NISHMA Introspection
5767-01 by Howard Pasternack In the beginning of God's
creation of Heaven and Earth, the Earth was without form
and empty. Later, God filled the earth with many
forms of life: plants, animals, insects, fish,
amphibians, birds, reptiles, fungi, microorganisms, and
other creatures, including humans. Among the
humans, God chose a select group, the Jews, to receive
God's message, and to be God's mouthpiece on Earth.
Bezrat Hashem, one day everyone on Earth
will understand and appreciate that it was God Who
created all of the living things and their complex
habitats that enable us all to live and eat and breathe
here. The question I would like to
pose in this essay is this: If it is Am Yisroel's
role to be the link through which the rest of humanity
will ultimately come to know and worship God, and to
realize that all life is His creation, then wouldn't a
key part of this role be to stand up for the preservation
of this awesome creation of Hashem? Many sources talk about how
man can come to know the greatness and majesty of Hashem
through a love and respect for Nature and by otherwise
studying His creation. Rambam, in Mishneh Torah,
Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (2:1-2 and 4:12) tells us that
the path to the mitzvot of Ahavat Hashem and Yirat
Hashem is to contemplate on God's wondrous deeds and
creations, and appreciate the sublime wisdom that is the yesod,
the foundation of creation. In Chovos Halevovos
(Vol.1, Part 2), we learn how man can become so
accustomed to the benefits of creation that he will
habitually take them for granted, and fail to discern
their holy Source. We also learn that it is our
duty to overcome this habit by studying creation, for
thereby we can learn to treasure the wisdom of the
Creator. Unfortunately, in today's
world of concrete and glass and metal, of bagged salad
and meat in styrofoam trays, of instant dinners and
machine-mediated interaction with people and with nature,
many of the miracles of creation are shielded from our
view. It is difficult to appreciate what we cannot
see. In addition, as we move
further away from a rural agrarian society towards an
urban technological one, human beings as individuals have
relinquished their direct custodianship over the land to
large collective entities -- mostly corporations. Most
of the food we buy in supermarkets is now grown on large
"factory farms" owned by corporations. The
Human face of custodianship has largely been erased.
Instead, abstract faceless entities, whose dealings and
decisions are frequently beyond the discernment of the
general public, are the new custodians of the land.
Without direct interactions with nature, and as long as
nature is hidden from view, our moral link to it is lost.
Our sensitivity to it is lost. Out of sight, out of
mind. So, today, how will Mankind
find the inspiration to make that sublime connection, to
discover God in Nature, especially if we turn Nature into
a giant cesspool of toxic waste, plastic packaging, smog
and extinct species? Man's impact on the Earth, on
its habitability for all forms of life (including Man
himself) has been highly destructive. While many
areas of halacha permit some degree of destruction
as long as some benefit can be gained (eg. killing
animals for food), we must nonetheless question the
wisdom of destroying so much that we deprive future
generations of such benefit, and indeed deprive ourselves
of the benefits of toxin-free air, water, soil and food. Sensitivity and Sechel In Rav S.R. Hirsch, Bereshis
2:15 tells us: "it is by virtue of man's moral
conduct and his conscientious use of the bounties
of nature that nature itself receives not only aid for
its development toward its purpose, but also the
conditions for its very survival. Hence our
Sages juxtapose the concepts of cultivation and care
with Torah and the observance of the Divine
Commandments, which comprise the totality of man's
purpose." Thus, Man has the power to
threaten the survival of nature itself, and the
continued survival of nature depends on the way that
Man uses it. We now ask: is it
appropriate for a Jew to have little or no sensitivity to
the harm being done to Creation, to ourselves and to
future generations? In order to develop an
appreciation for the magnitude of the problem, let us
have a brief overview of the nezek, the damage
being done to Creation. (Note: You need not simply
take my word for what's happening -- do some reading
yourself. Use your sechel, and sort between
the hype and the science, the agendas, the lone
crackpots, and the real physical measurements, the
mouthpieces for interest groups and the publications in
peer-reviewed journals.) Here are just a few
examples of the damage
Bal Tashchit or Ba'al
Tashchit ? As a species, we are showing
ourselves to be terribly incompetent at the
"conscientious use" of nature, leading to the
mess we see today. We live in the greatest
