June 17, 2008
Elly’s Hot Topics: Antarctic DDT, Unthawed
BY: elly
And you thought DDT was a thing of the past…Although worldwide use of DDT has decreased from 40,000 tons per year in 1980 to 1,000 tons per year today, with the U.S. banning most uses in 1972, DDT is still showing up in the Antarctic. Spurred by global warming, previously frozen insecticide particles are being released through glacier meltdown. A recent study led by Heidi Geisz, of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary, surveyed the DDT levels of Adélie penguins of the western Antarctic Peninsula, which had not been done since 1964. The team was expecting to find a decreased level of the chemical in the penguins due to its declined use. Instead, they found that the DDT levels have remained unchanged over the past 40 years.Rachel Carson is turning over in her grave. Check out the piece from New Scientist for more.Image via www.eoearth.orgFor more on climate change, see http://www.oceana.org/climate.