Strange wild animal deaths

[Harold Mansfield]

I not trying to start a doomsday or religious discussion and I don't want anyone to get all "2012" on me, but recent news of strange animal deaths all over the world is a bit perplexing.

From 200 Dead Cows Found In Wisconsin.
The 1000's of dead birds that fell from the sky in Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Italy and Sweden.
Or the mass fish kills in Chicago, Maryland, Brazil and New Zealand, or the 40,000 dead crab that mysteriously washed ashore in New England.

Seems weird all at once.

I have seen stories over the years of things like whales beaching themselves for seemingly no reason, but I can't say that I remember any birds falling from the sky or a whole heard of cattle all dying at once. Even in case of a disease or virus, they kind of fall off one at a time.

Just seems strange is all I'm saying.
200 Dead Cows Found In Wisconsin (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/200-dead-cows-wisconsin_n_810248.html)

[billbenson]

I've heard that the bird deaths are a normal thing. If you ever fly over the country, there's a lot of empty space down there where it would go unnoticed.

I look at it more like the earthquakes that have happened recently. Statistically there haven't been more, they just have been in populated places recently.

[Spider]

As the world's population grows inexorably, more and more of the land is given over to living space, farming space and recreational space. That means less and less land is unused by humans. Rivers and lakes are dammed for water supply, hydropower and recreation, coastlines are occupied and developed, etc. etc. Natural occurances are happening more and more in habitated areas because more of the area is habitated.

Attendant on the increasing population is the increase in garbage and human excrement, plus the increasing waste byproducts of increased food supply and the increase in chemical fertilizers and the like.

As the population grows, there is more industrial efflluent and more gasses released into the atmosphere. Anyone who is surprised by multiple animal deaths just has not been paying attention to the world around them - or, more likely, has been too busy with other things to concern themselves with the state of the environment.

Besides which, as the population grows, there is more demand for "News" so more "news" is created, and as news is only reporting what happens, what happens is reported more frequently than in the past.

I cannot say that I was aware of cows and birds and crabs dropping dead inexplicably in the past, but I am very conscious of the fact that 80% of the coral reefs of the world are in serious trouble, and many species of animal on the verge of extinction. (Did you know that there are no more than 8,000 tigers of all kinds alive in the wild now?) I certainly am not in the least surprised these things are happening. We probably won't do anything about it at a meaningful level until humans start dropping dead in similar numbers.

[Harold Mansfield]

I always ponder if there is actually stranger news, or just an abundance of continuous news. It seems everything is newsworthy these days, especially if someone captures it on crappy, grainy video.
Still, no clear pictures of UFO's though. I know that's another subject, but you would think with all of the newshounds, citizen reporters in the world and basically everyone having a camera phone in their pocket 24/7, someone would have gotten something by now besides the same strange shadows and flashes of light that people have been pointing to as proof since the 1950's.

[AaronConway]

We probably won't do anything about it at a meaningful level until humans start dropping dead in similar numbers.

They are...50 million abortions since 1973. Not really dropping dead but dead none the less.

[Harold Mansfield]

They are...50 million abortions since 1973. Not really dropping dead but dead none the less.

Hmnnn. I don't even want to get that one started. It has no end and no winner.

[Spider]

They are...50 million abortions since 1973. Not really dropping dead but dead none the less.That's a lot of people not born, Aaron, but clearly not enough to counter the huge numbers being born, because the population is still growing by 70 million every year. That's a lot of extra houses to build, extra food to grow, extra jobs to create, extra electricity to generate, extra fuel to produce, extra goods to manufacture, and an awful lot of polution that will be generated.

If we are concerned about cows dying and birds falling from the sky now, just imagine what will happen in the future! Unless we can find ways to stop this population growth.

[JJ84]

It does seem strange that all these animals die, but i also heard that all the animals’ deaths are supposedly normal. I would agree with spider that our first concern should be that we stop the population growth and that we stop to waste resources.

[Reflo Ltd]

It occurs to me that a lot of our reaction is simply based upon what we know or hear.

