF
https://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-debt-iif/emerging-market-borrowing-spree-lifts-global-debt-to-record-217-trillion-iif-idUSL8N1JP1B6
--------------------
CNN just said the world is in $217 Trillion debt. Who the f*©k do we owe money to?
The Decepticons???
https://me.me/i/lex-looper-cnn-just-said-the-world-is-in-217-trillion-1d041bbd4d0845f8972fa49170ed6b94
{That would be the Jews, the Rothschilds and different Chinese Communists everyone is now in debt to. This is what angered Germany so much in World War II, and why countries go to war over these matters}.
------------------------
In Latin America, Jewish communities are booming
2012
https://www.jta.org/2012/09/10/global/in-latin-america-jewish-communities-are-booming
---------------------
History of the Jews in Latin America and the Caribbean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Latin_America_and_the_Caribbean
-------------------
-----------------
-----------------
-----------------
Section 26: Rothschilds
-----------------
----------------
-----------------
-------------------
The Rothschild Network of Commodities: Quicksilver and the Mexican Silver Market
2016
https://thebhc.org/sites/default/files/Parra_Rothschild_Schwantes_FINAL_0.pdf
-----------------------------
Mercury’s agent: Lionel Davidson and the Rothschilds in Mexico
https://www.rothschildarchive.org/materials/ar2008mexico.pdf
Alma
Parra describes the role played by Lionel Davidson, the agent of N M
Rothschild & Sons, in the development of the mercury trade in
Mexico Among those who benefited most from the development of mining in
Mexico were those who specialised in the supply of essentials: salt,
gunpowder and, above all, mercury (or quicksilver). Mercury had been
used intensively in the refining of ore since the mid
sixteenth century.During the colonial period the Spanish crown had
controlled distribution through established monopolies and the
government had imported and distributed quicksilver to Mexican mines
asthe major source of income.Independence from Spain in 1821 brought
changes in economic structures. In the absenceof a strong centralised
power, the liberal principles espoused by the new Mexican governments
opened up opportunities for private entrepreneurs, both Mexican and
foreign – who ironically displayed a remarkable ability to recreate
monopolies in the interests of private investors and businessmen.The
management of the quicksilver monopoly by the Spanish government has
been documented by a number of authors, using both Mexican and Spanish
sources. The post-independence mercury trade remains to be fully
explored, particularly (since the business was in the hands of
foreign merchants) through non-Mexican sources. Research at The
Rothschild Archive in London has helped to fill this gap, providing the
basis for a first brief exploration of the theme. The correspondence of
Rothschild agents in Mexico gives a better understanding of the
activities of the firm of N M Rothschild & Son of London, which
played a major part in the development of mining activities in the first
half of the nineteenth century, and also of the business networks
operating in Mexico at the time...
Mexico,
famed for its natural resources and financially challenged,
offered countless opportunities for investment to the merchant houses
which had emerged strongly during and after the Napoleonic Wars. London
houses such as Goldsmidt and Barclays offered loans to the Mexican
government through agents based there from the early 1820s.
The House of Rothschild’s response was specifically in the area of the
silver trade, where they sought to secure the flow of quicksilver to
the industry, thereby ensuring the stability of silver production for
export to international markets – also a key part of their activities.
The mines of Almadén in Spain, the main source of Spanish shipments in
previous centuries, were productive well into the nineteenth century. A
French commercial house secured a brief concession but in
1830theRothschilds obtained a first contract to exploit Almadén
quicksilver. This proved to be the beginning of a great
expansion of Rothschild business interests in Spain: in the
financial markets, Spanish debt, copper mining and railways.
Meanwhile, total control of the world quicksilver market was
achieved through contracts secured by the Austrian branch of the family
in Idria. By 1835 their distribution of mercury was booming and a second
Almadén contract in18388secured their control of distribution until the
middle of the century, when the monopoly was effectively broken by
competition from new areas of production in California and other
smaller local producers.Like many other banking and commercial
houses at the time, the Rothschilds initially worked through
commercial agents in Mexico who developed personal networks to
secure business growth. Their first arrangement was with Drusina
and Co., a commercial house founded by Wilhelm Drusina, who had
arrived in Mexico in the early 1820s as an employee of one of the first
German commercial houses in the country and gained experience in
distributing mercury to the mines of central Mexico. Progressively the
Rothschilds ventured into other businesses under the management of
Drusina: Mexican bond issues, the export of cochineal and silver,
quicksilver distribution and real estate.Agents were notorious for
taking the opportunity to do business on their own account and,after a
couple of decades, Drusina’s involvement in a larger number of
businesses involving many foreign and Mexican businessmen, outstripped
his abilities to keep control. In 1843, the Rothschilds determined to
minimise his role in the management of their Mexican
business, deciding instead to send a cousin, Lionel Davidson, to
establish their own more direct representation in Mexico City. Lionel
started reporting to the firm in London from the summer of 1843 and
assumed immediate responsibility for the distribution of mercury.1°A
second Davidson, Nathaniel, was also involved with various Rothschild
businesses in South America, mainly in Chile. He travelled along the
Pacific coast and from there sent information,often relating to mining,
and, in due course, towards the end of the decade, to the emergence of
the mine of New Almadén mine in California and the
forthcoming gold rush. After the death of his brother Lionel in
1853 he would take over his role in the Mexican agency.
Lionel’s
principal commitment was to the development of an extensive
distribution network for quicksilver in the most important mining areas.
In creating this he helped consolidate the experts had participated in
the opening of the Gigante mine in Guadalcazar, which had met a small
part of the Mexican demand for mercury. The real threat came from the
mines of New Almadén in California, formerly Santa Clara,
exploited by a company formed by two entrepreneurs, Barron and
Forbes, Irish and British respectively. They established their main
offices in the Port of San Blas in Western Mexico and steadily
increased their supply of quick-silver. (Years later, Davidson
himself would try to acquire shares in this venture but was
rebuffed by Barron).³°With the emergence of New Almadén, the primary
force behind the Rothschild presence in Mexico – the quicksilver
monopoly – was weakened and their role in the international quicksilver
business diminished. When Lionel Davidson died in the early 1850s, his
brother Nathaniel took his place but the record of his activities
suggest that he diversified his personal businesses far wider than had
his brother, focusing on silver exports and, along with other foreign
businessmen in Mexico, participating actively in the trade in Mexican
government bonds. He had an important role in the British Convention
Fund that embraced most British bondholder creditors of the Mexican
government.Although Lionel Davidson had himself engaged in
business of his own, he had always remained primarily focused on
mining. His correspondence reveals a clear understanding of the
requirements of the production cycle and he had the means to become
involved, both through the supply of mercury and by injecting capital
into the development of individual mines. From 1844, only a year after
his arrival, he had actively invested, as a shareholder of the mines of
VetaGrande mines in Zacatecas, the San Vicente de Paul mine in
Guanajuato in 1851, the Pedregalin Taxco and, in Temascaltepec. His
persistent interest in mining and processing of industrialmetals might
be considered precocious at this period of Mexican history.
His interest in the ironworks of San Rafael nearby Jaloxtoc in
Chalco and his frequent comments on the experiments of the firm Manning
and Mackintosh in exporting copper were but two examples. With
Lionel’s death and Nathaniel’s development of other interests,
the initial phase of Rothschild involvement in Mexican mining drew to
a close. But the detour was short-lived. The Rothschilds soon returned
to Mexican mining investment, in the mines of El Oro, and, through their
French branch, in El Boleo, in Baja California. Davidson’s legacy lived
on.
-------------------------------------
BP Oil Disaster Brings Fabulous Riches to Rothschild, Israel, and China
http://www.texemarrs.com/082010/black_gold.htm
--------------------------------------
The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba
1997
https://www.tni.org/en/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba
---------------------------------------
E.L. Rothschild LLC Acquires a Majority Stake in Weather Central, LP
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110131007054/en/E.L.-Rothschild-LLC-Acquires-Majority-Stake-Weather
Sir Evelyn and Lynn Forester de Rothschild’s Firm Sees Opportunity for Growth in Multi-Platform Weather Solutions Company
NEW
YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--E.L. Rothschild LLC, a private investment
company led by Chairman Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and CEO Lynn Forester
de Rothschild, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to
acquire a 70% interest in Weather Central, LP (www.wxc.com). The world’s
leading provider of interactive weather graphics and data services for
television, web, and mobile, Weather Central’s highly accurate and
personalized forecasting offers businesses and consumers a truly unique
suite of science-driven weather information products. The company will
continue to operate under CEO and founder, Terry Kelly, as well as
current management. Financial terms of the acquisition were not
disclosed.
Founded in 1974, Weather Central is a global
provider of professional on-air, online, print, mobile, and enterprise
weather solutions and forecasting. With 180 employees, including 70
meteorologists, Weather Central provides dynamic weather graphic
systems, proprietary forecast models, and dedication to high-quality
customer service. Weather Central has secured a leading 46% market share
of North America’s weather information delivery market for broadcast
and media delivering content to hundreds of millions of viewers. It is
the largest provider of broadcast and interactive web weather solutions
for media companies in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Weather Central has
more than 400 broadcast television clients in 21 countries worldwide.
