Why an increase in Mass Animal Die-Offs

There is an average of nearly 3 mass animal die-offs (that we know about) somewhere on the planet every day. Three years ago, the average was .5 per day. This is a definite increase in mass animal die-offs and should be of great concern to everyone. This is the next chapter of my book, Fever Rising, that examines this phenomenon. To go back to the rest of the chapters, here is the link to the last thread about volcanoes and at the beginning of that thread, you'll see the links to all the previous chapters.

How methane is responsible for increasing volcanoes

Chapter 14: The Dangerous Gas Theory and Mass Animal Die-offs

Hosea 4:3 ...'Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.'

The numbers are astonishing. All over the world animals are dying in great numbers. We are seeing on average more than two mass animal die-offs somewhere on the planet each and every day. Whales, dolphins, birds, cattle, deer and millions of fish washing up on the shores and the reasons vary from disease outbreak to algae blooms.

Of course animals have been dying throughout the ages but nothing like this. There are consistent die-offs every day, whereby, more often than not, we read about officials stating, “Like we’ve never seen before.” It’s getting scary and in my opinion, not enough people are paying attention to this phenomenon.

In the year 2013 there were 798 die offs. That’s 2.19 die-offs per day, up from an average of 1.27 die-offs per day in 2012 when there were 464 total die-offs. In the year 2011, there were only 145 known mass animal die-offs. That’s an average of .4 per day.

To kick off the year 2014, the month of January saw 69 known die-offs for an average of 2.26 per day, a slight increase already from the total average of the year of 2013.

2011 145 die-offs .4 per day
2012 464 die-offs 1.27 per day
2013 798 die-offs 2.19 per day

These numbers are staggering. If there is any one of the phenomena featured in this theory that is a substantial indicator of something terribly wrong, it’s these mass-animal die-offs. They indicate something is seriously wrong with our planet and that we, humanity, face a grave and dire threat. Whether you accept the theory that I present, you should in no way discount the relevance of these mass animal die-offs. They just can’t be brushed away as ‘normal’ or insignificant. These things don’t happen like this. Whether I’m correct with the dangerous gas theory or not, something is amiss and it’s evident that our seas and air are polluted in some unnatural way that is detrimental to animal life. If it’s killing off the animal life of our world, how much longer before humans begin dying off in mass?

Here are the links to a website that keeps track of these animal die-offs. I suggest you visit these pages and see for yourself the countless known mass animal die-offs. They are truly alarming.

www.end-times-prophecy.org...
www.end-times-prophecy.org...
www.end-times-prophecy.org...

And here is the link for tracking of 2014 die-offs

www.end-times-prophecy.org...

Many of these die-offs can be attributed to disease, which is still alarming just the same, but most are unexplained and involve the deaths of many animals very quickly. Whether in the sea, in the air, or on the ground, I believe that many of these die-offs are caused by methane and hydrogen sulfide plumes.

Even the die-offs attributed to disease still come back to this theory. Read the next chapter about the dangerous gas theory in relation to disease outbreak for a more definitive explanation. For this chapter, we’ll take a look at the other causes directly related to the gas plumes and release.

I believe there are two main causes of fish kill. Oxygen depletion and the actual gas plumes themselves. Large plumes of gas are emitting from the ocean floor when frozen methane hydrates melt or when earth tectonic movement causes large fissures and cracks at the bottom discharging methane and hydrogen sulfide from below. These plumes drift to the surface where they sometimes emit into the air as well. As these plumes are discharging below, they either kill fish instantly or drive them into shallower, colder waters where they die from the different water temperatures they aren’t used to or they die from the lack of oxygen in these new waters. In some cases, larger species actually beach themselves, such as all the pilot whales that have been swimming into shallow canals in Florida and are unable to swim out.

Many of these plumes will reach the air killing off birds in mass die-offs when the birds fly through the plume filled with high concentrations of gas. Many bird die-offs had witnesses describe the birds appearing to have been poisoned or thrashing about and appearing to act sickly, but in these cases, a virus wouldn’t affect such large groups of birds instantaneously. A mass-poisoning would.

