Upon further searching I found these comments below a short 30 second video:
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, news about the fate and future of this
Middle Eastern country has been at the forefront of our national
consciousness, making an impact on our daily lives, appearing in every
newspaper and news program, the subject of endless numbers of personal
and political discussions. But if you think you've heard every
imaginable story about life within Iraqi borders, think again. There is
at least one major element in this geopolitical drama that the American
media has mostly overlooked, and it lies at the cross section of
regional politics and the natural environment. NATURE's Braving Iraq
unravels this tale about what was once one of the richest and most
important wetlands in the world -- from its virtual destruction by a
ruthless dictator to its exciting, new prospects for a miraculous recovery.
As recently as the 1980's, Iraq's Mesopotamian Marshes were reminiscent
of the Garden of Eden -- indeed, many biblical scholars believe they are
one and the same. Fed by the combined waters of the Tigris and the
Euphrates rivers, this enormous marshland of over 6,000 square miles
dominated southern Iraq. For more than 7,000 years, these wetlands
provided a bountiful home for both wildlife and humans. A large
population of indigenous people, the Ma'dan Tribes known as Marsh Arabs,
had thrived there for centuries. But in the 1990's, due to political
conflict, Saddam Hussein attempted to eradicate them -- not through
systematic extermination, but by destroying the marshes on which they
depended for survival. Massive canals were dug, diverting river water
away from the wetlands and towards the Persian Gulf. Huge embankments
were built to prevent water from entering the marshes. What had been a
green paradise twice the size of the Everglades shrank to less than 10%
of its original size. Most of it was transformed into a parched,
lifeless desert. The wildlife and the people were forced to leave.
But the story did not end there. Due to the imagination and the efforts
of a coalition of individuals, restoration of the marshes has become
more than a dream. Civil strife, serious security incidents and droughts
make for slow progress, but various groups are chipping away at the
embankments, trying to successfully flood the marshes once again. Azzam
Alwash, an engineer raised on the banks of the Euphrates, left Iraq for
America to escape from Saddam's regime, but he has returned to undertake
one of the largest habitat recreation projects in the world. Filmmakers
David Johnson and Stephen Foote follow Azzam, chronicling his efforts to
breathe new life into the green paradise he remembers from his
childhood, while also navigating the inherent dangers of working in a
dangerous and politically volatile region.
Is there any hope that such a massive ecosystem can be brought back to
life? Have the exiled rare birds of the marsh, such as the marbled teal
and the Basra reed warbler, survived? And will they return to their old
territory? Success is uncertain, but some Iraqis feel that the fate of
the country itself is tied to the fate of the marshes -- and as small
signs of hope for natural recovery begin to appear, Iraq's political
future seems to brighten as well.
Well, the Canadian federal and the Saskatchewan and Manitoba provincial
governments did exactly the same thing in the prairie wetlands of
central Canada decades ago purportedly to create better farming
conditions (marsh lands are an extremely rich growing medium, dry land
warms faster in spring), and creating large drainage canals to move the
spring flood waters to the larger lakes in Manitoba so there is less
likelihood of those rains holding back agribusiness. The loss of those
marshes created unmentioned hardship for the native and Metis
populations dependent on them, toppled the waterfowl populations that
lived in the area as well as the fly-through populations in the spring
and fall migrations and destroyed the natural cleansing system of the
earth as the waters moved slowly down stream to one of the largest
freshwater lakes in the world. And now the floods
(http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/05/09/mb-brandon-evacuation-notice-flooding-manitoba.html)
and resulting pollution of the U.S. waters diverted into Canada through
the 'Red River cut' flood in from the south as well as the chemically
polluted waters coming from the west to 'hyper-phosphorylate' Lake
Winnipeg killing the ecosystem and destroying the fishing industry
(mostly native). The dozens of other toxins (as the Op's and
Organo-chlorines are heavily in use in the prairies as well as
glyphosate
<http://www.organiclandcare.org/free-education/pesticide-information.html>
see further
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=weed-whacking-herbicide-p)
from agribusiness have barely been mentioned in the news
(http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/print,index.html?item=11639).
*And* one of the major deterrents to switching to organic methods is
/the insurance companies ( mostly U.S. ) will not insure the crop if
you do not use *pesticides./*/
D.
P.S. Tar Sands? Birds, fish and the toxins heading into one of the last
rich food resources for the Arctic Ocean through the McKenzie and
Athabasca River system.
What a wonder is man!
On 9/11/2011 8:06 PM, Ray Harrell wrote:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1634278420
I'll raise you one. How are the birds at the tar sands?
REH
*From:*[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *michael
gurstein
*Sent:* Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:10 PM
*To:* 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION';
[email protected]
*Subject:* [Futurework] Banking oligopoly in the US of A
http://t.co/fWBCU3n
_______________________________________________
Futurework mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
_______________________________________________
Futurework mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