It provides weather forecasts to millions of users daily by distributing
real-time personalized forecasts, interactive maps, and storm warnings
based on each user’s exact address.
Well-known for its
advanced technologies, the company pioneered weather computer graphics
systems worldwide and continues to innovate, recently releasing the
industry’s first 1km high-resolution forecast data set available on-air,
online, and for mobile devices. Weather Central has used its hallmark
scientific approach to secure customers that include network-owned and
operated television stations, independent television stations,
newspapers, websites, and individual businesses and consumers. From its
headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin and its regional offices in Hong
Kong, Beijing, and Berlin, the company’s systems provide weather to
hundreds of millions of viewers through customer installations
worldwide, including those in the U.K., Canada, Spain, Brazil, Mexico,
and other countries. Weather Central is also the primary provider of
weather technology and delivery to broadcast stations in China.
------------------------------------
Rothschild's Black Gold Empire (Texe Marrs)
BP Oil Disaster Brings Fabulous Riches to Rothschild, Israel, and China
http://www.texemarrs.com/082010/black_gold.htm
-------------------------------
Rothschild's Black Gold Empire
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_industryoil12.htm
--------------------------------
Complete list of banks owned or controlled by the Rothschild family
2017
https://www.earth-matters.nl/11/13949/verborgen-nieuws/complete-list-of-banks-owned-or-controlled-by-the-rothschild-family.html
Mexico: Bank of Mexico
Guatemala: Bank of Guatemala
Colombia: Bank of the Republic
Nicaragua: Central Bank of Nicaragua
Costa Rica: Central Bank of Costa Rica
China: The People’s Bank of China
-------------------------------------
Rothschild: Separating kids from families at border 'morally reprehensible'
2018
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/060718_rothschild_border_kids_op/rothschild-separating-kids-from-families-border-morally-reprehensible/
Tucson
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild joined the leaders of Los Angeles, Houston
and Albuquerque on Thursday in calling on the Trump administration to
halt separating children from parents who are illegal immigrants and
migrants seeking asylum. The mayors called the policy "flawed ... cruel"
and "morally reprehensible."
-------------------------------------
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild invites Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to visit Tucson
2017
https://tucson.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/mayor-jonathan-rothschild-invites-mexican-president-enrique-pe-a-nieto/article_bae222b8-d993-5581-ad3d-8e58f8381e38.html
------------------------------------
{We are calling for the arrest of Mayor Jonathan Rotschild, including all members of the Rothschild family.
Look at how it is the American people betraying their own country and the press, while they elect Rothschilds.
The media is tired of the American people betraying their own country and the press. These are the type of people who elect Rothschilds and Rockefelllers, and allow the government to openly abduct journalists. Shame on both the people of America and the people of Mexico. We can see now that the Jews have taken over both of these countries, including all the traitors that allowed it to happen. What good are many of you to us, if you just want to vote in people like the Rothchilds to public office, many of you have now become a burden to America and the rest of the world. These are the same types of people who also have been voting in Dianne Feinstein for over 20 years. As long as you people are going to openly vote in Rothschilds and betray the press, then we want all the people who voted for this Rothschild politician to face arrest. This is how free states such as Arizona now become one of the states that starts to restrict gun rights and freedom. We also want people who voted for Dianne Feinstein, Beto O'Rourke and the people who voted to re-elect Barack Obama to face arrest. Many of you will be forgiven once you learn of your errors in full, many of you will have trials and face jail time or deportation for your treason against America}.
----------------------------------------
Rothschild and Goldman Sachs practice fraud and money laundering in Malaysia and elsewhere
2018
https://www.voltairenet.org/article204528.html
The
Malaysian sovereign wealth fund lacks one (1) billion dollars; a
mistake of Goldman Sachs and Rothschild banks. If it had been smaller
banks, their bosses would already be in jail. But they do it regularly
and offer their apologies.
It has uncovered $ 5 billion
in irregular transactions and a network of money laundering in ten
countries involving the suspected Goldman Sachs and Rothschild
investment banks; The whole thing in a fraudulent operation against the
1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and has shaken the financial
world from the United States, to Singapore, over Switzerland.
The
vulture funds over which the Israeli-American Paul Singer rules [2] who
have slaughtered Argentina are now interested in Mexico, which
naively owns Texcoco vouchers provided by the stateless Videgaray / Peña
couple.
The Bloomberg website looks at the history of Malaysia's 1MDB, the scandal that shook the financial world.
Rohschild
AG Bank, it is said, has "seriously" broken the money laundering rules
that have lured the world's lenders into its destructive practice in
Malaysia.
Strangely enough, the Swiss financial
market regulator Finma, which still owes the Mexican public the list of
large-scale tax frauds uncovered by neoliberal Mexico by the HSBC papers, Panama Papers and Bahamas Leaks - reports no significant
trade relationship Rothschild bank with a certain customer "whom one can
not call money laundering".
Stupid question: who could
be this secret customer? George Soros, the philanthropic partner of
Rothschild bankers? Is Soros a scrubber while one of his literary
marionettes, Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian writer, was involved in
the fouled Panama papers? Mario Vargas Llosa, with his two
narco-literary allies in Mexico, has vigorously defended the CEU
(University of Central Europe) founded by Soros in Budapest, where he is
bringing the plague.
---------------------
Americans’ Life Savings Disappear From Mexican Bank Accounts
May 2019
Americans say money they had at Monex is gone and the bank isn’t helping them.
“Mexican authorities try to prosecute these cases but often aren’t successful.” In 2018 there were 7.3 million complaints of fraud involving 18.9 billion pesos, about $1 billion, according to Condusef, Mexico’s consumer protection agency. That’s more than double the number of claims in 2014.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/expats-millions-in-life-savings-disappear-from-mexican-accounts
-------------------
Soros Group Launches App to Help Illegals Avoid Feds
April 2018
https://patriotdetroit.com/content/all/soros-group-launches-app-to-help-illegals-avoid-feds
{We are calling for the arrest of George Soros, including to arrest all associates and people that
work for George Soros, the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers}.
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
Section 27: Rockefellers
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
----------------------
Guerrilla Movements in Latin America
https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1967071900
-------------------------
The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexico Agricultural Program
Philanthropic Neo-Malthusianism: The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mexico Agricultural Program, 1906-1945
https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ghr/article/download/16404/7456
Abstract: At the turn of the twentieth century, the Rockefeller Foundation took a vested interest in promoting agricultural reform programs in the American South. With the success of these initiatives, the Foundation began looking abroad for similar opportunities, and turned to Mexico to implement a similar agenda for agricultural reform. This project, the Mexico Agricultural Program (MAP), reflected the emergence of transnational ideas relating to overpopulation, food production and land capacity that dominated transnational epistemic communities throughout the early half of the twentieth century. This paper looks at the nexus between the Rockefeller Foundation and the United States government and points to the way private philanthropy was used as a diplomatic arm of the American state. The MAP was seen not only as a way for the Rockefeller Foundation to promote its strategies for modernization, but also as a means to secure the state’s geostrategic interests, which were also tied to biopolitical concerns relating to global land and food supplies.
----------------------------------------
How could a Mexican artist work both for Stalin and the Rockefellers?
2018
https://www.rbth.com/arts/329010-mexican-artist-work-for-stalin
----------------------------------------
Destroyed By Rockefellers, Mural Trespassed On Political Vision
2014
After the Rockefeller Center mural was destroyed in 1934, Diego Rivera recreated this version, named Man, Controller of the Universe, which is on display at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The story of the original mural's creation and destruction is the focus of a Mexican Cultural Institute exhibition in Washington, D.C.
https://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/287745199/destroyed-by-rockefellers-mural-trespassed-on-political-vision
---------------------------------------
Mexican Expropriation of Foreign Oil, 1938
On March 18, 1938, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas signed an order that expropriated the assets of nearly all of the foreign oil companies operating in Mexico. He later created Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), a state-owned firm that held a monopoly over the Mexican oil industry, and barred all foreign oil companies from operating in Mexico. The U.S. Government responded with a policy that backed efforts by American companies to obtain payment for their expropriated properties but supported Mexico’s right to expropriate foreign assets as long as prompt and effective compensation was provided.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/mexican-oil
-------------------------
Rockefeller Dynasty Investigation
RockefellerDynastyInvestigation.Blogspot.com
-------------------------
Here’s how communist guerrillas celebrated a half-century rebellion
2019
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/03/29/heres-how-communist-guerrillas-celebrated-a-half-century-rebellion/
---------------------
------------------
------------------
------------------
------------------
Section 28: Jews in Mexico
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
----------------------
List of Mexican Jews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexican_Jews
Mexico has had a Jewish population since the early Colonial Era. However, these early individuals could not openly worship as they were persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition for practicing Judaism. Independent Mexico eventually adopted freedom of religion and began receiving Jewish immigrants, many of them refugees. The book Estudio histórico de la migración judía a México 1900-1950 has records of almost 18,300 who emigrated to Mexico between 1900 and 1950. Most (7,023) were Ashkenazi Jews whose ancestors had settled in Eastern Europe, mainly Poland. A further 2,640 Jews arrived from either Spain or the Ottoman Empire and 1,619 came from Cuba and the United States.
