We're All Gonna Die! Pt. 31
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in Energy and the Environment
The latest death hazard from global warming is toxins.
Global warming may be making pesticide residues, heavy metals and household chemicals more dangerous to fish, wildlife and, ultimately, humans, scientists warn.
At the North American branch of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s 31st annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, on 8 November, environmental chemists warned that complex interactions between chemistry and climate change might be making chemicals more toxic and the environment more susceptible to damage.
For example, Erin Mann, a graduate student studying environmental chemistry at the University of Toronto in Scarborough, Canada, said that melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean exposes more seawater to the atmosphere, which may make it easier for toxic chemicals in arctic waters to escape into the air. “So global warming could produce more air pollution in the arctic,” she said.
In fairness, the words “could,” “may,” and “might” were used 12 times in the article, so they’re not exactly guaranteeing death…yet. But I don’t expect popular media to be as scrupulous when they pick this story up and throw it into the giant grab bag of ways in which global warming will KILL US ALL.