just think how clear the water will be without those pesky fish

April 22, 2004

SEWERAGE AND FERTILISERS 'ARE KILLING THE SEAS': (03/30/04): "Last summer

every sea creature across an area twice the size of Wales was asphyxiated

by severely depleted oxygen levels in the Gulf of Mexico. The same

phenomenon, the marine equivalent of the ozone hole, happened off South

America, China, Japan, south-east Australia, New Zealand, and up to 150

other places. A United Nations agency warned yesterday that the number of

these "dead zones", caused mainly by the run-off of nitrogen fertilisers

from intensive farming and sewerage from large cities, had doubled in the

past 15 years and was increasing all over the world.

"Humankind is engaged in a gigantic, global, experiment as a result of the

inefficient and often over-use of fertilisers, the discharge of untreated

sewage and the ever rising emissions from vehicles and factories," said

Klaus Toepfer, the UN environment programme (UNEP) director. "The nitrogen

and phosphorous from these sources are being discharged into rivers and the

coastal environment or being deposited from the atmosphere, triggering

these alarming and sometimes irreversible effects."

"What is clear is that unless urgent action is taken to tackle the sources

of the problem, it is likely to escalate rapidly," he said."

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