The 2010 Census counted 67,476 individuals professing Judaism, most of whom live in Mexico City.
The following is a list of notable past and present Mexican Jews (not all with both parents Jewish, nor all practising Judaism), arranged by their main field of activity:
------------------------
History of the Jews in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Mexico
The history of the Jews in Mexico can be said to have begun in 1519 with the arrival of Conversos, often called Marranos or “Crypto-Jews,” referring to those Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism and that then became subject to the Spanish Inquisition.
-----------------------
THE JEWS OF MEXICO
SUMMARY
http://www.jewishwikipedia.info/mexico.html
-----------------------
Crypto-Jews in Mexico during the Seventeenth Century
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23874312?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
-----------------------
Conversos: The Story of Latin America's Crypto Jews | Unpacked
Feb 10, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Kfp2-Lqh4
-----------------------
Unwelcome Exiles. Mexico and the Jewish Refugees from Nazism, 1933-1945
2013
https://brill.com/view/title/21981?lang=en
Series:
Jewish Latin America, Volume: 4
Author: Daniela Gleizer
Unwelcome Exiles. Mexico and the Jewish Refugees from Nazism, 1933–1945 reconstructs a largely unknown history: during the Second World War, the Mexican government closed its doors to Jewish refugees expelled by the Nazis. In this comprehensive investigation, based on archives in Mexico and the United States, Daniela Gleizer emphasizes the selectiveness and discretionary implementation of post-revolutionary Mexican immigration policy, which sought to preserve mestizaje—the country’s blend of Spanish and Indigenous people and the ideological basis of national identity—by turning away foreigners considered “inassimilable” and therefore “undesirable.” Through her analysis of
Mexico’s role in the rescue of refugees in the 1930s and 40s, Gleizer challenges the country’s traditional image of itself as a nation that welcomes the persecuted.
This book is a revised and expanded translation of the Spanish El exilio incómodo. México y los refugiados judíos, 1933-1945, which received an Honorable Mention in the LAJSA Book Prize Award 2013.
------------------
Mexico’s Little-Known Attempt to Save Freud From the Nazis
2019
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/mexico-s-little-known-attempt-to-save-freud-from-the-nazis?utm_source=pocket-newtab
------------------
Jewish neighborhoods of Mexico City
2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smO7IV2rJSs
------------------------
What It's Like to Be Both Mexican and Jewish
https://www.popsugar.com/latina/What-Means-Mexican-Jew-43039946
------------------------
An inside look at Mexico’s Jewish Arab citizens and their dual identities
2018
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/04/24/An-inside-look-at-Mexico-s-Jewish-Arab-citizens-dual-identities.html
-----------------------
Sephardic DNA Shared by Mexicans and Jews
2016
https://www.jewishboston.com/sephardic-dna-shared-by-mexicans-and-jews/
Cary Aufseeser recently presented his research at the Newton Free Library Genealogy Club.
----------------------
Analysis Why Mexico's Jews Are Embracing Netanyahu, Even Though He Endorsed Trump's Wall
In January, Bibi implied that Trump’s envisioned wall was a good thing. Now on an Israeli prime minister’s first visit to Latin America, Netanyahu gets a chance to make amends
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-why-mexico-s-jews-are-welcoming-netanyahu-with-open-arms-1.5450482
-------------------
'Crypto-Jews' In The Southwest Find Faith In A Shrouded Legacy
2014
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/19/275862633/crypto-jews-in-the-southwest-find-faith-in-a-shrouded-legacy
------------------
Jewish-American organized crime
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish-American_organized_crime
-----------------
Texas Mexican secret spanish jews today, by Anne deSola Cardoza
http://sefarad.org/lm/011/texas.html
---------------------
Taking Down Armenian Power, California's Modern Mafia
2014
https://www.laweekly.com/news/taking-down-armenian-power-californias-modern-mafia-4824242
---------------------
Portuguese crypto-Jews: the genetic heritage of a complex history
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4313780/
----------------------
Mistaken Identity? The Case of New Mexico's "Hidden Jews"
2000
Imagine descendants of Jews pursued by the Spanish Inquisition, still tending the dying embers of their faith among peasant Latinos in the American Southwest. The story has obvious resonance, and it has garnered considerable publicity. The truth of the matter may turn out to be vastly different, and nearly as improbable.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/12/mistaken-identity-the-case-of-new-mexicos-hidden-jews/378454/
--------------------
Spain Expects up to 200,000 Jews to Apply for Citizenship
2015
https://www.newsweek.com/spain-expects-200000-jews-apply-citizenship-343586
The Spanish government has passed a bill that will allow the descendants of Jews exiled centuries ago to apply for citizenship.
----------------------
Older Sephardic Jews to be exempt from Spanish citizenship tests
2017
https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/02/27/inenglish/1488186502_865626.html
Justice Ministry waives the Spanish language and culture exam requirement for applicants 70 and over
The Spanish Justice Ministry has waived the Spanish language and culture examination requirement for Sephardic Jews over 70 years of age who are applying for citizenship. The decision builds on a law that went into effect in October 2015 offering nationality to people who can prove their ancient Spanish origins.
--------------------
{Europe is already overpopulated, we need to depopulate and remove all these
invasive Syrian refugees in Europe, along with all Muslims, Africans and Jews out of Europe}.
----------------------
Why Jews Go to Florida
2015
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-jews-go-to-florida_b_6431532
-----------------------
Brooklyn family keeps Latino-Jewish traditions alive
2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/09/24/latino.hasid/
-----------------------
The Mexican Mormon War (Drug Cartels vs. Mormons Full Length)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpIyaIHsJbc
{We should kick out many of the Hispanic Mexicans and ship them down to South America, we
should save the European colonies and people still alive in Mexico}.
---------------------
Mexican police chief arrested for Mormon family killings
December 27, 2019
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mexican-police-chief-arrested-for-mormon-family-killings
Mexican officials have arrested a police chief in the northern municipality of Janos that borders the state of Sonora where a Mormon family was murdered in November.
Mexican media confirmed that police chief Fidel Alejandro Villegas was arrested Friday in connection with the massacre that left six American children and three adults dead.
---------------------
Could Mitt Romney Be the First Jewish President?
2011
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/could-mitt-romney-be-the-first-jewish-president/247882/
The faith that Romney grew up in has many fundamental differences from Judaism, to say the least. The LDS Church is more authoritarian; its members emphasize conformity, submission, evangelism, and religious hierarchy. In contrast, the Jewish rabbinical tradition favors debate and rejects efforts to convert others. Unlike Mormons, Jews also don't ask for secrecy to their rituals and don't attempt to bar nonbelievers from their places of worship (even if they don't exactly welcome them, either).
But there are intriguing similarities. Both groups theologically define themselves as "chosen" by God to fulfill certain prophesies. Mormons believe that they are descended through biblical Israel (usually through the tribe of Ephraim), making the Jews their "cousins". Like their "cousins," they refer to outsiders as "gentiles." Both cultures value education, oppose marriage outside the community, have strict dietary rules, and place an emphasis upon observing the Sabbath. They even share a sartorial tie: the devout in both faiths wear special undergarments.
But the most crucial similarity is the two communities' historical story of suffering. In the 19th century, the Mormons were chased across the U.S. by Protestant mobs and even subject to an "extermination order" in Missouri. The Church's founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered by vigilantes in 1844. From 1857-1858, the U.S. Army actually occupied Utah. Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, is reported to have told future LDS President Ezra Taft Benson, "There are no people in the world who understand Jews like the Mormons do."
Of course, the Mormon experience comes nowhere close to the Jewish history of persecution. But what's more important is that the average Mormon thinks it does. There is scattered evidence of anti-Semitism in LDS history, but the sense of a shared theology and history has translated into a genuine fondness on the part of Mormons for all things Jewish. The fourth elected governor of Utah was a Jew (Simon Bamberger, elected 1916) and the LDS Church provided funds to build the first Reform Synagogue in Salt Lake City. Mormons are discouraged from proselytizing in Israel and, since 1995, Mormons have stopped posthumously baptizing Jews who have died (an act they continue to perform for everyone else).
For Romney, all of this history translates into a profound admiration for the state of Israel. The candidate has promised to up aid to Israel and has accused Obama of throwing the country "under the bus." These foreign policy views help explain why he has attracted so much high-level Jewish Republican support to his campaign.
