Arctic Pollution Linked to Bird Droppings

The sky is falling, the ice is melting, the arctic is slipping away.

The world's media have been inundated with disaster stories about the state of arctic environment for the last several years. Greenpeace tried to claim that global warming would melt the arctic and flood out Manhattan island, while numerous activist groups have attempted to portray the arctic as nothing more than a toxic hazardous waste dump.

It turns out the biggest polluter of the arctic environment may be...

... wait for it now...

birds.

Specifically, bird poo.

"Wind currents and human activities long have been blamed for fouling the pristine Arctic. But a study by a group of Canadian researchers found that the chemical pollution in areas frequented by seabirds can be many times higher than in nearby regions."

Interestingly enough, birds are also being blamed elsewhere across the globe for holding up development of clean, renewable windpower.

I think we've discovered the true environmental villain here. Maybe Greenpeace can take advantage and change their slogan to "Save the Whales... and Kill Some Birds While You're at it!"

Farm Aid goes Hollywood

It was twenty years ago - a benefit concert to help cash-strapped farmers called "Farm-Aid" featuring some of the biggest music stars around.

The assembled star-power of the music industry today is gathering to do the same... but while it's often said, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," I'm not sure that can be said this time.

The same stars - John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willy Nelson - are gathering September 18 in Illinois for another benefit "Farm-Aid" concert. But will this "Farm-Aid" benefit average farmers?

Not even a little bit.

"A growing demand for organic products is giving a boost to their efforts to raise millions of dollars to help the people who work the land. "A lot more people are interested in finding out where their food comes from now than they were 20 years ago. And as they find out more and more about it, they agree with us that it is important to keep the family farmer on the land growing organic food," said Nelson."

"Growing organic food." Hmmm.... I had no idea that the average family farmer was growing organic. In fact, they're not. The organic industry rakes in far less than 5% of the average crop growth each year.

But don't let Nelson be your guide - John Mellencamp said Farm Aid helps "level the playing field for small farmers who are waging a battle against corporate interests.

"Farm Aid has always been about a dream of equality for the little guy," Mellencamp said.

Wow... not only had I no idea that John Mellencam was an expert in corporate governance for family farms, I also had no idea that agriculture was being dominated by corporate interests.

These guys are afraid of reality. Unfortunately, when they spend their collective time and effort to promote a stereotype that doesn't exist, they ultimately do a disservice to the cause they represent.

Last Known Active Farm Inside Beltway Sold

It's officially the end of a little-known era... because now, the next time an American farmer complains about "all those politicians who live in Washington and never see a farm," he'll be speaking the truth.

The last known working farm inside the Capital Beltway has been sold to a North Carolina developer planning to build a strip mall.

The Ongoing Debate - Feathers versus Lightbulbs...

It seems like a great idea - taking the clean, natural energy supplied by the wind and turning it into a source of emissions-free electricity.

Unless you're a bird.

The debate over windpower has been ongoing for years. But perhaps surprisingly, the proponents of wind power aren't necessarily prominent members of the environmental activist community.

For example, "Waterkeeper Alliance" and prominent activist Robert Kennedy Jr was engaged in a fight over a proposed offshore windfarm, but he had (ahem) 'noble' intentions... it would ruin the ocean sightlines from his Martha's Vineyard home. (I'm sure that's not what the other members of the activist community had in mind when they think of "waterkeeper" but I digress...)

But then, on the other hand, this very blog reported on the trouble Sierra Club official Dan Boone got into when he tried to downplay the damage windfarms were causing to migratory bird populations.

At the same time, similar damage is thought to be occuring with bat populations.

It will be fascinating to see how the fight over windpower shapes up, and whether or not the environmental activist community is going to work this one out. Will they be smart and broker a quiet, behind-the-scenes solution, causing minimal damage to the positive messages for either cause?

I doubt it.

What don't we know?

The answer - a lot. A whole lot.

"Science" magazine is running a cool article on the top 125 things which continue to baffle modern scientists.