One of the
fun things we have to look forward to as global warming advances: Rivers of raw
sewage pouring into public waterways.
According to
a new report by the nonprofit environmental group Climate Central, when Hurricane
Sandy hit the East coast, more than 10 billion – billion!
– gallons of raw and partly treated sewage poured directly into lakes, rivers, streams, and the ocean. Some of the overflow “bubbled up” (as the New York Times charmingly put it) onto streets and into homes.
The reason was simple. Treatment plants, most of which are built in low-lying areas near large bodies of water, were unable to handle Sandy's storm surge, especially when they lost electrical power. The only recourse was to start dumping. The report
said enough overflow was released to cover New York's Central Park with a pile
of poop more than 40 feet high.
"Everything is
Connected" is a recurring feature
named in honor of the late Barry Commoner's four laws of ecology: Everything is
connected to everything else, everything must go somewhere, nature knows best,
and there is no such thing as a free lunch.
Photo credit: JL Johnson via flickr via Treehuger.com
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