--------------------
We Mexicans welcome Muslims as the new Public Enemy Number One
10 December 2015
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/10/we-mexicans-welcome-muslims-as-the-new-public-enemy-number-one
-----------
Pope Francis gets very angry in Mexico and filmed shouting
Feb 17, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPec9mb1Qbk
--------------
Islam in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Mexico
------------
Thousands of Muslim Migrants entering US through Mexican border
November 30, 2016
http://pamelageller.com/2016/11/thousands-muslim-migrants-entering-us-mexican-border.html/
----------------
SYRIAN MIGRANTS FLOOD INTO THE U.S. FROM MEXICAN BORDER
Dec 1, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLyTCi1_PgA
------------------
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AFRICAN MUSLIM MIGRANTS IN TIJUANA HEADING FOR THE U.S.
Nov 29, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjJY7e9rdK0
----------------
African Migrants in Tijuana; Update
Sep 14, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqxt5_LSPTI
--------------
HAITIAN & AFRICAN MIGRANTS FLOODING INTO SAN DIEGO
Dec 2, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18ZUzYZsqE
-----------------
Trudeau Apologizes for Canada's Turning Away Ship of Jews Fleeing Nazis
2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/world/canada/trudeau-apology-jews-st-louis.html
------------------
Tucker Carlson: 1 million illegal aliens at the border is a crisis -- 'manufactured' or not
2019
-------------------
Singer Joy Villa wears 'Build the Wall' dress at Grammy's and people can't believe it
2019
https://www.indy100.com/article/grammys-2019-joy-villa-donald-trump-build-wall-border-dress-mexico-us-border-red-carpet-8773331
--------------------
Trump To Declare National Emergency To Build Border Wall
2019
The president will also sign a spending bill that would avoid a second government shutdown.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-emergency-border-wall-trump_n_5c65cb83e4b0bcddd40fe7e1
------------------
Pope Calls For One World Religion
Apr 5, 2016
On today's show, researcher Leo Zagami breaks down how the "Panama Papers" could influence global politics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=494P-viDydo
--------------
Pope Francis Calls For A One World Race
May 7, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1S7Gd-uBD4
{The Pope wants a one world Jewish race}.
-----------------
POPE FRANCIS ORDERS THE VATICAN TO CREATE ART EXHIBIT PROMOTING CHRISLAM
JULY 9, 2014
http://www.inquisitr.com/1342279/pope-francis-orders-the-vatican-to-create-art-exhibit-promoting-chrislam/
----------------
In New York, Pope Francis Embraced Chrislam And Laid A Foundation For A One World Religion
September 28, 2015
http://www.infowars.com/in-new-york-pope-francis-embraced-chrislam-and-laid-a-foundation-for-a-one-world-religion/
----------------
Biblical Prophecy From Book of Obadiah Reveals Pope’s Shocking Jewish Agenda
January 25, 2016
On the surface, it looks like Pope Francis and the Jews are cozying up to one another and becoming besties. Below the surface, an End of Days prophecy that pits Rome against Jerusalem is playing out.
That’s the contention of Rabbi Tovia Singer, a Jewish expert in both Hebrew and Christian Scripture and director of the counter-missionary organization, Outreach Judaism. Singer opens his case by noting the proximity of two recent news items...
https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/59722/prophetic-truth-behind-rapprochement-between-pope-jews-jewish-world/#uZwVD5qYtZJWciwU.97
--------------------
King Solomon's Temple Investigation Marathon - Legend -
2021
https://solomonstempleinvestigation.blogspot.com
--------------------
Pollution Science 101 - Israel
PollutionScience101israel.blogspot.com
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Section 29: The Mexican Mafia, The Italian Mafia & The Pope
-------------------
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Analysis: Italian mafia brokering Mexican drug trade
2010
https://www.pri.org/stories/2010-05-06/analysis-italian-mafia-brokering-mexican-drug-trade
-------------------------------
The Relationship Between Italian Mafias And Mexican Drug Cartels – Part 1: A Comparison
2013
http://www.coha.org/the-relationship-between-italian-mafias-and-mexican-drug-cartels-part-1-a-comparison/
------------------------------
The Relationship Between the Italian Mafia And the Mexican Drug Cartels – Part 2: The Business Relationship
2014
http://www.coha.org/the-relationship-between-the-italian-mafia-and-the-mexican-drug-cartels-part-2-the-business-relationship/
----------------------
Mafia and the Vatican | Digging Deeper
2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96FGiSdxQzY
----------------------
Bitter Past: Pope Francis and Argentina's Dirty War
2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqM3WeRl7Z4
-----------------------
Jorge Bergoglio aka Francis Dirty War Argentina 1974-1983
2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqkdUlSJts
-----------------------
THE BASICS; Church, Mafia: Why the Link?
2003
FRANK KEATING, the chairman of the Roman Catholic Church's National Review Board, which is monitoring the church's response to the priest sexual abuse scandal, resigned last week after comparing some recalcitrant bishops to ''La Cosa Nostra.''
Is it unusual for the Catholic Church to be compared to the Mafia?
The comparison is certainly one byproduct of the scandal. But it is far from a new phenomenon...
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/weekinreview/the-basics-church-mafia-why-the-link.html?mtrref=undefined
---------------------
The church and the Mafia The Italian church is dissolving its links to the mob
2017
The mutual tolerance of the 1970s and 1980s is at an end
https://www.economist.com/erasmus/2017/12/15/the-italian-church-is-dissolving-its-links-to-the-mob
----------------------------
Catholic Church was 'inconsistent' with Mafia
2016
The Catholic Church had to fend off accusations regarding ties to the Mafia for a long time, although many priests decried Mafia violence. Rossella Merlino talks to DW about organized crime and religion in Italy.
https://www.dw.com/en/catholic-church-was-inconsistent-with-mafia/a-36366247
----------------------------
Catholic priest among those arrested in mafia-run scam to steal from migrants
2017
ROME - A Catholic priest was among at least 68 people arrested May 15 in the southern Italian region of of Calabria and accused of extortion, illegal arms possession, fraud, and association with the local mafia.
https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/05/15/catholic-priest-among-arrested-mafia-run-scam-steal-migrants/
----------------------------
Catholic Church is 'like the Mafia'
2010
The Catholic Church in Malta was as devious as the Mafia in covering up years of sexual abuse against orphans, one alleged victim said ahead of the Pope's visit to the Mediterranean country on Saturday.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/7598647/Catholic-Church-is-like-the-Mafia.html
---------------------------
Origins of the Mafia
Feb 2019
https://www.history.com/topics/crime/origins-of-the-mafia
The Mafia on the Rise in Italy
In 1861, Sicily became a province of recently unified Italy. However, chaos and crime reigned across the island as the fledgling Italian government tried to establish itself. In the 1870s, Roman officials even asked Sicilian Mafia clans to help them by going after dangerous, independent criminal bands; in exchange, officials would look the other way as the Mafia continued its protection shakedowns of landowners. The government believed this arrangement would be temporary, lasting just long enough for Rome to gain control; instead, the Mafia clans expanded their criminal activities and further entrenched themselves in Sicilian politics and the economy. The Mafia became adept at political corruption and intimidated people to vote for certain candidates, who were in turn beholden to the Mafia. Even the Catholic Church was involved with Mafia clans during this period, according to Raab, who notes that the church relied on Mafiosi to monitor its massive property holdings in Sicily and keep tenant farmers in line.
---------------------------
The Orlandi Code
The Mafia, communist spies, the Pope and the twisted mystery of a kidnapped Vatican girl
http://projects.thestar.com/projects/2014/10/22/rome_the_pope_the_vatican_and_the_twisted_mystery_of_a_kidnapped_girl.html
---------------------------
How Rich Is the Catholic Church? It's Impossible to Tell
2015
https://www.thestreet.com/story/13295788/1/how-rich-is-the-catholic-church-it-s-impossible-to-tell.html
How much real estate does the Catholic Church own? What are its equity holdings? These questions, and more, not answered.
---------------------------
The mafia, mozzarella and Italy’s ‘Triangle of Death’
2016
Decades of illegal toxic waste causes leukemia and tumors in children, a report finds.