golden age in history, with many wonders never before
imagined. But there is a price for this wealth and
prosperity that we are beginning to finally pay ... and
which our progeny will pay even more heavily. Must
we be so completely insensitive to this price? It
is a Torah attitude to say: "eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die"? For comparison to our
current attitudes, below are examples of Torah thoughts
on these matters: "Tzadikim and elevated
people of good deeds
do not waste even a mustard
seed in this world. They become sorrowful with
every wasteful and destructive act that they see, and if
they can, they use all their strength to save everything
possible from destruction. But the wicked are not thus;
they are like demons. They rejoice in the destruction of
the world, just as they destroy themselves ... For
destroying things other than those explicitly mentioned
in scripture, a person should be flogged with the lashes
of disobedience." - Sefer HaChinuch 529 "When the Holy One,
Blessed Be He, created the first man, he took him and
showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said
to him: 'See my works, how beautiful and praiseworthy
they are; and I created all of it for you. Be careful
not to spoil or destroy my world because if you spoil it,
there will be no one after you to repair it'" - Kohelet
Rabba 7:13. Maharzav adds that this warning
applies to all of humanity, throughout the generations,
and not just to Adam. "But whoever breaks
utensils, tears garments, demolishes a building, stops up
a fountain and willfully destroys food violates the
prohibition of 'you shall not destroy', and shall
receive lashes deRabbanan." - Rambam, Mishnah Torah,
Hilchot Melachim 6:10 We are to "regard
things as God's property and use them with a sense of
responsibility for wise human purposes. Destroy nothing!
Waste nothing! Do not be avaricious!"
Rav S.R. Hirsch, Horeb, Chapter 56, Para. 401 "If you regard the
beings beneath you as objects without rights, not
perceiving God Who created them... then God's call
proclaims to you: 'Do not destroy anything! Be a
man! Only if you use the things around you for wise
human purposes, sanctified by the word of My teaching,
only then are you a man, and have the right over them
which I have given to you as a man. However, if you
destroy, if you ruin - at that moment you are not a man,
you are an animal, and have no right to the things around
you. As soon as you use them unwisely, be it the
greatest or the smallest, you commit treachery against My
world, you commit murder and robbery against My property,
you sin against Me!' Rav S.R. Hirsch, Horeb,
Chapter 56, Para. 397 Bal tashchit
prohibits us from wasting fuel T.B. Shabbat 67b To teach people not to waste
clothes, we must tell them that anyone who buries the
dead in an expensive garment, or in too many garments,
violates the negative mitzvah of bal tashchit,
since it is better to give the garments to the poor.
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Avel 14:24 The gedolim of the
generation prayed to end a famine, but failed because the
generation had been unworthy to receive Divine assistance
in spite of these prayers. How do we know this is
the reason? Because the famine began when Rav
Yehuda saw two people tossing bread around as a toy, and
gave them an angry stare T.B. Taanit 24b. The
meaning here is that wastefulness during times of
abundance, and the attitudes behind such wastefulness,
are what bring famine. Mitzvoth bein adom l'olam We often classify mitzvoth
into bein adom l'makom and bein adom l'chavero,
but there is another class that emerges upon examination:
bein adom l'olam: between man and Creation. What
kind of picture emerges when you look at Hashem's
directives?
What is the common theme?
Do not be careless about such fundamental distinctions in
the world as life & death, animal and vegetable and
other basic classes of creation. Show
respect for life, for living things, and for our
connections to God's life-giving force. Recognize
the value and the holiness of creation and do not be
oblivious to the natural order. Creation is not just a
commodity to be thoughtlessly exploited. Today's
entire economic structure is founded on the
commoditization of God's creation. Everything is
treated a commodity, a unit, a thing without a soul or
essence, produced in unfathomable mass quantities. Automation
and mass production have made it possible to feed, clothe
and house more people than before, but the system is
flawed and we are beginning to pay a terrible price for
this, which can undo all of the good that has been
achieved. When we say a bracha before
or after eating something, we show some of the required
sensitivity, recognizing that we are benefitting
from God's creation. But does the bracha then
become a joke when we throw half a chicken in the garbage
because we neglected to re-refrigerate it after the meal?
