This US summer is 'what global warming looks like'

[GaYellowDawg]

40. Sigh.

Much of what you say is true. Much of it is bullshit.

~heavy metal pollution of virtually all of our groundwater

Not even close to "virtually all." How many different locations have you tested for heavy metal pollution yourself? I've had students test a lot of different sites, including a river adjoining campus and an old graveyard for arsenic, lead, and mercury. All negative, and that was a major surprise to me, especially beside the graveyard. If that system isn't polluted, then there's a lot of cleaner water out there that isn't, either. Gross exaggeration here.

~inexplicable declines in honeybee populations (now linked to clothianidin)

Nosema apis, Israel acute paralysis virus, Nosema ceranae, imidacloprid, and Varroa mites have all been proposed as causing the honeybee declines. Not just the one pesticide.

~nutritional deficiencies in almost every fruit or vegetable harvested since the 70s

Really? Because my dad used to raise some pretty awesomely nutritious vegetables. This is an outlandish statement.

~measurable declines in the quality and flavor of most produce

Measurable, how? How do you know that your taste buds haven't just aged? Or that you've been struck with a major case of nostalgia? These things do happen, you know.

~GLOBAL monopolies on seed stocks, and genetically modified foods

Um, no. Still lots of different brands of seeds. You must live in the city.

~cross contamination of vegetable foodstuffs from cattle and dairy operations

Honestly, what this even mean? It's just alarming-sounding blather.

~inhumane treatment of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, calves, chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks

Dogs and cats, living together!!

~a growing percentage (almost half) of functionally illiterate (thus, easily manipulated) adults in the US

Half, functionally illiterate? That is completely wrong. I grew up in a rather poor city in the South, and education is my career, and I can tell you that a great deal less than half of adults are functionally illiterate. That is pure bullshit.

We are like a plague of voracious locusts on this planet, fouling the air, water, and land while destroying entire ecosystems. AND, in these exponential times, the catastrophic economic 'transformation' we're witnessing in our global economy promises to inflict challenges we have yet to envision.

Here we go again with the hyperbole. Locusts? Please. You must do a wonderful job as an activist, having this attitude towards your fellow humans.

Did you know that a third of US students surveyed do not expect to live into their old age? (In case you don't remember, for teenagers thirty is old age...)

Which survey? Which students? Where? Are you claiming that one-third of all students don't expect to live into old age? And honestly, who surveys teenagers for wisdom? There are exceptions, to be sure, but most teenagers don't have the experience to know their ass from a hole in the ground. And their views are incredibly fluid because most of them are in the process of developing into adults. I don't know why in the world you would even include this.

Our species has reached critical mass. The decisions we make RIGHT NOW will determine whether we continue to evolve into the erudite, peaceful and creative beings we KNOW we can become; or devolve into the ignorant, aggressive, and fearful beings we vociferously deny being at present *and* during most of our past.

This, I'll agree with - but how much good do you contribute to the dialogue by calling the entire species parasites and locusts? You stand a much greater chance of pushing people in the opposite direction. I view people who talk like that as part of the problem, not part of the solution.