https://www.politico.eu/article/mafia-mozzarella-and-land-of-fires-mafia-italy-cancer-campania/
---------------------------
The Pope and the Mafia Millions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVFUvtX6bLM
--------------------------
The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205834.The_Vatican_Exposed
---------------------------
History of the Catholic Church in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Catholic_Church_in_Mexico
Contents
1 Colonial era (1521–1821)
2 Early period: The Spiritual Conquest 1519–1572
2.1 Power of the Spanish Crown in Ecclesiastical Matters
2.2 The First Evangelists to the Indigenous
2.3 The Abandoned Experiment to Train Indian Priests
2.4 Mendicant-produced Texts for Evangelization
2.5 Hospitals
2.6 Confraternities
3 Spanish Habsburg Era (1550–1700)
3.1 Establishment of the Episcopal Hierarchy and the Assertion of Crown Control
3.2 Bishops as Interim Viceroys
3.3 Structure of the Episcopal Hierarchy
3.4 Ecclesiastical Privileges
3.5 Secular or Diocesan Clergy's Income
3.6 Reduction of Mendicants' Role
3.7 Pious Endowments
3.8 Tithes
3.9 Society of Jesus in Mexico, 1572–1767
3.9.1 Jesuit Haciendas
3.9.2 Jesuit Resistance to the Tithe
3.9.3 Expulsion of the Jesuits 1767
3.10 Convents
3.10.1 Establishments for Elite Creole Women
3.10.2 For Indian Noblewomen
3.11 Holy Office of the Inquisition
3.11.1 Crypto-Jews
3.11.2 Other jurisdictional transgressions
3.11.3 Indigenous beliefs
3.12 Devotions to Holy Men and Women
3.12.1 Virgin of Guadalupe and other Devotions to Mary
3.12.2 Devotions to Christ and Pilgrimage Sites
3.12.3 Mexican Saints
4 Spanish Bourbon Era 1700–1821
4.1 Changes in the Church as an Economic Institution
4.2 Expulsion of the Jesuits 1767
4.3 Charitable Institutions
4.4 The Clergy and Mexican Independence 1810–1821
5 Post-Independence Mexico, 1821-present
6 Independent Mexico in the Nineteenth Century
6.1 The First Empire and Early Republic, 1821–1854
6.2 Liberal reform of 1833
6.3 Liberal Reform (1857–1861)
6.4 The era of Porfirio Diaz (1876–1911)
7 The Mexican Revolution
7.1 The end of the Porfiriato
7.2 Madero, 1911–1913
7.3 Huerta, 1913-14
7.4 The Constitutionalists
7.5 Zapatistas and Religion
8 Church-State Relations, 1917–1940
8.1 1917 Mexican Constitution
8.2 Anticlericalism of Calles and Violent Church-State Conflict 1926–1929
8.3 Catholic lay organizations
8.4 Catholic Women and the Church-State Crisis
8.5 End of the Cristero Rebellion, 1929
8.6 Cristero Saints
8.7 Impact of the War
8.8 Cárdenas, 1934-40
8.9 Government-Mandated Socialist Education and Catholic Pushback
8.10 Growth during the new Church-State modus vivendi, 1940–1980
9 Changing Church-State relations, 1980–2000
9.1 Clampdown on Liberation Theology
9.2 Church Push for Civic Culture in Chihuahua
9.3 Salinas, the Vatican, and Reform of the Constitution
9.4 Protestant Groups and Constitutional Reform
9.5 Cardinal Posadas Ocampo's Murder
10 Issues in the 21st century
10.1 Priests targeted by narcotraffickers
11 Further reading
11.1 General
11.2 Colonial Era - 1519–1821
11.3 Nineteenth Century
11.4 Twentieth and Twenty-First Century
12 See also
13 References
The history of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico dates from the period of the Spanish conquest (1519–21) and has continued as an institution in Mexico into the twenty-first century. Catholicism is one of the two major legacies from the Spanish colonial era, the other being Spanish as the nation's language. The Catholic Church was a privileged institution until the mid nineteenth century. It was the sole permissible Church in the colonial era and into the early Mexican Republic, following independence in 1821. Following independence, it involved itself directly in politics, including in matters that did not specifically involve the Church.
In the mid-nineteenth century the liberal Reform brought major changes in church-state relation. Mexican liberals in power challenged the Catholic Church's role, particularly in reaction to its involvement in politics. The Reform curtailed the Church's role in education in Mexico, property ownership, and control of birth, marriage, and death records, with specific anticlerical laws. Many of these were incorporated into the Constitution of 1857, restricting the Church's corporate ownership of property and other limitations. Although there were some liberal clerics who advocated reform, such as José María Luis Mora, the Church came to be seen as conservative and anti-revolutionary.
During the bloody War of the Reform, when conservative forces attempted to oust the liberal government, the Church was an ally. They also were associated with the conservatives' attempt to regain power durin the French Intervention, when Maximilian Hapsburg was invited to become emperor of Mexico. The empire fell and conservatives discredited, along with the Catholic Church. However, during the long presidency of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911) the liberal former general pursued a policy of conciliation with the Catholic Church, but kept the liberal anticlerical articles of the constitution in force. In practice allowing greater freedom of action for the Catholic Church. With Díaz's ouster in 1911 and the decade-long conflict of the Mexican Revolution, the victorious Constitutionalist faction led by Venustiano Carranza wrote the new Constitution of 1917 that strengthened the anticlerical measures in the liberal Constitution of 1857.
Crypto-Jews
Non-Catholics were banned from emigrating to Spain's overseas territories, with potential migrants needing to receive a license to travel that stated they were of pure Catholic heritage. However, a number of crypto-Jews, that is, Jews who supposedly converted to Christianity (conversos) but continued practicing Judaism did emigrate. Many were merchants of Portuguese background, who could more easily move within the Spanish realms during the period 1580–1640 when Spain and Portugal had the same monarch.
The Portuguese empire included territories in West Africa and was the source of African slaves sold in Spanish territories. Quite a number of Portuguese merchants in Mexico were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. When Portugal successfully revolted against Spanish rule in 1640, the Inquisition in Mexico began to closely scrutinize the merchant community in which many Portuguese merchants were crypto-Jews. In 1649, crypto-Jews both living and dead were "relaxed to the secular arm" of crown justice for punishment. The Inquisition had no power to execute the convicted, so civil justice carried out capital punishment in a grand public ceremony affirming the power of Christianity and the State.
---------------------------
{We are calling for the arrest of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis}.
---------------------------
'They still respect their priest': the Mexican bishop who negotiates with cartel bosses
2018
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/18/mexico-guerrero-drug-cartels-bishop-salvador-rangel-mendoza
----------------------------
Lady of Guadalupe: Virgin Mary’s New Symbolism for Gangs and Commerce
As Latino Catholics celebrate the festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe, how did this modern Virgin Mary become the symbol of gangsters, pro-lifers, and artists? Judith Dupre on her surprising cultural history.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lady-of-guadalupe-virgin-marys-new-symbolism-for-gangs-and-commerce
---------------------------
Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Army_of_Our_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima
The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima, now mostly known as the World Apostolate of Fátima, is a public international association of the Christian faithful that has as its general purpose "the promotion of the authentic teaching of the Roman Catholic Church and the strict adherence to the tenets of the Gospel; the personal sanctification of adherents through faithful adherence to the Message of Our Lady of Fátima and the promotion of the common good by the spreading of that Message of Fátima".
---------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - Russia (The Uranium Trade)
(Blue Army of Fatima)
https://pollutionscience101russia.blogspot.com/
--------------------------
Masonic Gang Symbols
2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6xEM-IqPVg
--------------------------
How Major Street Gangs Are Connected With Freemasonry?? Gang Signs and Symbolism?? MUST WATCH
2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxHwKa7yJ4k
-------------------------
Echoes of the Mexican Mafia in the Bronx
https://narratively.com/echoes-of-the-mexican-mafia-in-the-bronx/
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The most feared girl in Mexico (*MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY*)
Jan 15, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNkA9BRRwpY
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How The Largest DEA Manhunt Uncovered Widespread Corruption In The Mexican Government | Our History
Jan 8, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqqayD7s1Gs
-------------------------
US Special Forces trained Mexican drug cartels linked to decapitation, torture, rape
May 6, 2021
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/05/06/us-special-forces-mexican-drug-cartels/amp/
-------------------------
How Sinaloa Became Mexico’s Biggest Cartel | The War on Drugs
Sep 13, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kqiGAswtKE
-------------------------
13 gangs and cartels that are working together in Texas
2018
Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
Barrio Azteca
Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos (HPL)
La Linea
Los Mexicles
Orejon
Paisas
Sureños or Sur-13
Tango Blast
Mexican Mafia
Texas Syndicate
Gulf Cartel
{Bloods}
{Crips}
{We want all Hispanic and black street gangs arrested, including suspected gang members arrested, executed or deported}.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/us-world/border-mexico/article/13-gangs-and-cartels-that-are-working-together-in-13384458.php#item-85307-tbla-67
{We are calling for the arrest of all members of any South American, Hispanic or Mexican gangs, including any Mexican, Central American and South American cartels}.
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Section 30: The Mexican Empire & Mexican Royal Families
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Mexican–American War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War
The Mexican–American War,[a] also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the Intervención estadounidense en México (American intervention in Mexico),[b] was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the Second Federal Republic of Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 American annexation of the Republic of Texas, not formally recognized by the Mexican government, disputing the Treaties of Velasco signed by the unstable Mexican caudillo President/General Antonio López de Santa Anna after the Texas Revolution a decade earlier. In 1845, newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk, who saw the annexation of Texas as the first step towards a further expansion of the United States, sent troops to the disputed area and a diplomatic mission to Mexico. After Mexican forces attacked American forces, Polk cited this in his request that Congress declare war.
U.S. forces quickly occupied the regional capital of Santa Fe de Nuevo México along the upper Rio Grande and the Pacific coast province of Alta California, and then moved south. Meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron of the U.S. Navy blockaded the Pacific coast farther south in lower Baja California Territory. The U.S. Army under Major General Winfield Scott eventually captured Mexico City through stiff resistance, having marched west from the port of Veracruz on the Gulf Coast, where the Americans staged their first ever amphibious landing.