Our generation suffers from the curse of abundance:
We have been lulled into believing that chicken is
money, and nothing more. We routinely waste
half a chicken here, a few fish there, a few pieces of
cow. These animals die for nothing, to end up in a
landfill, mummified with piles of disused broken plastic
and metal, sealed in concrete for eternity. Will God let it get
worse? In parshas Noach, God
promised never to destroy all life on Earth again. However, He did not
promise that he would not let us destroy most of
it ourselves. Many believe that God would
never let this happen. But who can honestly claim
to know the mind of God? One must be careful in
asserting what God will or will not allow, especially in
the generation after the Shoah. If God allowed the
horrors of the extermination camps and the murder of 6
million of His people, then we know that He does indeed
allow terrible things on such a scale. But we need not rely on the
Shoah alone to suggest that man can destroy on a global
scale. In case we need reminding, here are just a
few of our "achievements" over the past
century: ·
The emergence of cities in Africa has created the
opportunity for HIV to pass from tribal bush meat hunters
to the larger population. The number of deaths from
AIDS in the past 25 years has now surpassed 20 million,
with 40 million currently infected globally. As the
virus spreads, health care workers face greater risks and
must exercise more caution to avoid exposure. A
small exposed cut, a bloody nose, a manicure ... these
will all eventually become objects of fear. ·
Cancer causes 7 million deaths every year, 12.5%
of all deaths worldwide. Most of these are
completely preventable, yet the rate is rising. ·
The ongoing killing in Darfur (200,000 dead so far) ·
Rwanda (800,000 dead) ·
All 20th Century genocides combined: 18 million dead ·
World War One: 15 million dead ·
World War Two: 55 million dead ·
USSR: killings under Stalin: 20 million ·
China: killings under Mao Tse Tung: 40 million ·
Russian Civil War: 9 million dead ·
Chinese civil war: 2.5 million dead ·
Combined 20th century wars, genocides and political
killings: well over 150 million dead. This is the legacy of the
past century: Man's ancient inclinations meet the power
of modern technology. How can anyone honestly
assert that more of the same cannot continue to happen? This leaves the question:
what attitude shall we take to all of this? Many
say that we should have emunah in technology as
our saviour. But does Torah say it's kosher to give
ourselves permission to destroy wantonly, believing and
trusting in technology's ability to dig ourselves out of
any trouble we get into? Can a believing Jew
seriously go along with society's trend of digging
ourselves deeper into this hole, all the while passively
counting on technology to come to the rescue? Similarly, we must not
passively wait for God to take care of it. A Jew
may hope for miracles but must not rely on
miracles. Rather, our purpose is to make the tough
decisions that we are faced with, bringing resources to
bear that are within our sphere of influence. It is
not our purpose to sit back, destroy whatever we
want, and say "God will save us". This is
not a Torah attitude. Do not test God -- God has
allowed us to destroy this much already. Besides, counting on a
technological fix is just plain silly -- the scale is too
large. These problems were created over many
decades of spewing by billions of people. How
can we count on politicians who can barely get a pot-hole
fixed, to organize the construction of some giant space
mirror or a continent-sized CO2 extraction
device, or a titanic grid of thousands of wind-powered
electric freezers for the Antarctic? And forget
about a mass exodus to another planet -- we can barely
get our 20-year-old space shuttles running twice a year,
and even those will explode on re-entry if a piece of
foam falls on them during lift-off. Imagine
evacuating billions of people, or even a million!
I hear people talk about these technologies as though
they are real options -- but they are outright fantasy,
drawn from watching too much television. A dilemma for this
generation Jews have generally been
associated with liberal causes, but this has changed in
recent years. In this generation, a collision of
interests has led the political Right into a pro-Israel
position, thus attracting Jewish support. Today,
the political Left favours environmental protection,
while the Right favours commercial interests even to the
point of allowing serious environmental damage. So,
Jews now have a dilemma: Supporting causes whose
aim is to save the planet (which we depend on for life)
means supporting and allying with people who are likely
to be anti-Israel. In certain ways, the dilemma
is a false one. The fact that environmental
protection is a value held more by the Left does not stop
it from being a Torah value. Rather, it exists as
one value among a matrix of Torah values -- including the
value of protecting the lives of Jews in Israel. This
is no more of a dilemma than Kashrus versus Shabbos --
there is plenty of room for both; it is merely a matter
of how much of our time and resources we wish to put into
each. It is a matter of weighing and balancing
values that inhabit a matrix of values, which also
includes health and parnassa and davening and learning
and chesed and so forth. Prioritizing one's values
is a common exercise. The values of protecting
Israel and the capacity of the planet to support
life are not mutually exclusive. One may engage in
both without any loss to Torah. Indeed, protecting
Israel and protecting Creation are rooted in the same
core value: the value of pikuach nefesh -- saving
human lives. Nevertheless, we also cannot
ignore the reality that, in the political realm, this
dilemma may be very real. In voting for a candidate, we
may be forced to choose between conflicting positions and
conflicting values. Though it may be tempting to
see one stance as all good and the other as all bad, that
is not necessarily the truth. Neither the Right nor the
Left reflects a complete Torah perspective on all issues.