Methane gases will normally continue to rise up in the atmosphere while hydrogen sulfide plumes will drift around and eventually settle back down to the surface because they are heavier-than-air. These plumes are the source of many fires and explosions we hear about but are also the source of mass poisonings of land animals. Although these are much rarer than the bird and fish die-offs, they are occurring, and these I suspect, are the cause when officials have no idea what killed off larger land animals in a sudden-death situation. Disease can only be blamed on these die-offs when they occur over several days or weeks, not all at once.

How do the fish die from lack of oxygen as was the case in this South Carolina fish die-off?

Fish kill in Myrtle Beach leaves researchers guessing
From the Sun News, Jan. 17, 2013
By Greg Holshouser
Thousands of Atlantic menhaden – a baitfish that plays a key role in the South Atlantic ecosystem – were found washed up on the beaches in the south area of the Grand Strand on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving S.C. Department of Natural Resources investigators trying to determine the cause.

From DeBordieu, a private community just north of Georgetown, northward to Pawley’s Island, a rough estimate of 30,000 to 40,000 menhaden in the 6-to-8 inch range were spread along the beach and first spotted by beachgoers taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.

Notice the key words in the story…beachgoers took advantage of the ‘unseasonably warm weather.’ Warm temperatures are one of the causes of oxygen depletion. This would be more common during the summer because water holds less oxygen as warmer waters causes bacteria to grow faster. Oxygen can deplete within hours but in this case, it was winter, yet they were experiencing unseasonably warm weather.

Continued...

Oxygen is absorbed by the water at the surface and it is usually produced in daylight hours by algae during the process of photosynthesis. The oxygen then dissolves in the water, usually more dissolves in cold water and less in warm water. This is how fish breathe the oxygen. The bacteria in the waters consume this oxygen and microbes use the oxygen as they decompose organic matter which is dying weeds and algae and waste products from the fish.

What happens is when oxygen depletion occurs the bacteria consume more oxygen than is produced by atmospheric absorption or photosynthesis. When this happens, fish will die of suffocation or they will swim to the surface and look for air. Some fish are not used to the warmer waters at the surface and will succumb to that as well.

As I mentioned above, warmer temperatures are one reason for this oxygen depletion to occur. Other reasons may include cloud cover, thermal stratification and of course, the more popular algae blooms. The over-abundance of algae causes a feeding frenzy for bacteria which results in their rapid growth. The algae bloom develops at the surface shading the lower algae which causes them to die and sink to the bottom where the microbes await. The more bacteria, the more oxygen they consume depleting the oxygen for use by the fish.

These algae blooms are rapidly increasing in waters all over the world. There are many causes including warmer temperatures, nutrients in the form of nitrogen and phosphorous from agricultural runoff, muddy waters caused by organic matter and sediment that settles in the water column, generated toxins, and stable water conditions can allow the growth of these algae blooms.

In the case of cloud cover, it’s a slower process whereby oxygen production by algae is reduced from the denial of photosynthesis which allows bacteria to eat up the oxygen.

Thermal stratification occurs when waters are rapidly warmed by solar radiation. Warmer water is less dense and will sit at the surface and this density can actually produce a barrier that won’t allow the dissolved materials, like gas and oxygen to get to the deeper waters, thus, the deeper waters lose oxygen. The fish can swim to higher waters but as I mentioned before, they are not used to the warmer waters above and will suffer from thermal stress or stay at the bottom and suffocate.

As you can see by all of these reasons for oxygen depletion, climate change is the obvious main culprit. The warmer temperatures play a significant role as does solar radiation, cloud cover which is also increasing from the increased moisture in the atmosphere due to atmospheric warming, and algae blooms, which by themselves are increasing due to global warming. One main reason for algae bloom includes agricultural run off which is also a major cause of oceanic dead zones.

Here is a story of a fish die-off in Malta where the cause was determined to be a lack of oxygen.

Fish found dead at il-Maghluq died of ‘lack of oxygen’
From Maltatoday.com, Sep. 24, 2013
Hundreds of fish found dead at il-Maghluq in Marsascala died from lack of oxygen, the Fisheries Department reported today.
The revelation comes after environment NGO Nature Trust reported it was investigating reports of mass death of fish seen floating at il-Maghluq.

According to Nature Trust, the species was not usually found at il-Maghluq. "Our concern is for the rare and protected species, the killifish, which can be found in this salt marsh," the NGO said.

