Back to basics

Water, water, everywhere
nor any drop to drink.

S.T. Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"


In S.T. Coleridge's famous poem a Mariner and his crew undergo a series of hardships, the most important being that they have no access to drinking water; this is no doubt a great irony considering that they are surrounded by water as they are cruising the ocean. In modern Bangladesh today, at least 20% of the population is in the very same position, lacking access to safe water. Equally ironically, if not more, Bangladesh suffers from deluges which claim the lives of hundreds every year and indirectly affect tens of thousands.

Vivid as the imagery may be in Coleridge's masterpiece, one will ultimately be reminded of the fact that the poem is a work of literature, not an account of real life. Sadly, this does not apply to the Bangladeshi who die in scores because there is "no drop to drink".

Tragedy in real life, it seems, strikes so hard that transcends human imagination. For, it is not the lack of access to our mundane "tap water" -which is so often mismanaged and wasted in our western countries- or to any decent-quality water the only calamity that plagues the Bangladeshi; it is the fact that many are exposed to water that is contaminated; water polluted with arsenic, a lethal chemical element that is perilous for humans.

And, there is more. Arsenic pollution is not a phenomenon of few weeks or months. This "drama" is on stage for the past 25 years.

"Mégacontamination", which roughly translates into "super contamination", is the word that Quebec daily "La Presse" uses in its first page this past Sunday, October 7th, to launch a survey of the catastrophe that plagues Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian province of Bengal. Without resorting to embellishments of any sort, the paper's correspondent in Rajarampur, Emilie Côté reports the facts: 35 million people are directly affected; 40,000 thousand cases of arsenic contamination have been reported to date. The journalist also states that the government knew for four years (1993-1997) about the presence of arsenic, but would not disclose it to the people. As information became available, she notes, uncertainty and insecurity prevailed: how were people supposed to know which source of water was contaminated and which not?

And this is just one way of looking into the problem. The repercussions here are multifold: environmental; economic, as the Bangladeshi rely heavily on agriculture; social, for the social stigma, the disruption of family patterns...

For what constitutes a major disaster in our modern times, the World Health Organization has published extensively on the matter, releasing numerous studies on the detrimental effects of arsenic. Promisingly, water testing spreads, and presumably the contamination rate decreases. Yet, the problem persists, and shall continue to ravage the Bangladeshis since it is known that arsenic kills "slowly"...

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" the calamity inflicted upon the sailors is a punishment for their hubris; rather than condemning the Mariner who killed the Albatross (the good omen/shield) for no reason, the sailors render his act righteous. What is the share of responsibility for the Bangladeshi? What could possibly justify the magnitude of such an (ongoing) tragedy? Given that arsenic pollution seems to result naturally, one could point to fate as being responsible. Such an answer however is simplistic and fails to convince. While it is true that the process of pollution could not have been fully thwarted, it is certain that its consequences would have been mitigated - had there been not for the four year "silence" period of the government or the low levels of public awareness or the lack of vital equipment for arsenic detection that were long absent or...

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References

The article in "La Presse": Mégacontamination à l'arsenic au Bangladesh

World Health Organization reports Arsenic in drinking water

Requiem

Perusing the Greek press, I hit upon some really disturbing news: Dozens of birds (mainly flamingos and avocets) were discovered dead on and around the shores of lake Koroneia in northern Greece.

There are hardly any words to describe my frustration; I become angry as I read that this is not the first time that birds actually "die" (or, shall I say "were left to die"?) in the region - only three years ago, in 2004, another group of birds "disappeared". I become appalled as I realize that much of the responsibility lies with people, authorities and the such who appear to have neglected the much needed infrastructure development in the region; said infrastructure would contribute to the preservation of the lake ecosystem which appears to be heavily polluted. Not only that, but regular water-testing for the purposes of controlling the quality of waters has yet to take effect making early detection of bacteria virtually impossible. Still, scientists had been warning of such a disaster since February 2007 when they discovered a deadly bacterium in the waters of the lake, but to no avail.

And, there is more to go. The population of said bacterium increased exponentially, I read, in part because the water levels have been steadily dropping. Why would that be, I wonder. Well, this is because temperature in the area has been increasing over the last years and rainfall has become a rare commodity. Not surprisingly, the concentration of bacteria in water has also increased. And here comes some unanticipated news: the fish that swim in the water become infected by the bacteria...