It is also not so simple to maintain that support of
Israel must always triumph over environmental protection,
which is still another Torah value. In certain
situations, it will make sense to direct one's resources
towards Israel instead of environmental protection, but
one must make such a choice with the awareness of a
tension between competing Torah goals. This
will sometimes entail a careful investigation of the
relevant issues to ensure doing justice to the breadth of
Torah values. It may also call upon us to continue
to push the Right on various environmental issues, even
while supporting their pro-Israel stands. After
all, we need not agree with the Right on every issue, in
trade for their support of Israel. How much fealty
do we really owe the Right on issues unrelated to Israel,
such as turning a blind eye to legislation removing
limits on large-scale pollution by corporations? If
the political Left happened to be pro-Israel in this
generation, and the Right were anti-Israel, then perhaps
the Torah value of protecting Creation might not be so
clouded as it is today. Stand up and earn the
Geula There are three possible
scenarios in which Moshiach will come: 1.
After a time limit runs out, specifically in the year
6000 in the Hebrew calendar. 2.
If our collective merit has grown so great that we have
reached a high enough level to have earned Geula as a
reward. 3.
If our collective sin has grown so much that we have
descended so low that only Moshiach can save us. Hillel said "in a place
where there are no men, be a man" (Avot 2:6).
We have a Torah obligation to protect God's Creation.
But if we throw up our hands, and declare that "the
environment is a problem for the goyim, not for us"
or give some other excuse for counting on Messianic
Option #3, then we become modern-day followers of Jacob
Frank. It is not a Torah attitude to announce that
we're satisfied with sin and destruction as a perfectly
good path to Geula. We say the bracha
"Dayan HaEmet" when a tragedy strikes,
especially for incidents that are unexpected or out of
our control. But this bracha becomes absurd when we
have created the tragedy through our own neglect, and
have had ample time to understand and prevent it. Is
there a bracha for mass suicide through sheer apathy? This is an opportunity to
lead, to show our mettle. Over the next few
generations, things are going to get much much worse.
If we claim to be the true representatives of God, what
will people say if we do nothing while Creation is
ruined? Our silence on this issue, as a group, as
Am Yisroel, could prove to be the biggest chilul
Hashem in history. More resources: Canfei Nesharim ("the
wings of eagles") is an organisation dedicated to
educating about the importance of protecting the
environment from the perspective of Jewish tradition and
Halacha. The Jewish Nature
Centre of Canada, Torat HaTeva provides vibrant and
meaningful Jewish educational experiences that: promote
ecological awareness, build community ties, encourage
action towards global responsibility and stewardship
(Tikkun Olam), and provide models for spiritually and
ecologically sustainable Jewish living. Your carbon
footprint http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/index.php http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/ http://www.carboncalculator.co.uk/shopping.php Latest News on
Environmental Changes: http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/environment.html http://www.sciam.com/channel.cfm?chanID=sa012 Body Burden Chemicals Within Us: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0610/feature4/index.html Body Burden http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden/ National Report on Human
Exposure to Environmental Chemicals: http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/ More upcoming studies: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/16167884.htm StatsCan to test 5,000
people for toxins: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061222.TOXIC22/TPStory/Environment Increasing exposure to
phthalate plasticizers linked to unprecedented declines
in fertility rates and semen
quality
that have been observed in people during the 2nd
half of the 20th century http://www.who.int/entity/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/ebd5.pdf Dutch dump toxic waste in
Africa, fumes kill 7 in Ivory Coast, make 9000 more sick Plastic: What's in it, and
is it safe? http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/consumers/plastic.html Asthma CDC study links smog with
Asthma CDC Asthma Study http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/06facts/asthma1980-2005.htm Asthma: A Growing Epidemic
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/environ/envHealth/ehasthma.htm Asthma and the Environment:
A Strategy to Protect Children http://aspe.hhs.gov/sp/asthma/appxd.pdf Environmental triggers of