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, forced onto the remnant Mexican government, ended the war and enforced the Mexican Cession
of the northern territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo
México to the United States. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million
compensation for the physical damage of the war and assumed $3.25
million of debt already owed earlier by the Mexican government to U.S.
citizens. Mexico acknowledged the loss of what became the State of Texas and accepted the Rio Grande as its northern border with the United States.
The victory and territorial expansion Polk envisioned
inspired great patriotism in the United States, but the war and treaty
drew some criticism in the U.S. for their casualties, monetary cost, and
heavy-handedness, particularly early on. The question of how to treat the new acquisitions also intensified the debate over slavery.
Mexico's worsened domestic turmoil and losses of life, territory and
national prestige left it in what prominent Mexicans called a "state of
degradation and ruin".
Contents
1 Background
1.1 Roots of the conflict in North Mexico
1.2 Designs on California
1.3 Republic of Texas
2 Origins of the war
2.1 Nueces Strip
2.2 Polk's gambit
2.3 Mexico's response
3 Preparation for war
3.1 Challenges in Mexico
3.1.1 Mexican Army
3.1.2 Soldaderas
3.1.3 Political divisions
3.2 United States Army
4 Outbreak of the war
4.1 Initial skirmish at the Nueces Strip
4.2 Further hostilities
4.3 Declarations of war
4.4 Antonio López de Santa Anna
5 Reaction in the United States
5.1 Opposition to the war
5.2 Defense of the war
5.3 U.S. journalism during the war
6 Conduct of the war
6.1 New Mexico campaign
6.2 California campaign
6.3 Pacific Coast campaign
6.4 Northeastern Mexico
6.5 Northwestern Mexico
6.6 Southern Mexico
6.6.1 First Battle of Tabasco
6.6.2 Second Battle of Tabasco
6.6.3 Yucatán
6.7 Desertion
6.7.1 San Patricios
6.8 Scott's Mexico City campaign
6.8.1 Landings and siege of Veracruz
6.8.2 Advance on Puebla
6.8.3 Pause at Puebla
6.8.4 Advance on Mexico City and its capture
6.8.4.1 Battle of Chapultepec
6.9 Santa Anna's last campaign
6.10 Anti-guerrilla campaign
7 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
8 Results
8.1 Altered territories
9 Impact of the war in the United States
9.1 Effect on the American Civil War
10 Impact of the war in Mexico
11 See also
11.1 General
12 Notes
13 Citations
14 Bibliography
14.1 Reference works
14.2 General histories
14.3 Military
14.4 Political and diplomatic
14.5 Memory and historiography
14.6 Primary sources
15 External links
15.1 Guides, bibliographies and collections
15.2 Media and primary sources
15.3 Other
---------------
The Battle of the Sacramento River
https://www.learning-history.com/sacramento-river-battle/
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Mexican monarchy family tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_monarchy_family_tree
----------------------------------------
Mexican nobility
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_nobility
----------------------------------------
Mexican nobility
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Mexican_nobility
-------------------------------------
Empire of Mexico
Imperio Mexicano
House of Iturbide - House of Habsburg
http://www.almanachdegotha.org/id74.html
----------------------------------------
House of Iturbide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Iturbide
The
House of Iturbide (Spanish: Casa de Iturbide) is the former Imperial
House of Mexico. It was founded by the Sovereign Mexican Constituent
Congress on June 22 1822 when the newly-independent Mexican congress
confirmed his title of Agustín I, Constitutional Emperor of
Mexico. He was baptized with the names of Saints Cosmas and
Damian at the cathedral there. The lastname Iturbide was
originally from the Basque Country, Spain.
Second Mexican Empire (1864–1867)
See also: Second Mexican Empire
In
1863, the Mexican Conservative Party, with the support of Napoleon III
of France, attempted to establish a monarchy under Austrian Archduke
Ferdinand Maximilian as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico.[14] Maximilian
adopted two grandsons of the first Mexican emperor, Agustín de Iturbide y
Green and Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán, as his heirs.
Agustín
de Iturbide and Salvador de Iturbide were granted the title of Prince
de Iturbide and style of Highness by imperial decree and were ranked
after the reigning family. In 1867, Maximilian was deposed and
executed on the orders of Benito Juárez.
---------------------------------------
Second Mexican Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Mexican_Empire
Banking
Before
1864, there was no banking in Mexico. Credits were obtained from
religious orders and merchant guilds. During the French Intervention,
the branch of a British bank was opened. The London Bank of Mexico and
South America Ltd began operations with a capital of two and a half
million pesos. It belonged to the Baring Brothers Group, and had its
head office in the corner of the Capuchinas and Lerdo Streets in
Downtown Mexico City.
-------------------------------------
Mexico's 15 Billion-Dollar Clans
2017
https://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2017/05/24/mexicos-15-billion-dollar-clans/#39601fbd21cf
----------------------------------------
Spain’s Involvement in the American Revolutionary War
http://granaderos.org/files/SpainInvolement.pdf
----------------------------------------
Spain denies Mexico apology over 1521 Spanish conquest
2019
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/03/26/Spain-denies-Mexico-apology-over-1521-Spanish-conquest/4311553612449/
---------------------
------------------
------------------
------------------
------------------
Section 31: Solutions
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
-------------------
--------------------
Blame humans for starting the Amazon fires, environmentalists say
August 23, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/americas/amazon-fires-humans-intl-hnk-trnd/index.html
The Amazon is burning -- and humans are likely to blame.
Environmental
organizations and researchers say the wildfires blazing in the
Brazilian rainforest were set by cattle ranchers and loggers who want to
clear and utilize the land, emboldened by the country's pro-business
president.
"The vast majority of these fires are
human-lit," said Christian Poirier, the program director of non-profit
organization Amazon Watch. He added that even during dry seasons, the
Amazon -- a humid rainforest -- doesn't catch on fire easily, unlike the
dry bushland in California or Australia.
------------------------
Mexico Lifts Ban on Fishing in Vaquita Habitat, Potentially Dooming Endangered Porpoise
7/15/21
https://www.newsweek.com/mexico-lifts-ban-fishing-vaquita-habitat-potentially-dooming-endangered-porpoise-1610216
------------------------
Illegal Mining Crackdown in Timbiquí, Colombia Angers Residents
October 10, 2019
Recent
raids on illegal mining operations in Timbiquí, Cauca were part of a
broad crackdown on criminal economies being used by ex-FARC mafia
groups, but they may only stoke anti-government resentment among the
local Afro-Colombian community.
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/illegal-mining-timbiqui-colombia/
-----------------
{The Afro-Colombian community is not willing to work with Pollution Science 101. How dare
you complain about this after we released this report on the illegal mining in Central and South
America. I am sure most of you of course cannot even read.
We are now calling for over a 95% elimination of all Afro-Colombian people, including
all blacks in South America. We declare a war on all blacks in North America and South America.
The only safe place now for a black should be in Africa.
The blacks in North America and South America must be eliminated. We must
either kill these blacks off if they will not travel back to Afirca, or deport
them by force. We no longer are willing to work with these people, and we order the
American Military to invade Mexico and Colombia and kill off all of these
third world people for their constant attacks against America.
We need to pave over this third world scum with a
better and more honorable society.
This is a good example of why America did not even allow many of these third world degenerates to come to America and turn America into a third world slum like many places in Africa, South America and the Middle East}.
--------------------
Naturalization Act of 1790
------------------------------
The Immigration Act of 1917 (also known as the Literacy Act and less often as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act) was the most sweeping immigration act the United States had passed until that time. It was the second act, after The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, aimed at restricting immigrants, and marked a turn toward nativism. The law imposed literacy tests on immigrants, created new categories of inadmissible persons, and barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific zone. It governed immigration policy until amended by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran–Walter Act.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1917
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (Pub.L. 68–139, 43 Stat. 153, enacted May 26, 1924), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia, set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere, and provided funding and an enforcement mechanism to carry out the longstanding ban on other immigrants.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. Building on the 1875 Page Act, which banned Chinese women from immigrating to the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law implemented to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating.
Jim Crow laws
-------------------------------
Black Codes (United States)
The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866 in the United States after the American Civil War with the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt. Black Codes were part of a larger pattern of Southern whites, who were trying to suppress the new freedom of emancipated African-American slaves, the freedmen. Black codes were essentially replacements for slave codes in those states. Before the war in states that prohibited slavery, some Black Codes were also enacted. Northern states such as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and New York enacted Black Codes to discourage free blacks from residing in those states and denying them equal rights, including the right to vote, the right to public education, and the right to equal treatment under the law. Some of these northern black codes were repealed around the same time that the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished.
Back-to-Africa movement
The Back-to-Africa movement, also known as the Colonization movement or After slave act, originated in the United States during the 19th century. It encouraged those of African descent to return to the African homelands of their ancestors. This movement would eventually inspire other movements, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafari movement and proved to be popular among African Americans.
{We want all foreigners out of America that were here after 1965, including their offspring.
We want all Muslims removed out of America for starters, right away.
