Environmental Disruptions and Climate Change
By
Tom Saunders B.A./B.S. Certified Linguist, Activist
I am an independent writer-researcher who has been working on Anthropogenic Climate Change and Fracking issues since 2012. I started by asking why people that lived near fracking operations were getting sick with the same medical problems as Agent Orange victims. The short answer is both sets of victims are being contaminated with the same types of Environmental Toxins. http://fracdallas.org/docs/edc.html
(Part) I.
Anthropogenic Climate Change Disruptions:
The biosphere is composed of those environments were life exists, maintaining the earth's ecosystems. The study of man-made climate disruptions (ACDs) is the study of the affects and stability of the atmosphere, oceans, and biology of the organisms existing in these environments. ACD exists in the micro, macro, and social ecosystems of mankind and threatens us all. This is a fact of modern and holistic ACD science concerning the non-linear disruption events in the biosphere and biology’s of earth. http://anr.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/17/2053019615591020.abstract
A non-linear climate change disruption event usually refers to an extreme event, like severe floods, droughts, storms, acidifications, earthquakes, rising oceans, toxic biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination, global warming, property damage, displacement, and critical shortages of life essential goods and services. All of these dire ACD events are occurring now, and can be accurately seen to be getting worse as time goes on. ACD Activists like Dahr Jamal and myself hold out little hope that modern governments will seriously do what actually would slow the ACD process. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33756-cop21-too-little-too-late-temperature-co2-thresholds-breached-as-climate-disruption-intensifies
Sorry to be redundant but ACD is about "all" of the following: severe floods, droughts, storms, acidifications, earthquakes, rising oceans, toxic biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination, global warming, property damage, displacement, and critical shortages of life essential goods and services. All of the above Climate Change events are on a natural 50 year timeline. This means that what is done today to the environment plays out its natural lifespan in fifty years. Many authors on Climate Change issues make predictions on shorter timespans.
Many recent good studies relative to macro and micro environmental disruptions are aimed at fifteen years into the future, from 2015. In my opinion the year 2000 is a good place to start in documenting ACDs. This is in spite of the fact that fracking has been going on for 50 years, and ACDs were studied by Exxon in the 70's, and 80's. Fifteen years into a cycle starting at 2000, we are already seeing the first of the dire consequences of ACDs, all of them.
The focus of those older studies and much of Climate Change Science today is about Carbon Dioxide levels relative to man-made global warming. A more modern study by Hansen has become greatly accepted science as confirmation on Carbon Dioxide as a direct cause of global warming, but not the only cause. Carbon Dioxide is also directly related to the ongoing acidification levels of the earth's oceans. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081648
Ocean acidification is the decrease in the pH of water in the Earth's oceans, caused by the absorption of Carbon Dioxide into the ocean water from the atmosphere." Acidification, in today’s oceans is showing an alarming increase of Carbon Dioxide. This is causing severe and often deadly damage in world's underwater ecosystems. "An estimated 30–40% of the carbon dioxide released in the air is from human activity. This greenhouse gas and others dissolves into oceans, rivers and lakes, and are threatening to destroy these environments. http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-acidification
It turns out Carbon Dioxide is not the most destructive greenhouse gas, at least compared to Methane. There are other kinds of greenhouse gases including Ozone. The worst greenhouse gases for the environment are Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, and Particulates. Currently there is little being done to reverse the damages to the atmosphere that have already done.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/08/18/3692660/methane-leaks-in-processing/
The destruction in the biosphere is just as disturbing as what is happening in the human gene pool. Many of the same toxic sources like gas fracking are causing both of these micro and macro environmental problems. Fracking produces lots of both methane and endocrine disrupters, (EDCs). http://www.tribunalonfracking.org/statements/primer-on-ets-edcs-and-climate-change/
According to the "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism" the healthcare cost of EDC's in the populations of the E.U. has escalated to $209 billion annually. In their work, "Estimating Burden and Disease Costs of Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in the European Union," the authors have no trouble linking this growing EDC epidemic as a Climate Change issue. The work calls for a systematic evaluation of the burden of medical conditions from critical exposure to EDCs in the interest of public health. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2014-4324
EDCs are known to cause breast and prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, thyroid diseases, and diabetes. EDCs are a direct cause of chromosomal damage, infertility, (Mekong Syndrome), asthma, obesity, strokes, heart disease, chloracne, peripheral neuropathy, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s, Autism, and Parkinson's diseases. The teratogenic related birth defects from critical EDC or radiation contamination include missing organs, missing bones, extra limbs, enlarged hearts, and various forms of mental retardation. There are other less commonly known conditions from critical contamination from endocrine disruptors.
