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Writer's pictureaimgralnick

An Upside Down Flag

No, not that one, the one in the news. This is the one used for distress. The sky may not be falling–yet–but the ocean is rising. That concerns those living with it and in it. Let’s start with those in it and what’s in it with them. Plastic pellets, sometimes called “nurdles” (I don’t know why) are one of the most nefarious forms of plastic pollution. Once spilled or dumped into rivers, streams and oceans, these pellets are nearly impossible to clean up. And it’s a big problem–an estimated 200,00 metric tons of plastic nurdles enter the ocean every year. To visualize it, that’s a garbage truck full of plastic every minute. As they drift away through the currents and tides, these bits of plastic are eaten by turtles, seabirds and other wildlife. Animals are left starving with bellies full of plastic, and yet the companies dumping plastic into the environment often face no penalty. That’s our fault. These charming facts come from several sources including the Pew Charitable Trust and the Ocean Conservancy.

NOAA Fisheries’ two new assessments of climate vulnerability for fish species and invertebrates in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic were shared at the end of 2023. They too are unsettling. While all the species assessed are projected to face significant exposure to climate-driven changes, some are expected to be much more susceptible than others, they say.

John Quinlan, the lead author of the Gulf of Mexico assessment, shared, “These areas are projected to become substantially warmer, saltier, more acidic, and less oxygenated. This means that multiple stressors could operate across the Southeast, and we’ll need to be aware as the system shifts.” That’s science speak for Uh oh!

 In the Gulf, several species stand out as particularly vulnerable, including sharks, rays, groupers, oysters, and snook. (National Fishman) Occasionally there is good news. It comes from work in the trenches like us’uns. The World Wildlife Federation announced that “… in May, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a package of bills into law, including the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act which establishes Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic and packaging materials in the state. Under the new law, all packaging will be required to be reusable, recyclable, compostable, or collected by an approved alternative collection system by 2032”. Basically,, it makes the long arm of the regulatory law even longer.

And it isn’t only fish. When the fish go so do the birds and animals that feed on them. What is happening is the collapse of an ecosystem.

And what about us without gills and fins, you and me? Here are two examples. One is a Pacific island nation named Tuvalu. It sees itself as being swamped and is beginning to move shoreline people to other islands. This while Florida developers get into bidding wars to build condominiums on any piece of ocean property they can find. Unless built on stilts (not happening) these semi-skyscrapers’ residents will find their lobbies have become additional swimming pools, that they will increasingly be forced into mass evacuations because of menacing “cat” 3,4 and 5 hurricanes which more frequently will bring water spouts and tornadoes. They will be lucky if they have enough gas to get them out of the neighborhood, no less to safety, because the lines of traffic will overwhelm the infrastructure built when none of this was given any thought.

Tuvalu is a speck in the ocean that few even know exist. Yet the loss of Tuvalu would not only displace its population but also eradicate a unique cultural heritage and history. The global community must recognize the interconnectedness of climate change, sea level rise, and the displacement of entire communities. Along with Tuvalu, there are 14 Pacific Island nations. They are Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. According to the World Health Organization they all are facing the same fate only at differing times in the future. Is this a little too geographically abstract for you? Try this to begin to focus it.

The Associated Press reported this unnerving tidbit: “The United Nations chief warned Tuesday that global sea levels have risen faster since 1900 and their relentless increase puts countries like Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands at risk and acutely endangers nearly 900 million people living in low-lying coastal areas.”

We can focus it even more. Our visit last year to Venice showed increasing concern about the rising tide. We walked into a centuries old church whose floors were wet at high tide. Seaside streets flood. Italy is installing outside Venice a metal barrier that would rise from the sea’s bottom at the touch of a button to wall off high tides. New York City is contemplating a similar engineering effort. What of the Keys in Florida including Key West that sit at sea level, or what sea level is now? Then there’s Key Biscayne alongside Miami which sits below sea level. We can add the life styles of the rich and famous island of La Gorce and Star and the man-made Fisher Island. Forgedaboutdit sums up their future unless Florida gets on the stick. On Florida’s west coast are Ft. Meyers, Sarasota, Clearwater, St. Pete and Tampa. All of this is the same story right up the east coast from Florida to Maine. Let’s make understanding it a blunt instrument. Florida, California, and Hawaii have 12,915 miles of coastline. The road distance from Key West to the Canadian border is 2,370 miles. Add 2,595 from San Diego to Canada. Wonder why insurance rates are going up? Read this again.

Then there is the sky. This year has already broken heat records. Tomorrow, June 7, the temperature in Las Vegas is reported to reach 111 degrees! Weather forecasts across the southwest show temperatures about 20 degrees above normal. As one woman interviewed on a street in Texas said, “This is only June. How am I going to survive August?!?”

From the skies have come more tornadoes than ever recorded for this period of time and the so-called “Tornado Alley” is growing. Several weeks ago there was a tornado that ripped through parts of Texas and Oklahoma with wind speeds estimated to be close to 250 mph. Places where it hit looked like a giant stomped on them. No matter what a structure was made out of, if it got hit, it got destroyed. Yesterday, June 5th, there was a destructive tornado in Gaithersburg Maryland! Gaithersburg has no warning sirens because Gaithersburg doesn’t get tornados. Or didn’t. Now comes La Nina which portends rising temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean bringing the highest number of hurricanes ever forecast for a hurricane season.

If I were you, I’d be ringing the phones of politicians off the hook and jamming up their computers with distress calls. I know I am.

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Note: While you are pondering the end of the world, you might as well read. As Bill says, “Read! It’s good for both of us.” The third and final book of his memoir trilogy is finished. “That’s Why They Call It Work” joins “The War of the Itchy Balls and Other Tales From Brooklyn” and “George Washington Didn’t Sleep Here.” All are available on Amazon for your reading device or to hold in your hand while you remember fondly what it was like to turn pages and write in margins.

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