"The incident of the dead fish is another atrocious incident which took place this year, the previous one being the killing of the ducks," Nature Trust said.

This happened in Maltese Islands and note how it says in the article that they had a die-off of ducks earlier this year. I didn't research to see which die off this was, so I can't say for sure if this was an actual die off or a killing, but one thing I have noticed in tracking all of these events, not only these die-offs, but mysterious explosions and strange deaths, is that they seem to be clustered. For example, if you look back, there are a lot of incidents that occur in Virginia, along the coasts mostly, from die-offs (most recently, the dolphins), to loud booms, explosions, earthquakes and sulfide smells, etc....
There are just too many mass animal die-offs to highlight them all over the past couple of years, but I’ll just show you a few of them here. This is a report of thousands of sea turtles that washed ashore back on Dec. 21, 2012. You’ll note that they don’t have a cause but believe it was high acid levels in the water. Also, sea turtles were washing ashore on the beaches of New Jersey earlier in 2012.

Thousands of dead sea turtles wash ashore at Paradip Sea Beach in India
From no-sea-and-earth-pollution.org, Dec. 21, 2012
Nature Drive NDTI is planning to bury the dead tortoises on Wednesday in the sand at the beaches. We will send two of these tortoises to the laboratory for further investigation to find the cause of their death. On first sight it seems to be caused by unhealthy water condition like increased acid levels rather than fishing activities. Whatever the reason for this massive death might be, it is very sad news for animal lovers.

In 2012 there were several mass fish die-offs in Sarasota County along the Florida coast. They were blamed on the annual Red Tide (algae bloom), but this particular year, both times the bloom made its appearance, there were mass die-offs. The Herald-Tribune of Sarasota came out with a story on December 27, 2012 about thousands of fish, mostly large mullet that were piled up on three beaches. Officials said that it was a significant event because of the volume of dead fish and also, because there were no small bait fish, like sardines. The fish kill was mostly made up of mullet.

In October of 2012, the Red Tide caused a die-off of several tons of fish in just two days. Officials said the October die-off was the result of the largest red tide bloom in several years.

Here's a summary of what red tide is and its harmful consequences. Notice how this article says that the blooms are on the rise. The most well-known bloom is Florida’s red tide every 'summer' on Florida's Gulf Coast, but this was two after summer had already come and gone, both with mass animal die-offs. I'd say that there is definitely a rise.

Continued...

It's all well studied by ecologists.

Habitat loss, ecosystem disruption, pollution, overfishing, climate change, etc.

But yes, it is extremely dangerous to our eventual health as a civilization.

Most people are ignorant of our interconnected and interdependent nature with ecosystems and species. There comes a domino effect at some point where key species die off and then others start dying off.

Because we derive our food from these systems, this will endanger us.

We are in what has been called the "sixth great extinction." The background rate of extinction is theorized to be more per year than was extant during the time of the dinosaur extinction.

A ‘red tide’ is a common term used for a harmful algal bloom
Oceanservice.noaa.gov
Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae—simple ocean plants that live in the sea—grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can be debilitating or even fatal.

While many people call these blooms 'red tides,' scientists prefer the term harmful algal bloom. One of the best known HABs in the nation occurs nearly every summer along Florida’s Gulf Coast. This bloom, like many HABs, is caused by microscopic algae that produce toxins that kill fish and make shellfish dangerous to eat. The toxins may also make the surrounding air difficult to breathe. As the name suggests, the bloom of algae often turns the water red.

HABs have been reported in almost every U.S. coastal state, and their occurrence may be on the rise. HABs are a national concern because they affect not only the health of people and marine ecosystems, but also the 'health' of local and regional economies.

A small percentage of algae, however, produce powerful toxins that can kill fish, shellfish, mammals and birds, and may directly or indirectly cause illness in people. HABs also include blooms of non-toxic species that have harmful effects on marine ecosystems. For example, when masses of algae die and decompose, the decaying process can deplete oxygen in the water, causing the water to become so low in oxygen that animals either leave the area or die. Scientists at the National Ocean Service have been monitoring and studying this phenomenon for a number of years to determine how to detect and forecast the location of the blooms. The goal is to give communities advance warnings so they can adequately plan for and deal with the adverse environmental and health affects associated with these 'red-tide' events.