There are already "ground zero" areas where teratogenic contamination of certain populations has taken place. These places/populations include the Russian Polygon, the Mekong Delta, Fukushima, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki Japan, Denton Texas, and American Agent Orange victims from the Viet Nam War. Fracking is what makes Denton Texas a ground-zero location from EDC contamination. There are too many gas fracking operations not to be in an EDC contaminated area in Denton. There are a lot of Denton(s) in the world, as fracking has gone global since 2006. http://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/
http://io9.com/5988266/the-tragic-story-of-the-semipalatinsk-nuclear-test-site
The future cost of healthcare could easily go beyond any current industry or government predictions as the number of critically contaminated people grow. The total of the destructive effects of all the different types of ACDs will eventually economically strain and destabilize some populations everywhere. http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/33414-climate-change-poised-to-push-100-million-into-extreme-poverty-by-2030
Part II
Critical Contamination from Environmental Toxins:
"Critical Contamination is when a biological, chemical, or radioactive Environmental Toxin causes a definable medical condition." http://www.tribunalonfracking.org/statements/primer-on-ets-edcs-and-climate-change/
"The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism" has published a report by a number of leading experts who say there is a 99% possibility that exposure to Endocrine Disruption Chemicals (EDCs) will cause a health problem. This prediction mirrors other studies including one by Dr. Susan Nagel of the University of Missouri. Nagle and others have determined that critical contamination from EDCs can happen as far away as ten miles from a fracking operation. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2014-4324 http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2015/8/ehp.1409535.acco.pdf
Other works by Nagel, Hildenbrand, Pannettieri, Moench, and the American Pediatric Society support the idea that EDCs produced from fracking are dangerous. Another important work that exposes the dangers of EDCs and fracking operations has been presented by Physicians for Social Responsibility...
"All together, findings to date from scientific, medical, and journalistic investigations combine to demonstrate that fracking poses significant threats to air, water, health, public safety, climate stability, seismic stability, community cohesion, and long-term economic vitality. Emerging data from a rapidly expanding body of evidence continue to reveal a plethora of recurring problems and harms that cannot be averted or cannot be sufficiently averted through regulatory frameworks. In the words of esteemed pediatrician Jerome Paulson, MD, there is “no evidence that…fracking can operate without risks to human health…. Any claims of safety are based on wishful thinking.” http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/fracking-compendium.pdf
Chemical toxicity levels of EDCs are calculated with a scale of toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) to facilitate risk assessment of exposure to dioxin mixtures and other EDC's. Because TCDD is the best-understood dioxin, it was used as a frame of reference for estimating the toxicity of the other EDCs. TCDD is given a rating of 1.0, as the most toxic, and EDCs are judged against this standard. Not all EDCs are teratogenic. https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/clarc/FocusSheets/tef.pdf
Radiation and EDC poisoning cause some of the worst effects of critical contamination. The stronger EDCs can produce all of the following symptoms in victims.
Types of Critical Contamination:
Neurotoxic: Likely to cause nerve damage
Carcinogenic: Likely to cause one or more types of cancer.
Mutagenic/Genotoxic: Likely to cause harm or a mutation in your DNA
Teratogenic: Likely to pass on mutation and defects to a fetus. These defects are transgenerational and are known to increase in severity from one generation to another. (See Mekong Syndrome)
Radiation can make you a Teratogenic at around 150 rems of exposure. The teratogenic dosages for EDC's are not as clear. One reason for this is the rift between researchers who use models that do not reflect the actual pharmacokinetic cause and effects of toxins. Regulatory research tends to use computer models that do not actually reflect how toxins work on the physiology. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33668-why-the-united-states-leaves-deadly-chemicals-on-the-market
In 1986 the CDC's Division of Environmental Health Laboratory Sciences, Center for Environmental Health, developed a method for measuring TCDD in the fat cells of human serum. There is a normal amount of dioxin compounds for people which are 3-7 pg/g (picograms/gram). This level is from normal accumulation from food and water ingestion. This level should go up for people in contaminated zones. As of yet there are no studies I know of that reveal at what accumulation levels the types of critical contamination will occur. The consensus is that no amount of dioxin is safe. http://www.agentorangerecord.com/information/what_is_dioxin/
Asian research reveals the lethal dosage of 0.0006 milligrams of TCDD per kilogram of body weight will kill half of any given population of guinea pigs. A lethal dose is calculated on the prospect of killing half a population. The lethal dose for monkeys according to Professor Tran Xuan Thu is 70 ppb. It might take a little more for people, but Dr. Thu estimates that one gram of TCDD could kill fourteen million people. http://www.ffrd.org/Lawsuit/VAVA/tranxuanthu.pdf
Recent research by Linda Birnbaum of the National Institute of Health reveals that contaminations from large doses of EDC’s does not always cause the damage of low doses. Endocrine-disruption chemicals are non-monotonic meaning the response to EDCs does not necessarily intensify or diminish based upon the dose. Birnbaum's research showed that low doses of endocrine disruptors can cause critical contamination (the causing a medical effect), and can even cause more dramatic disruptions than higher doses. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1205179/
Another factor of EDC contamination is that EDC toxins do not act like other poisons in regard to accumulative doses. More arsenic over time will cause more damage, but in the case of EDCs more of certain poisons do not seem to have that same effect. This can make critical contamination hard to detect before symptoms start to appear. People can have different tolerances. Many Agent Orange victims from the Viet Nam War from 1961 to 1971 did not show critical EDC contamination symptoms for many years. (Agent Orange Registry/Personal experience)
At some point mass critical contamination from teratogenic toxins could reach a tipping point and threaten the human gene pool. Some would argue it already has. The transgenerational effects of teratogenic contamination by ETs make the sexually transmitted condition potentially more dangerous than HIV. Those critically contaminated from ETs may not know they are affected until the medical symptoms show themselves. This can take years which may well facilitate more mass contamination in the future.
