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Sugar Production Damages the Environment
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), roughly 145 million tons of sugars are produced in 121 countries each year. And sugar production does indeed take its toll on surrounding soil, water and air, especially in threatened tropical ecosystems near the equator. A 2004 report by WWF, titled “Sugar and the Environment,” shows that sugar may be responsible for more biodiversity loss than any other crop, due to its destruction of habitat to make way for plantations, its intensive use of water for irrigation, its heavy use of agricultural chemicals, and the polluted wastewater that is routinely discharged in the sugar production process.
‘It’s kind of horrific’: Toxic algae bloom threatens Florida coasts (again)
Lake Okeechobee, Florida's liquid heart, is once again exploding with a massive algae bloom, a deepening crisis that threatens to slime both coasts in what has become a recurring summer nightmare.
Lake Okeechobee algae feeds Red Tide anxiety in Southwest Florida
A man-made dike keeps Lake Okeechobee from its natural flow south into the Florida Everglades and over sugar cane farms run by companies with major political power. In 2016, the sugar industry contributed nearly $8 million evenly between Democratic and Republican campaigns.
Dianne Brown is a registered, licensed dietitian and certified diabetes educator. For the last four years she has taught classes, counseled patients and educated medical students at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. “Why do we crave foods that are high in fat and sugar? Part of it goes back to our natural instincts,” Brown said. Humans favor food with lots of calories – courtesy of evolution. The body wants energy-dense foods in case nature deals us lean times. “Fats are a very concentrated source of calories,” Brown explained. “Things that are sweet on our tongue let us know the food is ripened and not spoiled. We are programmed to like sweet foods, even salty foods, because basic body functioning relies on sodium.” newsok.com...
Their creation worked much like modern cotton-candy machines today. At the top of the head, a heater melts the sugar, reducing it to syrup. At the same time, centrifugal force generated by the spinning head—which whips around at a dizzying 3,400 revolutions per minute— forces the liquid sugar through the tiny holes. As the syrup sprays through the holes, it solidifies almost instantly into long skinny strands, just 50 microns (two-thousandths of an inch) in diameter. www.nationalgeographic.com...
The main issue of McDonald’s negative impact on the environment is global warming resulting from greenhouse gas emissions from cows as well as damaging the rainforest for raising beef cattle and grains. For one thing, methane emitted from cattle is a major contributor of global warming. McDonald’s, as one of the world’s largest buyer of beef, is using 350000 cattle a year. With so many cows farting all day, they could produce a considerable amount of greenhouse gas. In the UK for example, 4% of the carbon emissions are the gas emitted by livestock (Day, 2010). For another, McDonald’s is causing the deforestation in the rain forest. McDonald’s often buys meats for its burgers from privatized farms. These privatized farms, however, are being blamed for not environmentally because the farmland they used to rear the cattle used to be a lush rainforest (Ecologist, 2010). In addition, trees in the rainforest are cut down for agricultural to grow grain for the livestock and poultry (Chew, 2001). According to Greenpeace, McDonald’s feed the chickens with the soybeans grown in the Amazon rainforest because those soybeans are cheaper (Astor, 2006). Therefore, McDonald’s is not only responsible for greenhouse gas emissions but destroying forests, which could help to address global warming. www.ukessays.com...
One interesting find is that McDonald's Hot 'N Spicy McChicken has 22 grams of sugar, which is over four times the amount of sugar in a basic McChicken (5 grams). The numbers are even higher when the video turns its attention the Frappuccino. Weighing in at 69 grams of sugar, the Frappuccino in the video (looks like a grande?) has more sugar than two full-size Snickers bars. Watch the video below for more sugar shocks. www.eater.com...
Lake Okeechobee algae feeds Red Tide anxiety in Southwest Florida
Charlotte and Lee counties are experiencing some of the highest concentrations of red tide in recent memory, and it's creeping north into Sarasota. Facebook videos of dead manatees and sea turtles have gone viral, but dying gamefish like snook and endangered redfish scare Greer most. "Everytime I see a dead one now, it breaks my heart," he says. "Because I know we don't have a lot of them left."
...CONTINUED...edit on 11-10-2018 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss because: (no reason given)
"He has undone decades if not a century of progress on the environment," said Josh Dorner, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, one of America's largest environmental groups. "The Bush administration has introduced this pervasive rot into the federal government which has undermined the rule of law, undermined science, undermined basic competence and rendered government agencies unable to do their most basic function even if they wanted to. We're excited just to push the reset button." www.theguardian.com...
US fired depleted uranium at civilian areas in 2003 Iraq war
US forces fired depleted uranium (DU) weapons at civilian areas and troops in Iraq in breach of official advice meant to prevent unnecessary suffering in conflicts, a report has found. Coordinates revealing where US jets and tanks fired nearly 10,000 DU rounds in Iraq during the war in 2003 have been obtained by the Dutch peace group Pax. This is the first time that any US DU firing coordinates have been released, despite previous requests by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Iraqi government.
In 2015 Obama lowered the threshold for acceptable ozone levels from 75 parts per billion, set under George W. Bush, to 70ppb. Green groups and medical scientists have said that this is above the levels that are safe for people to breathe. In a 2014 analysis, the Environmental Protection Agency recommended the limit be set between 60 and 70ppb. Environmental groups were rooting for the lower end of the spectrum. They were disappointed when Obama appeared to cave to the industries that emit ozone-generating chemicals, which fought for minimal or no reduction.
www.ibtimes.co.uk...
The fighting also led to severe indirect consequences such as the collapse of environmental governance, resulting in the accumulation of household, medical and industrial waste and the outbreak of communicable diseases. Ensuing waste burning and waste dumping could pollute groundwater sources. Civilians in the oil-rich areas started make-shift oil refineries, exposing them to hazardous substances that under peace-time circumstances are heavily regulated. www.paxforpeace.nl...
EPA LOOSENS REGULATIONS ON TOXIC AIR POLLUTION
“They’re really going to be killing people,” said Hip-Hop Caucus vice president Mustafa Ali, the former environmental justice head at EPA, in an interview with Earther. “You’re going to have all types of public health problems.”
news.nationalgeographic.com...
Juggalos descend on D.C. to fight FBI gang distinction as pro-Trump activists rally
“We’re different. We’re not dangerous,” Kevin Gill, who is an announcer for a Juggalo wrestling league, said from the rally stage. “Music is not a crime.”
originally posted by: Groot
Oh,wow !
Just , WOW !
Gotta go back and read it again, because I think you hit a nerve.
Let's start with the sugar wars and corn syrup, the beginning to to the end.....
Over the past 50 years researchers, clinicians, professional organizations, and health charities have waged war on sugar, calling for dietary recommendations to be changed and for a sugar tax on soft drinks and sweet treats in an effort to reduce obesity and cardiovascular diseases. In 2014, the WHO recommended that adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than ten percent of their total energy intake. But could the war on sugar be bad for your health? Experts present the arguments both for and against sugar in this hotly contested debate on the "Sugar Wars" published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.
www.sciencedaily.com...
LOL !