Here’s what Jonny Mnemonic had to say about red tides washing up dead sea life in Florida and how these algae blooms are helping the anaerobic bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide.

Post by Jonny Mnemonic
AboveTopSecret.com
The Above Network, LLC
Dangerous Gas may be the cause of super-charged, mass die-offs, quakes and more
www.abovetopsecret.com...
It doesn't even really matter. Even if it IS red tide - and color me skeptical - then the algae blooms will eat up the oxygen in the water and THEN the anaerobic bacteria that spew hydrogen sulfide will spread their territory in the newly anoxic waters. All of these events, the red tides, the toxic blue-green algae blooms, rivers and lakes changing colors here and there, all these events signify a rapidly changing water environment leading to anoxia.

More birds dropped dead, in Seymour (Tennessee). Lady saw the flock flying, turned around and they were dead. So they were almost instantly killed. That's probably a hydrogen sulfide plume blowing overhead. Maybe not concentrated enough to kill people that fast, but birds are small.

According to an article in the Journal Register News, January 11, 2013, “Thousands of dead birds are showing up on Michigan’s northern shoreline,” thousands of birds, including common loons, are washing ashore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the northern shore with Lake Superior. It says that the actual cause of this die-off isn’t known, but, they suspect that it’s a poisoning from eating Gobies that have consumed anaerobic bacteria. The article’s author, Don Gardner, explained that invasive species’ which included zebra mussels and gobies, eat plankton, which is cleaning Lake Superior. The end result is that although the water column is pleasant, the clearer water allows the sun’s rays to penetrate deeper, causing a larger algae mat to flourish at the bottom.

“As the algae mat builds upon itself and dies, it becomes anaerobic — depleted of oxygen — and type-E botulism bacteria develops. Gobies living in that environment at the bottom of the lake pick up the toxin produced by the bacteria. The gobies are then preyed upon by the loons and other fish-eating waterfowl, which become infected by the botulism. The toxin affects the bird’s nervous system and musculature, leaving it unable to fly. Soon, it can no longer keep its head aloft, and it drowns,” Gardner said in the article.

865 water birds showed up dead in a two-week stretch near the town of Gulliver. Among the birds were 302 loons, 157 horned grebes, 142 long-tailed ducks, 103 white-winged scoters, 101 red-necked grebes and smaller numbers of ring-billed gulls, double-crested cormorants, herring gulls, red-breasted mergansers and common mergansers.

There were other areas along the northern shore that had similar numbers of birds wash ashore dead. All of the species’ of birds were the kind that eat fish.

“In the Sleeping Bear Dunes, 1,444 sick or dead birds representing 18 species were documented between June 21 and Nov. 20. Of those birds, 580 were common loons, with 422 found dead in October. Both numbers were the highest mortality rates ever recorded at the Lakeshore since accurate records began in 2007. Only 30 dead loons were recorded in 2011, and only 180 were recorded from 2007-2011,” the article reported.

If everything I’ve shown you still didn’t get your attention, maybe this will. This next story claims that nearly 200 species of animals, insects or plants are going extinct every 24 hours. That’s astonishing numbers they claim haven’t been seen since the time of the dinosaurs. Keep in mind that this story was written back in 2010, two years before the drastic climb in mass animal die-off numbers. This is very scary indeed.

Nearly 200 species going extinct every day
From the Guardian, Aug. 16, 2010
According to the UN Environment Programme, the Earth is in the midst of a mass extinction of life. Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours. This is nearly 1,000 times the "natural" or "background" rate and, say many biologists, is greater than anything the world has experienced since the vanishing of the dinosaurs nearly 65m years ago. Around 15% of mammal species and 11% of bird species are classified as threatened with extinction.

Officials claim that we are reaching a tipping point very soon if countries don’t do something to protect their nature.
"What we are seeing today is a total disaster," said Ahmed Djoghlaf, the secretary-general of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. “The future of the planet now depends on governments taking action in the next few years."
I think the most-talked-about topic of the animal die-off sector is the dying of the honeybees.

