London's Thames, Once Biologically Dead, Has Been Coming Back To Life (npr.org) 53
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: In 1858, sewage clogging London's Thames River caused a "Great Stink." A century later, parts of the famed waterway were declared biologically dead. But the latest report (PDF) on "The State of the Thames" is sounding a surprisingly optimistic note. The river today is "home to myriad wildlife as diverse as London itself," Andrew Terry, the director of conservation and policy at the Zoological Society of London, writes in a forward to the report published Wednesday. Terry points to "reductions in pressures and improvements in key species and habitats."
Among those species are two types of seals. Before the early 2000s, little was known about their whereabouts, but now "[both] the harbor seal and the grey seal can be seen in the Thames," the report notes, from the river's tidal limit west of London, through the center of the city and across its outer estuary. Another success story pointed to in the report is the avocet, a migratory wading bird which had become extinct as a breeding species in Britain by 1842 due to habitat loss. It began making a comeback after World War II, and over the last three decades has seen its population among the tidal Thames more than double, according to the report. The report highlights several promising trends. But it also cautions that work still needs to be done in other areas, and warns of the negative impact of climate change on the river, which is a major source of water for the city. Despite the improvements, the report notes that just last year a research paper found high levels of microplastics in samples of the Thames water column taken in 2017. "Experiments have shown that such microplastics can have detrimental effects on aquatic life, as well as turtles and birds," reports NPR, citing National Geographic.
Among those species are two types of seals. Before the early 2000s, little was known about their whereabouts, but now "[both] the harbor seal and the grey seal can be seen in the Thames," the report notes, from the river's tidal limit west of London, through the center of the city and across its outer estuary. Another success story pointed to in the report is the avocet, a migratory wading bird which had become extinct as a breeding species in Britain by 1842 due to habitat loss. It began making a comeback after World War II, and over the last three decades has seen its population among the tidal Thames more than double, according to the report. The report highlights several promising trends. But it also cautions that work still needs to be done in other areas, and warns of the negative impact of climate change on the river, which is a major source of water for the city. Despite the improvements, the report notes that just last year a research paper found high levels of microplastics in samples of the Thames water column taken in 2017. "Experiments have shown that such microplastics can have detrimental effects on aquatic life, as well as turtles and birds," reports NPR, citing National Geographic.
Life fills all ecosystems (Score:5, Insightful)
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Bacterial lives matter! (Score:3)
Life fills all ecosystems, and it doesnt take very long.
Indeed, even so-called "biologically dead" rivers are teeming with microbial life but I guess this is yet another example of the multi-cellular fascist hierarchy that has ruled the planet for the last 500 million years.
Why not introduce some nice Zebra Mussels (Score:2)
They seem to do pretty well cleaning almost anything in fresh water.
Re:Why not introduce some nice Zebra Mussels (Score:4, Informative)
Zebra mussels have been living in the Thames for decades.
Zebra Mussels Invade Thames [practicalf...ping.co.uk]
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They seem to do pretty well cleaning almost anything in fresh water.
Because zebra mussels are an invasive species [nps.gov] which crowds out and starves native species. Even worse, they reproduce like tribbles.
If the Thames has water intake for the population or for industry, you can be guaranteed zebra mussels will clog the pipes in no time [uwec.edu].
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You should go drink it and tell them if you recommend an intake or not.
Bring out your dead! (Score:4, Funny)
As diverse as London??? (Score:3, Insightful)
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That explains the "seal."
Re: As diverse as London??? (Score:1)
Re:As diverse as London??? (Score:5, Funny)
"is home to myriad wildlife as diverse as London itself"... Since when has London been known for it's "myriad wildlife"????
I'm guessing you've never gone out for a drink in London on a Saturday night. Every sort of lowlife appears after midnight.
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"is home to myriad wildlife as diverse as London itself"... Since when has London been known for it's "myriad wildlife"????
We have lots of rats and lots of pigeons AND wood pigeons. Plus squirrels, foxes and large flocks of parakeets.
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There's more to London than you might think. No crocodiles, lions or bears (apart from in London Zoo) but some of the parks have deer. There's 35,000 acres of green space in London - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. It's not all built up.
