Diatribune

For those who are too young to remember, early miners had a cage in their mines inhabited by canaries as an insurance policy against an explosion caused by methane gas or other deadly toxin(s) that could endanger their mine. The canary had small lungs and was particularly susceptible to these gasses, so if you noticed the canary had died or was acting sickly, it was time to high-tail it out of the mine until the problem could be fixed. If only our problem was that simple, because with us, it's more than a canary dying, and other than migrating to other worlds which is decades or more away, man is destined to stay on earth and gradually witness the "canaries" of all types dying by the millions.

No, I'm not exaggerating, although I wish I were. It began a few years ago when I noticed that Butterflies were no longer in the abundance they were when I was a child; it was an innocent discovery, as I was attempting to show another child the wonderment of nature, something I had always enjoyed when I was growing-up which was now a matter of happenstance rather than the norm. Something had changed and I had an eerie feeling that whatever was missing was far beyond what I could see or hear. The Internet wasn't as fast back then, nor were the search capabilities what they are today, so I let it go until another day, shrugging off what was one of the first warnings that our world was dying even as we ignored the warning signs and casually went about our lives.

It turns out that the butterflies were dying, not just in the United States, but in several locations around the world. The beautiful Monarch Butterfly I remember as a child and was attempting to show to my niece was dying out, and it was thought that millions of Monarchs had died because of over-logging:

Dying Monarchs - Updates - butterfly - Brief Article

E: The Environmental Magazine, May-June, 2002 by Chas Offutt

Considered an endangered phenomenon, the monarch butterfly's arduous migration stretches 3,000 miles from the Rocky Mountains to Oyamel fir forests in central Mexico (see "The Monarch's Perilous Flight," In Brief, July/August 1998). The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that logging in and around the Mexican sanctuaries Sierra Chincua and El Rosario are the likely root causes of an estimated 250 million frozen butterflies during a mid-January winter storm. Butterfly biologist Lincoln P. Brower says up to 80 percent of the butterflies might have died from severe weather combined with the lack of tree cover, which exposed the insects to wind, rain and cold. MORE

It wasn't just California and Mexico that were affected, and from several corners of the earth we have heard of Butterflies dying-off in massive numbers:

Britain's butterflies are dying out

Updated 01 November 2001, 19.56

Britain's butterflies are disappearing because we are destroying the places where they live.

Around three quarters of Britain's butterfly species have dropped in numbers during the last 30 years, even though the weather has changed to suit them.

Butterflies like hot weather, and the change in the global climate should have helped them. MORE

Also, for North America there is this sobering report, and we're still miles from the tip of the iceberg:

Butterfly displaced by climate change? - Edith's checkerspot butterflies dying off in southern North America as populations in northern North America expand - Brief Article

Science News, August 31, 1996 by Janet Raloff

Edith's checkerspot butterflies inhabit patches of fields, rocky hills, and alpine terraces from Baja California to British Columbia. But throughout their lives, they don't roam far. An entire population can confine its existence for decades to a piece of land 100 by 100 meters. Yet as a species, new data show, this butterfly is moving northward-big time.

Camille Parmesan of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has just completed a census of 151 previously reported populations scattered along the west coast of North America. Because they are such stay-at-homes, the butterflies' apparent northward trek actually reflects large numbers of populations dying off at the southern end of their range and presumably new populations in the north.

Mexican populations, for instance, were four times more likely to be extinct than ones in Canada. Low-altitude populations are also losing ground.

Biologists have argued that if Earth's climate warms, whole ecosystems would begin moving into what had been cooler zones. While there has been evidence for several plant species that such a shifting may have begun (SN: 6/18/94, p.399), Parmesan says those data came from only a fraction of each species' global population. Establishing a true shift requires canvassing the entire range of a plant or animal-which she has now done for Edith's checkerspot. LINK

When I heard a couple of years ago about "colony collapse disorder" among honey bees I was concerned, but again, threw it into the back of my mind, assured that our scientists would figure it out and all would be OK. After all, there has to be bees, doesn't there? Well, evidently that isn't quite true, and if our entomologists don't figure out something soon, the impact to American, and eventually the world’s agriculture could be disastrous! Who would have dreamed to read an article like this ten years ago?

Disappearing bees threaten ice cream sellers

Premium maker Haagen-Dazs says vanishing bee colonies in the U.S. could mean fewer flavors and high prices.

By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writer
February 17 2008: 12:43 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Haagen-Dazs is warning that a creature as small as a honeybee could become a big problem for the premium ice cream maker's business.

At issue is the disappearing bee colonies in the United States, a situation that continue to mystify scientists and frighten foodmakers.

