Deaths-head Jester

About:
[The Project]
[The ApocaDocs]
[Equal Share]
The Six Scenarios:
[Species Collapse]
[Infectious Disease]
[Climate Chaos]
[Resource Depletion]
[Biology Breach]
[Recovery]
Explore:

Play:

It's weekly, funny, and free!

SEARCH

More than 5,600 stories!

A great gift
for crisis deniers!


The ApocaDocs have a Book!
Humoring the Horror of the
Converging Emergencies
94 color pages
$24.99 now $15!
Or read FREE online!




Twitter




Ping this story
in social media:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
NowPublic
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon

Posted Tue Aug 18 2009: from Mongabay, via Treehugger via BoingBoing:
Pesticide use linked to dying frogs in California http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1250605633
Don Sparling of Southern Illinois University Carbondale found that minute quantities of endosulfan -- the active ingredient in many pesticides -- was enough kill frogs. "At 0.8 parts per billion, we lose all of them," Sparling said. 8 parts per billion is the equivalent of a dozen salt grains dissolved in 500 gallons of water. "We always thought there was an association between pesticides and declining amphibian populations, and we're building up a body of evidence to show this is the case." Sparling and colleagues found that endosulfan are making their way, likely via wind currents, into critical frog habitat, triggering die-offs among Pacific tree frogs and foothill yellow-legged frogs, which are native to meadows in California's Sierra Mountains.... "These pesticides are applied by airplanes and we found that the wind would blow some of it up into the mountains, for instance. In other cases, these chemicals would volatize after being applied, turning into a gaseous state, which could also be picked up and spread into the mountains by wind."
[Read more stories about: endocrine disruptor, pesticide runoff, amphibian collapse, canary in coal mine]

New!:
No reader quips yet -- be the first!

Got a PaniQuip?

Your Quip (limit 140 characters, no links, just wit):

First name:

The text shown in the Web image to the right:


We reserve the right to reuse, remove, or refuse any entry.

'Doc Jim says:
That is the ugliest canary I've ever seen.
Endosulfan has been banned in most civilized countries. It's a Persistent Organic Pollutant -- meaning it doesn't get metabolized, but is passed on from critter to critter, poisoning along the way. Like, y'know, DDT. What the hell are we doing allowing endosulfan use in this civilized country?

NEXT>
More stories:
  • Lead Poisoning of Children in China Leads to Disturbance
  • 'Killer Spices' Provide Eco-friendly Pesticides For Organic Fruits And Veggies
  • (Pesticide use linked to dying frogs in California)
  • Lions face extinction in Kenya within 20 years
  • New process removes sulfur components, CO2 from power plant emissions

  • Want to explore more?
    Try the PaniCloud!
    Copyright 2010 The Apocadocs.com