We've all seen changes in the environment, some good, some not so good, some horrible. Narragansett Bay is cleaner than it has been in 75 years, but it still has major problems; over nitrification is causing algae blooms, dead zones, clam and fish kills. Deadly new bacteria has been found in the northern reaches of the bay. More beaches have been closed than ever before, most because of high levels of fecal mater in the water.
When we're not turning the bay into a toilet, we're turning it into a dump: the shores are littered with plastic bags, cans, paper, soiled diapers and other assorted crap. I was walking the rocks recently and on the way to one of my favorite dive sites I notices some *&^$en ahole decided that the 300 million year old rocks needed a touch of graffiti to bring a little of the ghetto to the Narragansett shoreline.
This is the stuff that people do to THEIR environment. This isn’t about the cumulative effects of global warming and what coal fired utilities and manufacturing plants are spewing into the atmosphere. This is what we the people are doing…and with total disregard for are home…planet earth. I thought everyone learned at an early age (animals do) that you don’t defecate where you eat. I’m sorry if I’m on a rant here but now this
article just put me over the top.
I would hate to live in a world without coral reefs, but most of them are in serious trouble and so are we if we keep heading down this slippery slope.
Any ideas on how we can improve things?
I have a few:
100 hours of community service dedicated to cleaning the shoreline to anyone found littering or defacing (spray painting) the shoreline.
The same for people that walk their dogs on the beach and don’t bother to pick up their mess.
Mandadory field trips to the shoreline for every child enrolled in a RI school. Emphasis on our most important and fragile ecosystem.
What are we doing to planet earth?
Threaded Mode