For instance, a few summers ago the media was hot on the reporting of shark attacks. In reality there were less shark attacks than in previous years but with the constant reporting people reacted by staying away from the water and this had an economic impact on seaside destinations.

So, I think that simply because we hear of it we are more likely to be alarmed, regardless of the reality of the actual problem.

[Spider]

It could also signify that there are fewer sharks. Which is indeed the case - About 80% of shark populations are endangered and threatened with extinction, due mostly to over-fishing for human consumption. Over-fishing to feed the ever-increasing population.

No matter which way you turn, over-population is the basic problem that is destroying our planet and our human way of life.

[Reflo Ltd]

Two points.

1. The point I made was that people reacted to shark attacks in a substantial way not because there was an increase in attacks, just an increase in reporting.

2. Overpopulation is not destroying our planet and human way of life. That comes from rhetoric of those with a special agenda through the use of scare tactics and exagerated or erroneous statistics. I will definitely agree that poor management of resources is a far great threat to humanity and the planet than overpopulation is in any way, shape or form.

[Spider]

Disagree entirely. And the facts prove it, but placing one's head in the sand is a peculiarly human pastime.

[AaronConway]

It's a good thing all of our parents didn't agree with the overpopulation myth...if they did, we wouldn't be here. People have been arguing about overpopulation for centuries and they will continue to do so.

For me and my house, we know all human life is precious and should be protected.

[Spider]

For me and my house, too, all human life is precious and should be protected. I think that destroying the environment in which that human life lives, by having more human life than it can bear, is not treating life as precious and is not protecting it. It is treating life as having little value and treating it carelessly.

[Reflo Ltd]

Yes, plenty of people happily live life with their head planted frimly and deeply in the sand..... but I disagree with you on who those people are.

The funniest thing about these doom-type forecasts are that they've been around for years, including the overpopulation myth.

Let's do a simple reality check.

there are roughly 7 billion people on our planet. (not quite but lets round up)

Fresh water supply? I live near Lake Erie, which is by far the smallest of the great lakes, by volume. It contains 127,729,589,000,000 gallons of water. That is 18,247 gallons of water for every person in the world.... just from the smallest of the great lakes.

[AaronConway]

by having more human life than it can bear, is not treating life as precious and is not protecting it.

So to protect human life, you're ok with killing human life?

[Spider]

Look, guys. This is an unwinnable discussion for all participants. And I really don't care. I have no children. I am 68 years old. As long as the planet last another 20 years or so, I'm good. Those of you who have children and grandchildren and who have a stake in the future, I would have thought you would be interested in making sure it lasts for your offspring and their offspring.

If you're not bothered with the destruction that is clear all around - of the wildlife, of the forests, of natural habitat - if the pollution, bad air, poisoned rivers, greenhouse gases, rising cancer rates, and climate change doesn't bother you - you, who would no doubt, like to see an environment that is clean and healthy for your children - if you are not concerned, why should I be? I'll be dead and gone in 20 or so years and I don't think total collapse is going to happen in that time. But I have certainly seen destruction of a lot of what I have held dear over the years, and that saddens me. The pace of destruction is not slowing down.

It's your planet. It's the only one you've got. Take care of it, or not. No concern of mine!

[jamesray50]

I heard on the news that all the occurances of the dead birds and fishes are natural occurances and happen all the time. The only reason we are hearing so much about it now is because of all the media outlets available to us now. Everyone has cameras on the cell phone, people tweet, talk on facebook, post on uTube, etc. There is no privacy anymore. Nothing can happen anymore that is not captured and broadcasted somewhere. No conspiracy, no end of world. The birds fall from the sky because they are stupid, they follow the leader, the leader flew towards the ground and the others followed. They didn't know why the fish died, but was sure it wasn't mysterious. Just nature.

[billbenson]

Strange animal deaths and discussing the options for making this a better place for future generations are acceptable subjects here. Using this forum as a pulpit for strong political, religious, etc beliefs IMO has no place on this forum. Twisting others words to change the discussion to a thread of this type is not appropriate either. Just my opinion.