That's because, according to Haagen-Dazs, one-third of the U.S. food supply - including a variety of fruits, vegetables and even nuts - depends on pollination from bees.

Haagen-Dazs, which is owned by Nestle, said bees are actually responsible for 40% of its 60 flavors - such as strawberry, toasted pecan and banana split. MORE

The financial impact of "Colony Collapse Disorder" is only now beginning to show its ugly face, and besides lower crop yields and the eventual disappearance of some of our fruits and vegetables - the financial burden that this "Act of God" will eventually cost the American consumer could easily rise into the billions of dollars:

The dangers of declining bee populations

Honey Bee colonies are disappearing all over the world, and scientist have not pinpointed a cause. Commercial Beekeepers are seeing their hives drop at alarming rates. The West Coast has reportedly lost sixty percent of its commercial bee population and an estimated seventy percent on the East Coast.

This should not be taken lightly, we need the bees to pollinate our crops. A Cornell University study has estimated that honeybees annually pollinate over fourteen billion dollars worth of seed and crops (Mostly fruits, vegetables, and nuts) in the United States alone. That works out to one-third of the nation's food supply.

They have come up with a name for what is happening Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers. The vanished bees are never found, but thought to die singly far from home. This problem has been identified in 24 states all over the country.

In response, some farming expert from several universities and states have formed an emergency working group to study the disease. As of now, scientists only know two things for sure; The main symptom has been mass abandonment of hives, typically finding only a Queen and a few attendants left with no trace of the other bees. Not even their bodies. And, the variety of fungi, viruses and mites found in collapsing hives suggests a widespread failure of bee's immune systems. MUCH MORE

As you're attempting to digest the looming crisis of the honeybee’s rapid disappearance, don't even begin to relax, because the worst may be yet to come. According to recent in-depth reports, millions of birds are dying throughout North America. If you thought you weren't hearing as many birds in the morning, you were right; just as the butterflies and bees are dying-out, so are tens of millions of birds:

Tens of millions of birds disappearing across North America

CBC’s The National reports that tens of millions of birds are disappearing across North America.

The following video is from CBC’s The National, broadcast on December 28, 2007.

This video is an exclusive of RAW Story and you may view it at this LINK. (This is a 14 minute video and is well worth your time to try and understand how mankind could have ever been so cavalier with the basic resources that allow us to exist on this planet.)

Now, after you begin to comprehend the financial implications of lower crop yields due to a decreased supply of honeybees, factor in the billions of insects that our birds normally eat during the course of a year, some of which are harmful to many of our staple crops. With decreased bird populations, man's only alternative is to fight the increase of harmful insects with increased amounts of insecticides, thus potentially polluting the environment even more as we attempt to keep-up with the increased incidence of crop-eating insects. There's also the human condition to take into consideration, and our friends and allies, the birds, are no longer around in quantities sufficient enough to hold-down the insect population, so besides impacting our food supply, the inexorable increase of insects is bound to cause increased suffering (and possibly disease) among the human population.

Nature left us with one ace in the hole, and that's nature's most efficient bug-eradicators, the lowly bat that many of us never see as they toil endlessly through the evening and early morning hours, often eating thousands of insects in a single night:

What do bats eat?

Many of these microbats feed on insects, using their echolocation ability to find flying or crawling insects and their superb flying skills to catch them. Insect-eating bats are supremely good at what they do: a single little brown bat can catch and eat 600 mosquitoes in an hour. Thus, bats play an important role in regulating insect populations; in those places where bat populations have been severely reduced by human activity, the numbers of fruit flies and other pests have risen dramatically.

It should be clear by now that the reputation that bats have as evil, bloodthirsty, winged demons of the night is totally unjustified. Bats are not only elegant and fascinating creatures, they benefit humans by pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and feeding on insect pests. Unfortunately, because of human misunderstanding, as well as practices such as habitat destruction and indiscriminate use of pesticides, many bat species are endangered, and some have already gone extinct. In the United States, nearly 40% of the native bat species are endangered. MUCH MORE

If all things were equal, it's possible the many bat species that inhabit the United States could help to mitigate the insect issues that are being exacerbated by the loss of millions of birds; it would seem natural that the bat populations would expand and flourish with an increased food supply, plus we receive the added benefit with their help in pollinating some of our essential crops, but unfortunately, even the bats are beginning to die - and they very well could be one of the last "canaries" in the mine! I became aware of the plight of the bats just a few weeks ago, and after correlating it with the butterflies, birds and the bees, it's easy to see by connecting the dots that this isn't localized to a single species, but seems to be working itself up the chain, beginning with the most fragile and gradually working its way through our basic ecology. These are just a few of the obvious species that are leaving us in droves, but its the frogs and countless other creatures going as well that will help to finalize our demise:

Bats Die by the Thousands From Mystery Malady in Northeast U.S.

