Nature's die-offs so far: anyone paying attention? (updated)

Sure everyone heard about the 5,000 blackbirds that died in Arkansas over the New Year's holiday, you bet.  And then the fish kill, nearby.

Both events surprising, unexpected and unexlained, so far.

But it's important to look at the "big picture", especially in nature and especially with "die-offs" being experienced in nature in recent times.  We need to be sure we're putting and keeping all the puzzle pieces together, in a manner of speaking, so we don't miss anything.

Herewith, then, is a recent list of some of these big "die-offs" in nature that we can't quite seem to explain:

1)  Again, the 5,000 blackbirds killed in Beebe, Arkansas on New Year's Eve.  Maybe it was from people shooting a "fireworks cannon" and so, explained, maybe not.  No one knows yet;

2)  Next was that kill of 100,000--yes, one hundred thousand--drum fish near Ozark, Arkansas on about 20 miles of the Arkansas River.  Nothing to sneeze at.  At this point, they still don't seem to know what killed them, either;

3)  Next up was a 2nd large bird kill, this time in neighboring Louisiana, where an estimated 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings on La. 1 just down the road from Pointe Coupee Central High School.


The discovery of the dead birds — some of which were lying face down, clumped in groups, while others were face up with their wings outstretched and rigid legs pointing upward...

That was just down the road from Baton Rouge.

4)  Word out in the last 24 hours tells of a huge die-off of 2 million fish in recent days in Maryland's section of the Chesapeake Bay, the Baltimore Sun says;

5)  "The Huffington Post says, meanwhile, says there have also been reports of "mass fish deaths ... in Brazil..."  ParanaOnline reports that 100 tons of sardines, croaker and catfish have washed up in Brazilian fishing towns since last Thursday. The cause of the deaths is unknown, with an imbalance in the environment, chemical pollution, or accidental release from a fishing boat all suggested by local officials.

6)  "...and New Zealand":  In New Zealand, hundreds of dead snapper fish washed up on Coromandel Peninsula beaches, many found with their eyes missing,

7)  The same Huffington Post article tells of another, but smaller, die-off of about 50 birds that mysteriously "fell from the sky" in Sweden and again, unexplained.  Oh, joy;

8)  Next up is more than 40,000 Velvet swimming crabs have wound up dead on England beaches.   If I can say "fortunately" here, I would say fortunately this seems to have simply occurred due to hypothermia.  It seems they may have just gotten hit with terribly cold weather this winter;

9)  Then there is the massive die-off, worldwide, of pollinating bees we're aware of.  The abundance of four common species of bumblebees in the us has dropped by 96% in just the past few decades, according to the most comprehensive national census of the insects.

Again, we aren't quite sure why yet though I can't imagine humankind's spraying insecticide all over millions of acres of the world can't be doing them any good, at minimum.  It's also been posited that maybe it's our cell phones.  Stay tuned;

10)  Added to all this is the die-off of bats the world over and again, we aren't quite sure why though they have found a fungus that seems to be a common thread in their situation;

11)  Then there's the possible collapse, this time of a plant, of the banana crop across much of the world.  It began in Australia, it seems, and has spread across the world, seemingly headed for our source for bananas, South and Central America.  They're all the same strain of bananas, you see, so any fungus that gets the one, gets them all eventually;

12)  Finally, there is the bleaching and dying off--this more slowly--of the coral reefs that has been noticed by scientists and divers the world over, possibly, if not likely, due to climate change and the increased temperature of the oceans.

There you have it.  I think that's all I have for today, I think.  I guess.

And isn't that enough?

Isn't it far too much?

At what point do we start paying attention to nature, folks, and to this planet we need to live on? 

At what point do we start giving credence to the idea that we need to live with and take care of nature and our planet so we don't end up with the "Silent Spring" Rachel Carson warned us of so many decades earlier?

Now seems like a good time.

Links:  http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/04/Arkansas-bird-kill-likely-due-to-noise/UPI-56241294152955/
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-02/us/arkansas.fish.kill_1_massive-fish-dead-birds-bird-deaths?_s=PM:US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/another-large-bird-kill-reported-this-time-in-louisiana
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/05/132675539/latest-report-of-animal-carnage-2-million-fish-die-in-chesapeake-bay
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/05/dead-birds-fall-from-sky-_n_804591.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/honey-bees-dying-scientists-suspect-pesticides-disease-worry/story?id=10191391
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/03/bumblebees-study-us-decline
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978877668
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=bees+dying&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=e8de98ca5b405b41
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/10/110110fa_fact_peed
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coral-reefs-in-danger-of-being-destroyed-1908544.html
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=coral+reefs+in+danger&aq=0p&aqi=p-p2g8&aql=&oq=coral+re&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=e8de98ca5b405b41
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/mass-bird-fish-deaths-worldwide-phenomenon/
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/916503--40-000-crabs-join-slew-of-animal-death-mysteries