Stupid, stupid flamingos and avocets then eat the fish that swim in the lake and because of that, they die.

Surely the birds are to be blamed for since people "tried, but could not prevent the crisis" to quote a Greek official, in what was an "anticipated disaster" according to scientists.

I do not know if there is any need for me to go further but I shall stop only because what I read really transcends reason and reasoning and borders schizophrenia: I read that part of the infrastructure work has been completed but not put into use... yet. I read the warnings of scientists that hunting must stop to prevent the spreading of the bacterium of further in the food chain. Is there an official issuing? Yes? No? Maybe? Certainly nowhere near I could see...

I wholeheartedly hope that I am at least partly wrong and things are far better in real life. Yet I have no good reason to believe that my hopes are anything but wishful thinking - the environment has been severely and systematically abused and destruction continues unabated it seems. Still no government has cared enough to make environment a priority; that Greece has no ministry to deal exclusively with issues of the Environment, but instead the bogus "Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works" is nauseating, no doubt about that.

Worse still it is horrifying - if incidents such as this in the Koroneia lake or the disastrous wildfires that ravaged Greek forests and killed dozens of people this summer do not constitute sufficient grounds for the creation of a Ministry of Environment, then what does? What catastrophe should we pray for [sic] for people's minds to change? How heavy of a toll must we pay for what arguably falls under common sense?

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References:

Τοξικός θάνατος στη λίμνη των βακτηρίων
Μαζικός θάνατος πουλιών στη Λίμνη Κορώνεια

Defining absurdity

There was a time that Kyoto was known as the former capital of the Japanese imperial state. And then 1997 came. Kyoto, the city of Emperors and Camelias, is now associated with reductions of greenhouse gas emissions- a consequence of the fact that the a Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed there. Rightly so I believe since this Protocol is a landmark in the battle to protect the environment and the future of the planet.

Around the same time, hype terms such as 'global warming' or 'renewable energy sources' started invading our vocabulary: the planet is at risk we were told. Slowly but surely environmental issues made it to the papers and television and smiling newscasters talk now about the dangers of global warming with the same ease they announce wars and catastrophes. Of course environmentalism is no new phenomenon: already in late 19th century one can trace its first steps in the United States; West Europeans have been thinking about the environment quite some time now.

And yet despite that all, environmental news regardless of how serious it looks, it holds a second-rate status. You will never find an environmental issue making the cover story of a newspaper: if you are optimistic you can hope that on the bottom left corner next to the marriage of Angelina or Jennifer there is going to be reference to the gloomy prediction about the ozone layer. With the exception of some west European countries, notably Germany, Austria and Sweden, the ministry of the Environment is 'your typical Ministry': chances are that in a Cabinet meeting you will see the Minister sitting at the end of the table, rarely appearing in the news or protesting about the modest budget.

Worse still than the second class tag we attach to the environment is our hypocritical behavior. Regardless of whether we know or not what 'global warming' is we shake our heads if caught amidst a discussion in a business meeting agreeing that the environment is a serious matter. We approve of recycling and yet we rarely take the newspapers to the designated bins. We complain about poor air quality and yet we refuse to leave our cars at home. Convenience: another big catch.

Instead of pointing fingers or creating dividing lines between state and human responsibilities (as if though the two parties had opposing interests) how about looking at the environment's fate? To my eyes, a dying patient to which we inject venom everyday, the planet no matter how strong it was just a few decades ago seems to lose the battle for life. Species disappear. World temperature rises. Just two days ago "doctors" announced that North Pole ice may melt until 2040.

If the environment was a human being it would be in the emergency room by now. Chances are that "the children of the patient" would be outside weeping and praying to God. What we do instead is to remove the feeding tube and the oxygen supply by the day. Death is slow and painful. This is sad yet certain. The only thing to be debated is the following: Since we will be dying too, are we victims or villains?

The latest on our planet:

In English:
Arctic ice may all melt in summer by 2040 - study

En français:
La banquise du pôle Nord pourrait avoir disparu l'été, d'ici à 2040

Στα ελληνικά:
Θάλασσα ο Β. Πόλος