Are the honeybees heading towards extinction
NewsPakistan.com
By Fouad Ashraf, March 12, 2012
Some experts believe that the bees could be about to die and at least one third of our food depends on pollination of flowering plants. Einstein once said: "If the bees disappear, mankind would have only 4 more years of life”.
Over 3 million colonies of bees have died in the USA since 2006 and over a thousand millions of bees have died in this period in the world.

Continued...

Over 3 million colonies of bees have died in the USA since 2006 and over a thousand millions of bees have died in this period in the world.

Scientists believe that the main reason could be the pesticides (found more than 121 pesticides in samples of bees, pollen, and wax). Another phenomenon that has perplexed scientists is that many of the colonies are abandoned, but they are the bodies of bees, in what has been called the Mary Celeste Syndrome (as inexplicably abandoned ship). Some studies relate the effect produced by telecommunications towers with the disorientation of the bees, leaving them unable to return to their hive.

Another perplexing saga in this ongoing die-off phenomenon is the disappearance of bats. A disease known as White-Nose Syndrome is said to be killing off millions of bats creating an unprecedented wildlife disaster. The disease is estimated to have wiped out 95% of Pennsylvania’s bat population and is spreading quickly across the country. An article at prweb.com, April 10, 2012, said the disease, which began in the northeastern United States, had been detected in Missouri and Alabama. As recently as March of 2014, the disease was now in Michigan and Wisconsin.

White-nose syndrome is “unprecedented wildlife disaster”
Prweb.com, April 10, 2012
“This is like bringing small pox to the New World. It is surely an unprecedented wildlife disaster for North America,” said Bucknell University professor Dr. DeeAnn Reeder. Reeder is one of the country’s leading experts on WNS, and one of the researchers responsible for identifying the cause of the disease in 2011. “We can’t stop this thing. It’s marching across the country and we’re going to see some extinction.”

Reeder has been studying the disease since shortly after it was discovered in a New York cave in 2006. Since then it was been detected in at least 17 other states. Few bats exposed to the fungus that causes WNS survive.
“I was recently in a mine where I should’ve seen 10,000 or so bats. There were 150,” Reeder recalled. “We don’t know if the survivors have some immunity, or are lucky. If they’re just lucky, we’re in trouble.”

Most people don’t realize how severe the impact could be should the bat’s become extinct. For every one million bats that die, 692 tons of insects that would have been eaten by the bats, survive the summer months. According to the article above, recent studies show bats provide billions of dollars worth of agricultural and pest-killing services.

I reside in the north woods of Wisconsin where mosquitoes thrive. The winter of 2013-14 dumped over 120 inches of snow, smashing previous records. Mosquitoes breed like crazy with an abundance of water so we already know the summer will be ruled by mosquitoes, because the entire northland will be a breeding ground with all the water from the spring thaw. If the bats are dying off in significant numbers and mosquitoes are breeding at absurd levels, we’re in trouble.

The bee and bat die-offs are a bit scary after considering how critical these creatures are to mankind. What the future holds for these die-offs remains to be seen, but let’s hope this is a passing pandemic for them and they survive their own extinction level event.

There are more than two mass animal die-offs globally each day. They can not be blamed on better reporting, or more people and population to witness these events. That's ridiculous. Many skeptics also want to jump on the pollution bandwagon so quickly, but why only in the past two years are there so many die offs versus over the past 30 or 40 years. These developments have increased immensely in a very short time and we should quit the denial phase and accept it as reality, and then begin asking why.

Isn't it obvious? It's because of Obamacare.

👣

Holocene extinction period, I believe it's one of the 6 largest extinction periods in geological history.

Life goes on.

Well, the glaciers actually trap methyl mercury in their ice and when they melt they release this mercury compound and it builds up in the air and oceans. The methyl mercury precipitates out of air blowing over it and freezes into the glacier over thousands of years. Now the raise in methyl mercury may interfere with a sea creatures comprehension or direction as the mercury interacts with the brain, nervous system, and signal transmission in the body.

I did some reading research on raising methyl mercury levels in the air and water a while ago. Methyl mercury in the air also can cause sounds and other energy to transmit easier through the air also.

a reply to: rickymouse

That's interesting about the methyl mercury and how you believe it may increase the sound in our air because I do have a chapter where I associate the increasing GHG's in our atmosphere to the increased sky noises and loud booms. I'm just not sure how but I believe the gases are amplifying the sounds so that they are heard over greater distances.