At fifteen years into a 50 year ACD cycle we already can see dire consequences from all the types of Climate Change related disasters. The mass contamination of EDCs shows a tipping point where it is too late to stop this epidemic of critically contaminated victims. There is every reason to believe that things will get much worse in regard to all the kinds of ACDs.
Part III.
Planning for Future Survival from ACDs:
Human emotions of guilt work best if the fear of consequences of an evil action can happen in the guilty person's lifetime. Probably most people living in the first ACD cycle, starting from the year 2000, will only see part of the worst to come. I'm almost 68 years old and do not expect to live long enough to see the start of the next 50 year cycle in 2050. The prospect of dying before the worst consequences of ACDs gives me only a little solace for seeing it coming.
Most of the people responsible for the pollution, lies, deceptions, and corporate greed that have caused ACDs are around my age. They will not see the worst consequences of what they have caused. Some act as if, for some reason, they are justified to be detached from the problem. Or worse, they support the denial of ACDs and contribute to the lies which cause social inaction in the face of crisis.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/32460-nearly-half-the-worlds-largest-corporations-are-obstructing-climate-change-legislation
http:/ www.truth-out.org/news/item/33789-research-confirms-exxonmobil-koch-funded-climate-denial-echo-chamber-polluted-mainstream-media
ACD science is infested with an overwhelming number of Frackademics and Climate Change deniers that have poisoned ACD research. Organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council have influenced companies and Congressmen to defend Climate Change denial. There is no doubt in my opinion that political influence in regard to addressing ACDs has locked-in the entire Republican Party. Due to the escalating nature of ACDs, denial is getting harder to do. http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/33389-ford-motor-company-revealed-as-funder-of-climate-denial-group-alec
Survival from the devastation of ADCs depends largely upon understanding the whole situation and recognizing the tipping points of ACD types affecting you and your environment. This means you need a plan to combat the ill effects of severe floods, droughts, storms, acidifications, earthquakes, rising oceans, toxic biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination, global warming, property damage, displacement, and critical shortages of life essential goods and services. What you may need logically depends upon the severity of the event, availability of help, and the number and nature of ACD events you are forced to endure.
The severity of ACD disasters is expected to increase dramatically according to several studies examining positive feedback loops. These feedback mechanisms are aligned with mostly weather and ocean types of ACD events. Positive feedback is when a condition is amplified, and negative feedback is when the condition is diminished. http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/Perry_Samson_ lectures/feedback_mechanisms/
Feedback loops help to forecast how an event is taking place, and how much the positive or negative changes may be for a particular event. In general, feedback is the process in which changing one quantity changes a second quantity, and the change in the second quantity in turn causes changes in the first. In regard to the micro and macro environment, the social environment acts as a system of feedback loops in response to the cause and effect of disasters. http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/models/loops.html
A study by James Hansen, mentioned above, shows an increase of only 1 degree Celsius above previous baseline temperatures of earth will produce alarming positive weather related feedback loops. The earth has already surpassed this level. This will mean more extreme and escalating weather events, sea level rise due directly to global warming, and other types of ACD disasters. The weather disruptions in the macro world predicted by Hansen, at the same time, are part of the destruction of the biological and genetic environments in the micro world. This in turn will effect what happens in the social environment. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081648
Survival for future people will depend a lot on knowing where the tipping points are of events in the micro, macro, and social environments. Some events may well be too extreme to survive. Many of the current ACD events listed in this document can be forecasted with some reliability, but further study is needed.
At the turn of each 50 year cycle the ACD situation is bound to be different at least in some respects from what is anticipated. Personal and social adjustments to accommodate survivability from more extreme ACDs and future natural disasters will have to be made accordingly.