We want all illegal Mexicans rounded up, we also want to declare war against Mexico, and drive all the Mexicans down to South America. We want the new American border wall all the way down to the Panama border. We want to make America, Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia and South Africa all white ethno-states. We need to remove all of the Muslims and Africans out of Europe, America, Canada and all western first world nations. We want all black Africans and mulatto people to return to Africa and find your roots. We want all Orientals out of Europe, Canada and America, go back to East Asia and stay out of the white man's lands, you can come visit with a visa. We want all Jews out of all nations and return to Israel. We want all Mexicans and Hispanics in North America and Central America relocated to South America, then relocated eventually to Africa.
America and Central America now belong to the United States of America}.
------------------------
------------------------
Mr Garrison Can We Get Rid Of All The Mexicans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZhKvoroklc
----------------
Eric Cartman Song ? Minorities at my Water Park ? lyrics karaoke - South Park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3IN1QIpFT8
----------------
The Politics of South Park: Immigration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3JxUZpiYk
---------------
Mexican Joker (South Park)
September 25, 2019
https://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s23e01-mexican-joker#source=2b6c5ab4-d717-4e84-9143-918793a3b636:63a32034-1ea6-492d-b95b-9433e3f62f8d&position=3&sort=airdate
---------------
{We need to round up all the Mexicans and eliminate them so that the better part of humanity can survive. I am tired of seeing these trashed out Mexican neighborhoods and gangs going around. These people are sorry excuses for what you call people. Look at how many of these blacks and Hispanics can barely even form a sentence, then look at how ghetto they act and are an eye sore for the better part of humanity. We can't even explain with words how much I want you dead. How you ruined the best neighborhoods in California, Texas, Europe and all across the globe. Sorry, you really are a lesser grade people and you should have been eliminated back in the 1800s. You lost the race
war, and only by keeping these artificial and inflated numbers of Mexicans has only caused grief to our planet. We now see how much of mistake it has been keeping around these useless low IQ Mexicans that are not even smart, and waste too many resources.
We must now do the proper thing and finish off this race of inferior Mexicans and Blacks like we should have done 200 years ago. We should just have first world nations just finally eliminate blacks and Muslims once and for all. Look at all the new Hispanic Muslims as now.
I am saying this as a diplomat of what it is going to take to save and preserve the better part of humanity from these low IQ gangsters that are almost too dumb to even work at any job.
I would want to eliminate 85%-90% of Mexicans, blacks, Hispanics and Arabs just in order for my own race of white people to survive.
I want to warn all people that your lives are on the line and we have limited resources. Either help us with eliminating and stopping these inferior groups from bringing down our country, or it may be your life that these savages take instead.
America is not a safe country anymore, look at how many illegals and foreigners we have let
into our country. Don't you see that at any time that many of these foreigners could attack America from within, just like the movie Red Dawn. We could see how the Communists could ally with Mexico, then use Mexico as a staging ground to invade America. This is why we must strike and attack Mexico and eliminate these inferior groups of Mexicans, blacks and 3rd world groups out of the Americas and out of the Rainforest. These people have not earned the right to live in Central America, South America and the Amazon, and we request we ship them to the deserts of Africa instead.
We demand all Americans to pick up a rifle and help with the elimination of these low IQ savages. We must have the militias unite to kill off these Mexicans invading America once and for all. Do it now or we will promise that and your family will end up in a concentration camp just like the movie Red Dawn if we don't remove these Mexicans and Cubans out of America. I now am no longer able to help the American people once they are rounded up in camps, you have been warned for many years and have still refused to organize the militias to attack Mexico. I will warn all Americans that you most likely will now be eliminated, especially if you let these inferior groups take over and we have to eliminate most of the people in order to start over fresh.
We are tired of all the millennial beta males and liberals trying to also help these low IQ Mexicans try to take over America, these people also need to be arrested and deported or executed. I personally think we need to start executing some of these liberal Beta males speaking up about allowing more Mexicans and blacks to come into America. See to it that these traitors face arrest and execution and then the rest of the liberals will wise up and start to realize what is happening, then they might go pick up a rifle to go invade Mexico and to eliminate these third world groups once and for all}.
---------------
Family Planning (1968) {Population Council}
May 30, 2012
Rare educational Disney cartoon from 1968.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2DkiceqmzU
----------------
Cartmen on Jews and the Economy ( South Park )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2h3X9dQifc
---------------
You're all Jews ( South Park )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v4OhDyjThc
--------------
South Park Jews.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWnohUo4lpM
--------------
South Park Season 19
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/episodes?season=19
{Watch all episodes to learn how many people have really
become politically correct in America. We need to stop many of these types of PC people from ruining America and other first world nations by allowing a bunch of illegal Mexicans, Africans and Arab Muslims to show up to First World nations}.
-------------------
-------------------
Is Trump Right? Do American’s need to murder all “Children of Color” to save Whites?
2019
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/03/17/is-trump-right-do-americans-need-to-murder-all-children-of-color-to-save-whites/
-
{For more information on this topic view our books on Eugenics, Dysgenics, including our book on Donald Trump}.
-----------------
A Donald Trump Investigation
http://donaldtrumpinvestigation.blogspot.com/
-----------------
Race Dysgenics
Racedysgenics.Blogspot.com
----------------
The Dysgenics Investigation
DysgenicsInvestigation.Blogspot.com
----------------
White Native Americans 101
WhiteNativeAmericans.Blogspot.com
----------------
{We warned the Mexicans to solve the problem with the environmental damage being done by Mexico, and you have refused our orders.
We warned the Mexicans to stop sending illegal Mexicans across the American border.
We are taking the gloves off, we want all Mexicans and South Americans trying to enter America illegally
to be shot on sight or arrested for trying to overthrow America. We must invade Mexico and drive out these low IQ Third World brachycephalic Mexicans and push them down to South America. We
cannot have Mexican, South Americans and brown third world people in a First World
nation such as America, Canada or in Western and Eastern Europe.
The last thing the world needs is another low IQ Hispanic gangster that can barely read and do math, then they end up having over 5 children. Many of these Third World people will ruin the gene pool if we let them continue to spread low IQ third world genetics in successful First World nations.
------------
We are calling for a population reduction in Mexico, including the majority of many Third World countries in Central America, South America, Africa and Asia.
We are calling for America to invade Mexico and kill off as many Mexicans as we can, just as in the Mexican-American war. Continue the war and do not let up on the Mexicans. We want Mexicans killed like coyotes with a bounty on their head, just like in the 1800s when killing Mexicans was an American pastime. We stand with the true America, and will see to it that we
finally get rid of the corruption in Mexico that harms America and the rest of the planet.
We must counter and put an end to the one world brown race trying to genocide off white nations and white people.
The American people should give me power, and I will solve the crisis at the border, I will invade Mexico and Central America. I will get rid of the corruption and these corrupt people once and for all, I can save Central America from these degenerates destroying the planet. These Mexicans have refused to correct their harmful and destructive ways of destroying the planet, and now this must end.
We want the majority of Mexicans phased out and replaced with a high IQ First World nation of white American and white European people.
We can see that the more Mexicans breed in America, the dumber society gets. Arabs Muslims and Africans in Europe have also caused the dumbing-down of society in Europe. We are calling for the removal of all Arabs, Muslims, black Africans and Orientals out of Europe and white areas such as America and Canada. What could have been the next white Da Vinci, is now some crude 90 IQ Third World degenerate.
-------------
The Dumbing Down of America – By Design
2018
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dumbing-down-of-america-by-design/5395928
The last thing the elite wants is an informed, empowered public mobilizing any grassroots movement to oppose government tyranny.
--------------
119 Heartbreaking Photos Of Pollution That Will Inspire You To Recycle
#19 Mexico City Landscape, 20 Million Inhabitants
https://www.boredpanda.com/environmental-pollution/
--------------
{Quiz time: If you were head pollution science leader, what would you do if given the following equation.
The current population of Mexico is around 132,049,523 million people as of Monday, April 29, 2019, based on the latest estimates.
Mexico ranks number 10 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
What percentage would you be in favor of reducing the population of Mexico down to?
First off, it would be insane to allow the general population of Mexicans to increase at the current rate the country of Mexico is polluting, especially without trying to fix the problem first. There would be no way of me approving an increased population in Mexico to over 200 million people let's say.
Remember that Mexico is on very fragile soil, with many sinkholes and limestone ground, this is why I think we should even have less buildings and less people in certain areas of Mexico that are prone to forming sinkholes eventually. We cannot have these Mexicans show up to America, and we must take care of their population and numbers that have now gotten out of hand.
We should promote population growth in outer space, we can see that many parts of the
world are overpopulated.
----------------------
The correct answer is we need a reduction of Mexico's population from 132 million people, down to around 20-40 million people, depending on how much they are still trashing up the environment.
We should save the higher IQ white European Mexican families, including white Mormons and white Christians.
---------------------
If I were in charge, I would invade Mexico and win the war against Mexico within a month. I would clear out the entire country of Mexicans and deport them to South America.
