A group of scientists has given freshwater bodies, including the GreatLakes, a physical. The patient appears to be in some trouble. A reportfrom the World Resources Institute says many of the world’s freshwaterspecies have become extinct, threatened or endangered in recentdecades. The report was released recently at a gathering ofenvironmental journalists. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s ChuckQuirmbach has the story:
Transcript
A group of scientists has given freshwater bodies, including the Great Lakes, a physical.
And the patient appears to be in some trouble. A report from the World Resources
Institute says many of the world’s freshwater species have become extinct, threatened or
endangered in recent decades. The report was released recently at a gathering of
environmental journalists. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach has
the story.
Jonathan Lash is president of the Washington, DC based World Resources Institute. A
distinguished looking man, with slightly graying hair, lash says that as he
gets older, he’s more and more feeling his age.
“I’ve reached the point at age 55
,…where I wake up every morning and something probably hurts. in
fact I have a friend who says if you wake up in the morning and
nothing hurts, you’re probably dead.”(laughter)
Lash says he usually does little about the pain…and doesn’t
rush in for a physical exam. He worries that too many people have the same
attitude about the earth.
“It wakes up every morning and there are a lotta things that hurt but we’re just kinda used
to it…and we rarely take a look at the whole.”
But lash’s group has begun to look at the big picture. The institute recently released the
beginning of a series of reports that lash calls the first comprehensive assessment of the
world’s ecosystems. The initial study is of freshwater bodies. It says in the US, about one
third of freshwater species of fish, two thirds of mussels, half the crayfish and forty
percent of amphibians have become threatened or extinct in recent decades. Some of the
harmed species are in the Great Lakes or Mississippi River. They include lake trout, a
fish called the cisco and the winged maple leaf clam. Study author Carmen Revenga says
one reason for the decline is nutrient-laden runoff from farms.
“You get this very thick layer of water with no oxygen. So fish and plants
and things suffer from that so basically for people in area affects water quality,
recreational opportunities fishing and biodiversity for people who value biodiversity just
because it’s there.”
Not everyone agrees with the report’s conclusions. The nation’s largest agriculture group
doesn’t care for the focus on farm pollution. The suburban Chicago based American Farm
Bureau argues farmers are doing better at curbing contaminated runoff. The bureau says
there’s now more efficient use of nitrogen based fertilizer. Then when the growing
season is over the group says farmers are doing less plowing. Water specialist Jim
Porterfield says not exposing the soil and instead leaving more corn stalks and soybean
stubble on top of the fields reduces nutrient erosion.
“A clear trend there..in fact, farmers have probably changed the color of the earth
out there…because of their practices. It’s changed from black to golden brown during the
fall, winter and spring months.”
Porterfield says farmers could be doing even better. But he says there is no magic bullet.
The world resources institute agrees. But researcher Carmen Revenga says runoff could
also be cut by wiser use of water.
“In the US in general and maybe the great lakes
people are just used to cheap prices and using a lot of it
so…obviously reducing water consumption..specially in ag
section with more efficient use of irrigation
systems.”
Revenga however isn’t only pointing fingers at farmers. she says
homeowners need to cut back on lawn sprinklers and fertilizers.
she also warns that another big threat to native great lakes species has maybe grown
beyond human control. That’s the rise of invasive species like the zebra mussel. any
cleanup efforts that are tried may be expensive. But Revenga and others say spending
money and time ARE worth it. The new report places the global value of freshwater
systems in the trillions of dollars.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Chuck Quirmbach reporting.