‘Fouling Our Nest’
● “It was appalling to me to see how dirty our atmosphere is getting,” said astronaut Paul Weitz, commander of the recent five-day flight of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger. “Unfortunately, this world is rapidly becoming a gray planet,” he said, mentioning that pollution, resembling the blue smoke of burning wood, could be found over all the world’s landmasses—even in undeveloped countries. “Our environment apparently is flat going downhill,” Weitz added. “We are fouling our own nest.”
● Canadian and U.S. researchers report that Arctic air pollution is increasing. “We found the haze layers much more numerous than anticipated, and the intensity of the pollution larger than expected,” said project director Russell Schnell of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This report follows a six-year study by the Office of Naval Research, which found the polar region acidic air pollution to be “on a scale and with an intensity that could have never been imagined, even by the most pessimistic observer.” Most of the pollution is thought to come from industrial plants in the Soviet Union and Europe. Scientists fear that the warming effects of the pollutants may alter the world’s climate, perhaps even raising world sea levels by several feet due to the melting of polar ice.
● Other remote areas being polluted by man include Mount Everest and Antarctica. Nepal’s authorities are worried about the growing amount of trash and gear left by climbers on Mount Everest, despite rules against it. “In a few years, base camp will be a big rubbish heap,” said one professional climber of a camp located at the 17,100-foot (5,200-m) level.
● Similarly, a report from Antarctica speaks of “piles of litter, mountains of machinery and shells of old buildings” left behind by explorers, much of which is dumped onto the sea floor in an “‘out of sight, out of mind’ waste disposal system.” Said the leader of one expedition: “You can see that in the end we will have our bases surrounded by one huge rubbish dump. That is the ultimate.”