And even "birds" covers quite a range - there's wild parakeets in London for example.
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I believe they process the water prior to making it into "drinking water".
Whatever country you live in should consider doing the same.
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Was it due to pollution with substances that act as poisons to living organisms? Then yes, not a good idea to drink that without purifying the water first.
Lack of nutrients, as in distilled water? So water that is too pure for organisms to live in it? Not a big concern.
As long as you eat a normal diet, distilled water is not going to harm you in any measurable way even when consumed over a prolonged period of time.
A tangentially related issue would be
Full of sewage and agricultural runoff (Score:5, Informative)
Swale, Wharfe, Ure etc. (Score:2)
The Thames, like every single one of England's rivers, remains utterly wrecked...
That may be true in the south but there are lots of rivers in the Northern Dales that are absolutely fine. There is minimal agricultural run-off up in the Dales since it is predominantly sheep farming, there are no overloaded Victorian sewage systems and the water is clear.
Re: Swale, Wharfe, Ure etc. (Score:1)
Statistics (Score:2)
Nope. Itâ(TM)s all of them. They all fail pollution standards.
That is not what the article says. For a start, it says that 14% were rated good and 14% is not zero. Then there is no indication of what the standards are: does one bad sample anywhere along the entire river lower the rating for all of it? No clue because the standards and methodology are not given.
. What I can tell you is that if you go up the dales the rivers are clear and full of life. If those rivers count as polluted then there is something wrong with their standards.
Re: Statistics (Score:1)
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Data published on Thursday reveals just 14% of English rivers are of good ecological standard...
The article is not logically consistent: you cannot have 14% of rivers be good and no rivers meet standards. As for pollution, there is nothing but a few sheep up there to pollute them. Even if humans never evolved rivers would still contain some level of animal effluence. If their standards are counting this as unacceptable then I would strongly suggest the standa
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What the report actually says once you get past the cheery headline- The Thames, like every single one of Englandâ(TM)s rivers, remains utterly wrecked, polluted by agricultural runoff and sewage spilled from an overloaded Victorian sewage infrastructure.
No it doesn't. It says that a once biologically dead river is now no longer so. (Despite population growth etc.) That is actually good news. It is an achievement you could cherish.
Then, not every single river in England is utterly wrecked and polluted etc.
Get a grip on yourself, pay some attention to the positive sides.
Re: Full of sewage and agricultural runoff (Score:5, Informative)
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Re: Full of sewage and agricultural runoff (Score:1)
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Re: Full of sewage and agricultural runoff (Score:1)
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Godzilla? That you? (Score:2)
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They have been commonly called harbor seals in UK news items for years. Do keep up.
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I'm inclined to agree with you, especially since they misnomered the River Thames as "Thames River" in the beginning of the summary; the latter is not the river in England, but is instead a river in the State of Connecticut that was named for the river in England.
Not a single mention... (Score:1)
Is correlation causality? (Score:2)
Applying the usual logic of the Internet, this proves that microplastics enhance biodiversity in rivers. :-)
For how long? (Score:2)
The current government has just lifted environmental protection prohibiting the dumping raw sewage into our rivers.
One of the many benefits of brexit /irony.
Drink it! (Score:2)
Extinct, but making a comeback (Score:2)
Another success story pointed to in the report is the avocet, a migratory wading bird which had become extinct as a breeding species in Britain by 1842 due to habitat loss. It began making a comeback after World War II, and over the last three decades has seen its population among the tidal Thames more than double, according to the report.
Judge: So this says that the defendant killed you.
Plaintiff: Yeah, but I got better.
I think the word you're looking for here is "extirpated". Or "had died out in Britain", or perhaps "had become locally extinct in Britain", if you want to stretch the term to the breaking point. :-)
Re: Extinct, but making a comeback (Score:1)
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It does say "in Britain", which usually means that it was still present elsewhere.
Yeah, it just seems like a weird way to say that. :-)
Humans have nothing on Mother Nature (Score:2)
Try as we might to control nature, Nature is always in control.