Mind-Boggling: Microplastics are Blotting Out Photosynthesis
Blogging about Boggling Blotting
About mind-boggling things, take a look at this article:
They report that microplastics pollution is hampering photosynthesis in plants, and that the result is the loss of some 10% of the world's primary productivity, including food crops. Now, consider also the last words heard from the guy who was falling from the 13th: "it is not the position, it is the speed...." We are now risking to blot out the planetary photosynthesis machine, just because we think that stopping the growth of the plastics industry is a subversive idea.
Note also that this article is published by the US National Academy of Sciences, which means it is available at a reasonable price ($10) -- still, it is such an important paper that it should be available for free. Instead, we have to rely on second hand sources such as the Guardian. Nevertheless, the results are clear:
Based on the quantified impacts, we then evaluate the cascading consequences on main crop production in terrestrial ecosystems and net primary productivity (NPP) in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Our results indicate a consistent negative impact of microplastics’ on photoautotrophic photosynthesis in terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems, leading to significant reductions in global crop and seafood production. These previously unaccounted losses due to ongoing microplastics pollution pose a hidden yet persistent threat to global food security, highlighting the urgency of integrating plastic mitigation into global efforts to ensure a sustainable food supply.
and
Importantly, these adverse effects are highly likely to extend from food security to planetary health, as photosynthesis and, consequently, primary productivity serve as the foundation for not only food supply for humans but also key ecological functions. These include nutrient cycling and ecosystem biomass allocation ( 38 ), soil carbon storage and turnover ( 38 , 39 ), and the potential for ocean carbon sequestration ( 40 ), given that phytoplankton photosynthesis contributes to nearly half of the global annual carbon dioxide fixation ( 41 , 42 ). Moreover, the reduction in primary productivity leads to an imbalance in predator–prey relationships and overall ecosystem instability ( 43 ). The cumulative effects of reduced primary productivity and trophic cascades have implications for ecological functions, carbon cycling, and the provision of ecosystem services.
Here, they get things in reverse: it is not that these effects “extend from food security into planetary health.” It is the opposite .But that changes little in a situation in which nothing changes, except for the desperate attempt of solving problems by killing the messenger, that is, "driving a dagger into the climate change religion"
In the end, we'll not be able to say that we didn't deserve what we are getting.
(sorry if this message is a little gloomy, but the situation is what it is)
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Prof. Ugo Bardi - The Club of Rome
senecaeffect.substack.com
https://www.amazon.com/Exterminations-Ugo-Bardi/dp/B0DK18GP68/
"Increases are of Sluggish Growth, but the way to Ruin is Rapid"
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BCE - 65 BCE)
The warning for this impending disaster already was published in 2021 but unfortunately, ignored (guess why) - pdf available. BTW O2 production from algae is impacted as well as most MNP winds up in the oceans.
Impacts of Micro- and Nanoplastics on Photosynthesis Activities of Photoautotrophs: A Mini-Review
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356286320_Impacts_of_Micro-_and_Nanoplastics_on_Photosynthesis_Activities_of_Photoautotrophs_A_Mini-Review
"we won't be able to say we didn't deserve what we are getting." I have a problem with this because it needs definition of one of the words: we. Which we deserves the horrendous future we are settling on all our progeny and all living things--none of which have any voice whatsoever? And even for those of us who are adults now, who have been beating our heads against the wall for decades trying to change things--do we deserve this because we have been unable to prevail in a capitalist system in which only those with a great deal of money have power? It's true that a hefty percentage of my countrymen go out and buy a giant truck or SUV whenever the price of gas goes down, live in oversize houses, and vote for Trump. But they are products of a massive propaganda industry--their heads have been stuffed with mental junk food since they were toddlers. We could make change despite the sociopathic billionaires if the rest of us--or even a hefty percentage of us--were united. But since the rich control the legacy media and the gatekeeper monopolies (Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Paypal, Amazon, Xitter) they have been able to prevent this. So far. This is why I see the advent of the Trump-Musk team as possibly a good thing--because the Democrats are all about maintaining Business as Usual, while these guys are on a maniacal rampage. And their selfish irresponsibility is equaled by their stupidity and incompetence, so they are very likely to bring down the US empire quire rapidly, along with its economy and at least to some extent, that of the rest of the world. And I'm afraid collapse is our best hope of stopping the destruction before it totally wrecks ecosystems and before these maniacs who clearly don't find international law or the US Constitution to be limitations, can realize their dystopian fantasies of pushing AI-directed bioengineering, chips in everyone's heads, universal constant surveillance, space-based weapons, etc. When things begin to fall apart, those who are prepared will be able to lead in the formation of sane, healthy communities at the local level.