Just chiming in to let you know I've been reading your series of posts. Star and Flag for you.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Thanks for that, and for following.

In one word: Fukushima.

a reply to: Asynchrony

Fukushima would only explain a very limited amount of die offs if that were it and those would be in the Pacific. How do you explain all the die offs in rivers, lakes and seas all around the world. And what about die offs of birds and land animals like the elk herd in New Mexico last year. Fukushima may be causing long term disease of sea life and even genetic chimeras and deformities and what not, but it's not causing sudden deaths of mass amount of sea life. So, it may be responsible for a very limited amount of these die offs, but that's it.

I agree with you that Fukushima is some messed up sheeet, so much so that I won't even eat fish out of the Pacific anymore. But, that's about it.

originally posted by: Rezlooper
a reply to: Asynchrony

Fukushima would only explain a very limited amount of die offs if that were it and those would be in the Pacific. How do you explain all the die offs in rivers, lakes and seas all around the world. And what about die offs of birds and land animals like the elk herd in New Mexico last year. Fukushima may be causing long term disease of sea life and even genetic chimeras and deformities and what not, but it's not causing sudden deaths of mass amount of sea life. So, it may be responsible for a very limited amount of these die offs, but that's it.

I agree with you that Fukushima is some messed up sheeet, so much so that I won't even eat fish out of the Pacific anymore. But, that's about it.

Climate change.

a reply to: Rezlooper It's info like this that made me start reading a few years ago. Thank you for this post.

Now, the question is, why in tarnation do we not care more?

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
a reply to: Rezlooper It's info like this that made me start reading a few years ago. Thank you for this post.

Now, the question is, why in tarnation do we not care more?

If we care then we must also understand that we are responsible but this would then mean that it is up to us to do something and I'm afraid people don't want to change. Instead they look for excuses, scapegoats :

* "It's natural", ie not our fault we can do nothing, so we can carry on as usual.
* "It's not happening , scientists are lying" , no need to to do anything, so we can carry on as usual.
* "It's a scam to tax us " , so nothing really wrong, so we can carry on as usual.
* "Humans can't affect the planet" , recognition things are changing BUT we cannot affect it, so we can carry on as usual.
* "a.n.other country is worse than us and they are doing nothing", recognition things are changing but it is beyond "our" control, so we can carry on as usual.

etc etc

I dunno

1.) Man made causes

2.) Biblical

3.) Just the continuation of the Pleistocene Die-Off

Paleoindians and the Great Pleistocene Die-Off

This coincidence alone suggests that we look elsewhere for causes before we conclude that man alone was responsible for Pleistocene extinctions, which brings us to climate. At the end of the Pleistocene, the climate became drier and warmer. Most important, temperatures warmed by some thirteen degrees Fahrenheit and seasonal extremes spiked as winters became colder and summers hotter. In these new conditions, grasses and other plants and insects flourished or died, as did invertebrate and vertebrate organisms in turn. Entire habitats changed rapidly; upper Midwest spruce forests became pine forests almost overnight. For animals with firm boreal forest associations, such as mastodons, the consequences might have been dire. And once large herbivores, which in sufficient numbers can transform the environment, are extinct, the floral composition of habitats can change to affect smaller grazing animals to the point of extinction.

originally posted by: BlueMule
Isn't it obvious? It's because of Obamacare.

👣

4.) Obamacare

Pole shift?

The die offs of birds,fish etc are caused by tectonic plate movement and alterations:be it on land or underwater..think of the canary in the mines and why birds were used..I.e they are very sensitive to noxious gases..and when the plates move methane is released (due to accumulation of vegetation underground the last time this occurred) so the birds fly over a particular area of methane release and are killed stone dead due to fumes,same goes for the fish.

I know the magnetosphere is also registering unprecendented particle eddys (from Planet X) so this may also play a role and lead to navigational problems.

😃

originally posted by: Look2theSacredHeart
a reply to: Rezlooper It's info like this that made me start reading a few years ago. Thank you for this post.

Now, the question is, why in tarnation do we not care more?

Sad fact is that for too many of us, if it doesn't affect us personally, then we don't pay attention.