Chasing Molecules

Attended a brown bag conversation (referring to the brown paper bag in which you bring your own lunch) with Elizabeth Grossman at Worldwatch Institute this afternoon, where she talked about her new book "Chasing Molecules." The book is on the issue of persisting chemical pollutants. Although the issue is not new - in fact, in 1962 it was Rachel Carson who by addressing this issue in "Silent Spring" (o, o, I still haven't read it) ignited environmentalism - it hasn't been on my radar screen clearly. It's said that, despite these first strong warnings almost five decades ago, the issues isn't tackled yet. Let me highlight one of the many intriguing aspects. Grossman explained how pollutants are pretty much in everything and are found in the environment literally everywhere, but most of them travel northward to the Arctic. As they are soluble in fat and not in water, they end up in fatty tissue of animals and plants and travel up the food chain, accumulating in top predators like the polar bear, the killer whale and humans. The arctic is also experiencing far more than average warming of the climate, affecting the ability of polar bears to hunt. They become more skinny, which increases the concentration of toxics in the fat. Like climate change, the pollutants issue also has its origin in fossil fuels and the petroleum industry. So through multiple mechanisms our use of fossil fuels turns polar bears (and with some delay ourselves, too) into living toxic waste. And like said, there are many more facets to it. I should read the book and dig into this a little deeper.