pollution and trash

Here is something to think about. Here is a picture I posted on Monday of Hudson River Park.




Well there was one thing I forgot to show in that picture

Those white rock looking objects are actually pieces of styrofoam. That was one of the biggest downers to hit me that day. As a species it has never made sense to me as to why we would deliberately poison and lay waste to our own natural resources. Perhaps it was never clear to people what the repercussions were or it is just an example of the tragedy of the commons. However, we are at the technological level at which we should be making all efforts to curb our environmental waste and clean up the waste we have already caused. For you scientists out there, please develop some sort of degradable bio-styrofoam.

I lived in a near pristine provincial island in the Philippines for some time. The beaches were crystal clear, the air was clean and children went outside to play. At night the sky was so pollution free and had such low light pollution that the number of stars was always too insurmountable to count. This is the world we should ask for our children and ourselves. No one should ever fear dashing into the ocean for fear of the levels of contamination. Finally, continued temperature changes around the globe could spell disaster for that little giving plant we all love (that's the camellia sinensis plant). From what I have read, tea is a plant that requires very specific temperature ranges and rainfall amounts to grow well. If we don't change now, the future of tea could very well be very dire.