We need to get rid of the Hispanic Mexicans in America and create America as the white ethno-state that our forefathers intended it to be. Look at how America became the greatest country on Earth, and how we needed to get rid of many Third World Mexicans in order to pave the way for a high IQ race of white people.
Hispanic Mexicans and other Third World non-white people did not evolve as properly as white people, this is why white people have a higher average IQ. We need to promote the future race of white people over these third world low IQ savages that need to be stopped from ruining the environment and human gene pool. We must have immigration control, race control and population control to save the white race from genocide from these low IQ Third World degenerates.
If any aliens in outer space are watching this, I would like to say that Earth is
a good example of what happens when a bunch of liberals and beta males
let an inferior race of people start to take over, such as Mexicans. It is bad to let inferior
groups of people try to outbreed superior groups of people, especially without having
any form of population control or race control.
Many Mexicans are products of thousands of years of low IQ people having children, and
we need to fix the low IQ problem in Mexico and other Third World countries once and for all.
You want to know what is worse than an average beta male, and that is a
Mexican beta male.
Then we have all these people who say that Mexicans should have over 5 kids
and be on welfare. I say that we call for strict population control and phase out many
of these low IQ Hispanics once and for all. If you want to keep some Hispanics, I suggest we regulate population and race, and keep a small number of higher IQ Hispanics in South America, and away from white countries such as America. Mexico and Central America
will now belong to the United States of America if you let me have control and power. We
will remove all the brown Third World people out of Central America and North America, and
put all of these brown third world people in South America where they belong and sterilize the majority of them.
We should also remove over 90% of the Third World blacks and Hispanics living in the islands of the
Caribbean and deport them to the mainland of Africa. We can clearly see how fast these islands have been ruined by these Third World groups in the short amount of time. We need to remove the majority of the people off the islands in the Caribbean, it is not worth having these people continue to trash up the heart of the Caribbean. I love the Caribbean Islands so much that I think we must remove many of these Third World degenerates off these islands before they continue to ruin these islands more. We order the removal of all the Third World people in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and all other islands in the Caribbean,. Our orders are to deport all these third world people in the Caribbean to the mainland of Africa where they belong.
Haiti is a black country. We must remove the majority of the people out
of the Caribbean. Look at how bad they have also trashed up islands such
as Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti. I think we should round up most of the Mexicans, Hispanics
and blacks, then after that we need to ship all the Mexicans, blacks and mixed race
black and Hispanic people to Africa. Africa should be the area for mixed race people. We should have Europe and the Americas reserved for a white ethno-state. East Asia should be for Orientals and whites.
We constantly see how blacks and Mexicans degrade good societies. We are calling for a full war
and
the elimination of all these Mexican and black gangsters in order to
save the rest of humanity. We now must rid this burden to our society
once and for all.
If I were in charge, I would get rid of most of the Mexican retards and beta males and not let them reproduce. The last thing we would want to see on a space station is a bunch of low IQ Hispanic and African gangsters.
This is about saving humanity and saving the human gene pool from a bunch of beta males and
Third World degenerates that can barely even read. We cannot let these Mexicans destroy
the planet, give me control and power and I will stop these corrupt groups from destroying the
planet once and for all}.
------------------
Americans’ Life Savings Disappear From Mexican Bank Accounts
May 2019
Americans say money they had at Monex is gone and the bank isn’t helping them.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/expats-millions-in-life-savings-disappear-from-mexican-accounts?utm_source=pocket-newtab
-------------------
Bike theft puts the brakes on China’s Mobike in Mexico City
2018
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/31/bike-theft-puts-the-brakes-on-chinas-mobike-in-mexico-city.html
Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike entered the Latin American market in Mexico City this year drawn by its millions of potential clients.
Theft has been so widespread that, in the past few days, dozens of the app’s customers have complained on social media about the lack of available bicycles.
Mobike has been working with law enforcement agencies in Mexico City to recover the stolen bicycles, said Rene Ojeda, director of the Mexican arm of the Beijing-based company.
-------------------
Record-breaking year for automotive theft
2018
Thefts up 27% to more than 90,000 vehicles stolen
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/record-breaking-year-for-automotive-theft/
--------------------
Everyone is tired of seeing Mexicans move into nice neighborhoods. Mexicans will ruin nice neighborhoods and bring in more crime, theft, violence, poverty, graffiti, gangs and many unwanted gangster thug attitudes that no one wants around. We must phase out these unwanted groups and replace them with a higher IQ white population for humanity to survive.
Here is what we really think about the Hispanic gang culture, we want most of you dead, and we are tired of looking at these types of people ruining communities, neighborhoods and society. We must round up these Hispanic gang members and get them out of our society once and for all.
----------------------
Global Western Genocide 25 - Michael Ross calls upon the American Militia
https://archive.org/details/GlobalWesternGenocide25
--------------------------
Global Western Genocide 26 - Michael Ross talks about saving America
https://archive.org/details/GlobalWesternGenocide26
----------------------
12/25/2018 - Global Western Genocide 1
https://archive.org/details/GlobalWesternGenocide1R
----------------------
{America should have gotten rid of the Mexicans in the 1800s and 1900s if you ask me, we wouldn't be having this discussion on all of the pollution and crime going on in Mexico. There is a reason why Americans had good judgment in wanting to get rid of these Third World people and corrupt cultures. We must finish what we started and depopulate Mexico, we must get rid of the majority of Mexicans for the rest of humanity to survive and prosper.
We do not want Mexicans around First World nations, we are calling for a reduction of over 80% of the brown Hispanic population in the world. Maybe we should only have people born into this planet now that will take oaths of honor, and will not pollute the environment or steal. We need an advanced race of researchers and scientists, the world does not have enough room for low IQ Third World individuals that have very little honor and intelligence, such as many of the people of Mexico that need to be stopped from ruining the planet. We are ordering the American military to invade Mexico. We must stop the Mexican government and these illegal Mexicans from continuing to ruin and damage the environment.
Most of these illegal Mexicans have no honor, this is the reason why so many Mexicans, Central Americans and South Americans disregard the scientific community and illegally immigrate to North America. This is why the groundwater in North America is drying up so fast, it is because North America is now overpopulated. We cannot add more unlawful immigrants and illegal immigrants in North America, these illegal immigrants are breaking the law and accelerating the rate of the groundwater drying up in North America. This is why we are calling for over an 80% reduction in the non-white population in Mexico, Central America and South America. We should save the higher IQ white European bloodlines in Mexico, Central America and South America. We must promote north America as a white country and refuse to let these low IQ Third World non-white illegal immigrants into a First World white nation such as America. We are calling for the arrest of these non-white groups that have illegally immigrated to America. We need to arrest these unlawful immigrants for breaking the law while disregarding the scientific community. We need to override and arrest these corrupt politicians trying to bring in more Third World unlawful immigrants into America and Europe, these corrupt politicians continue to go against the wishes of the scientific community and Pollution Science. We will also now find and arrest these unlawful immigrants and phase out many of these low IQ Third World groups from the gene pool once and for all. We must sterilize the majority of these non-white illegal immigrants that continue to illegally immigrate. These unlawful immigrants continue to stack too many unlawful and illegal immigrants that are now responsible for drying up the groundwater, the scientific community already warned these low IQ Third World groups to stop illegally immigrating and drying up groundwater resources in North America and Europe. We must phase out, sterilize or eliminate many of these low IQ Third World groups for refusing to cooperate with the scientific community. The scientific community would like to define these illegal immigrants as a nuisance to our First World civilization and the environment. We must remove and eliminate these low IQ Third World immigrants from our society as one of our main goals. We are asking others in the scientific community to help find and remove these illegal Third World and Second World immigrants. We must override these corrupt politicians that continue to allow these unlawful immigrants to ruin the environment. America is overpopulated and we must remove these Third World immigrants at once. These illegal immigrants continue to overpopulate while drying up the groundwater in North America and desert areas along the North American border region}.
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1/7/2020 - Pollution Science 101 - Brazil - Emergency Report
https://pollutionscience101brazil.blogspot.com
------------------------------------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - China
https://pollutionscience101china.blogspot.com/
------------------------------
Pollution Science 101- Russia
https://pollutionscience101russia.blogspot.com
------------------------------
Pollution Science 101 -Ukraine
https://pollutionscience101Ukraine.blogspot.com
------------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - India
https://pollutionscience101india.blogspot.com
------------------------------
6/1/2020 - Pollution Science 101 - Egypt
https://pollutionscience101egypt.blogspot.com
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - Texas
https://pollutionscience101texasvsbpoil.blogspot.com
---------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - Cancer Investigated (California)
https://pollutionscience101cancerinvestigated.blogspot.com
---------------------------
Pollution Science 101 - Solutions
https://pollutionscience101solutions.blogspot.com
--------------------------
The DuPont Investigation
https://dupontinvestigation.blogspot.com
------------------------------------------------------
1/8/2020 - Race Dysgenics Brazil | Eugenics in Brazil
https://eugenicsbrazil.blogspot.com
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TheInvestigations@email.com