well, we could just turn them all into thermometers then

[Guest guest]

Mercury seriously mucking with wildlife, study finds

 

Mercury contamination of wildlife may be more prevalent than

previously thought and influencing ecosystems in unexpected ways,

suggests a study released yesterday. Researchers in the northeastern

U.S. and eastern Canada found higher-than-expected levels of mercury

in the region's birds and other animals, supporting the hypothesis

that mercury from power plants and incinerators may be getting into

the forest food chain in much the same way it enters water bodies and

aquatic ecosystems. Leaves and the moist forest floor act to

transform the mercury that falls from the sky into its most toxic

form -- methylmercury. Insects then easily accumulate the metal in

their bodies, passing it up the food chain and around the ecosystem.

" The impacts of mercury go well beyond what anyone would have

envisioned yesterday, " said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury

Policy Project in Vermont, who played no role in the study. The

research adds to the arsenal of environmental advocates who argue

that the Bush administration needs a more aggressive plan for curbing

mercury emissions.

 

straight to the source: The Boston Globe, Beth Daley, 08 Mar 2005

<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4506>

 

 

 

Til shade is gone, til water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared,

screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the

Last Day