By Tom Randall

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of bats are dying from an unknown illness in the northeastern U.S. at a rate that could cause extinction, New York state wildlife officials said.

At eight caves in New York and one in Vermont, scientists have seen bat populations plummet over two years. Most bats hibernate in the same cave every winter, keeping annual counts consistent. A cave that had 1,300 bats in January 2006 had 470 bats last year. It recently sheltered just 38.

At another cave, more than 90 percent of about 15,500 bats have died since 2005, and two-thirds that remain now sleep near the cave's entrance, where conditions are less hospitable. Scientists don't know what's causing the deaths, and biologists wearing sanitary clothing and respirators to prevent the spread of disease are collecting the dead for testing as part of a state and U.S. effort.

``There are an awful lot of bat people, even a month ago before we had half of this bad news, all saying the same thing. We've never seen anything like it, and we're all scared,'' said Alan Hicks, the leader of the investigation for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, in a telephone interview today.

White Fungus

Some bats in the die-off have a white fungus encircling their noses. Most living bats now are underweight, too thin to make it through the winter, Hicks said. They choose their hibernating spots based on weight. Colder resting spots, like the ones near the entrance help energy reserves last longer. MUCH MORE

Interesting enough, in the same article that appears above, they placed a potential dollar amount on the rapid extinction of the American Honeybee and the financial impact to the American consumer - and it's staggering!

A separate malady known as Colony Collapse Disorder has killed millions of bees in the U.S. and threatens $14.6 billion of U.S. crops, including almonds, apples, oranges and blueberries, which rely on bees for pollination, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. It may cause $75 billion of economic damage if left unchecked, the agency said. (Emphasis added.)

The illness was identified after thousands of U.S. beekeepers found unusually large losses -- 90 percent or more in some cases -- beginning in 2006. Colony Collapse has been found in 35 U.S. states, one Canadian province, and parts of Asia, Europe and South America. Scientists haven't identified the cause and believe it may be the result of several things in combination.

``You have a strong parallel with the bees in that we just don't know what's going on,'' Hicks said.

Obviously, no one appears to have answers that offer any type of short or long-term hope, and if a breakthrough isn't made soon, in regard the Birds, Bees and the Bats, our situation will progressively get worse. We are facing one of the most important Presidential races in modern history, and issues that affect the very survival of millions of Americans aren't even being debated much less even known by the majority of the voters. Because of a complicit and cowardly MSM, issues such as these have never been melded together to provide the "big picture" so voters would understand the dire circumstances we face, so instead of it receiving the press and scrutiny it should, it has become a non-issue because the mainstream news media, along with members of Congress, have decided to keep this "hot potato" out of the election debates hoping that it will be addressed by the next administration - in other words, politics as usual.

As we face this critical issue and seek answers, try to keep one factor in mind. If you have toddlers, or family members that have newborns or toddlers, ask yourselves this question; as the years pass, and it's time to give your children that talk about the "Birds and the Bees" and these children are twelve to fifteen years old, at the rate the bee colonies are collapsing and the birds are dying, it's extremely probable, in your own lifetime, to witness the end of the American honeybee, and birds may become so rare that most of the truly unique specimens will be in climate-controlled Zoos rather than available to sing outside your kitchen windows.

As we do with the political future of our country, we stand at an abyss holding the essentials of life itself in our hands, each one of us hoping that the next one to govern will do so with saving the world in mind - not necessarily from the terrorists, but from ourselves and a government that refuses to challenge the trials and tribulations of tomorrow, who foolhardily scoff at global warming and climate change, admonishing us because it's too expensive to the energy sector and our economy to address the many environmental crisis's that threaten our very existence on planet earth.

When its all said and done, which is the correct path to healing our ravaged earth? Moving forward with more endless wars that will eventually bankrupt our nation, or change course and attempt to mitigate and change the course of global warming, a project that will require the participation of the entire global community as opposed to endless war and a constant fight to prop-up what's left of a dying world by polluting it even more with the machinery of war. The 2008 elections bring many vital matters to the forefront, and in order to survive as a people, it's necessary for us to address these matters, among others, during the Presidential debates so we have a change to vote on a mandate of peace and prosperity rather than continuing on a path to eventual extinction.

William Cormier

Peace And Mitigating Climate Change Are More Profitable Than War

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"The whisper becomes louder, then a voice is heard, and then crowds of voices, and eventually the whisper becomes the roar of change!" wjc

http://justanothercoverup.com