Asthma http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/CSEM/asthma/docs/asthma.pdf Species Extinction http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060720-biodiversity.html The planet is losing species
faster than at any time since 65 million years ago http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article1187003.ece West African Black Rhino Now Extinct Three of the four Gorilla
sub-species expected to be extinct within a decade http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1153112402247N315 Sewage
Sludge as Fertilizer Researchers Link Increased
Risk Of Illness To Sewage Sludge Used As Fertilizer http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020730075144.htm Long-term effects of metals
in sewage sludge on soils, microorganisms and plants, Journal of Industrial
Microbiology and Biotechnology http://www.springerlink.com/content/l9675655269wt38m/?print=true Sewage sludge legal to use
as fertilizer on crops http://www.newstarget.com/z000232.html E-Coli O157:H7 E-coli in spinach was from
manure in cattle farm next door E. coli O157:H7 and the
Spinach Scare http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/FST-19.pdf Simple change in cattle
diets could cut E. coli infection, USDA and Cornell
scientists report http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Sept98/acid.relief.hrs.html THE EFFECT OF DIET ON E.
COLI 0157:H7 IN CATTLE http://www.foodcontamination.ca/animalnet/2000/11-2000/an-11-15-00-02.txt Pre-harvest factors
influencing the acid resistance of Escherichia coli and
E. coli O157:H7 http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/full/81/4/1080 Cancer rates World Cancer Rates: http://www-dep.iarc.fr/ Summary of World Cancer
Report http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/print.html Examples: Cancer in Canadians ages
20-34
Clear-cutting,
Deforestation NASA - Small-Scale Logging
Leads to Clear-cutting in Brazilian Amazon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/2006/2006080122766.html Brazilian Amazon
Deforestation; images & stats Boreal Forest soils absorb
Mercury pollution, and so clear-cutting frees the trapped
mercury to run into lakes http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2003/may/science/be_mercury.html Deforestation Threatens
Canada's Boreal Plains http://www.ec.gc.ca/science/sandemay02/article4_e.html http://www.globalforestwatch.ca/ Chicken, poultry in factory
faming Over 70 percent of all
broiler chickens grown in the U.S. are fed
"roxarsone", a form of Arsenic used to kill
intestinal parasites called "coccidia"
http://scienceline.org/2006/09/20/env-wenner-arsenic/ Undercooked turkeys can
harbour superbugs http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6820&print=true Antibiotic Resistance:
Playing Chicken With Essential Drugs http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/619_abr_general_factsheet_rev2.pdf How chickens are really
treated at the megafarms you get your eggs from: http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/chicken.html De-beaking of chickens http://www.hsus.org/farm/multimedia/gallery/layers/debeaking.html Hormones in beef Why Europe has banned the
use of hormones in beef http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/library/press/press24_en.html http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sc/scv/out21_en.html http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/scv/out42_en.pdf Accidental gynecomastia in
children http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14156671 Impact of exogenous
estrogens http://humupd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/4/341 Freakshow meat on your
table in 5 years http://www.new-harvest.org/faq.htm grow edible meat in culture
from a few animal cells http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3302/05.html Lab-grown steaks nearing the
menu http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3208&print=true Test-Tube T-Bones on the
Horizon http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,druck-373796,00.html meat grown on kitchen
counter http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/03/27/lab-meat-200602.html Test Tube Meat Nears Dinner
Table http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71201-0.html?tw=wn_technology_2 Monsanto Millions Against Monsanto
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm Monsanto bullys farmers via
lawsuits into accepting GM seeds http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/gl080402.txt http://www.i-sis.org.uk/nightmare.php http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/assault011405.cfm http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/nw130105.txt http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/ft130799.txt Monsanto sues farm for
raising dairy cows hormone-free, and for saying so on
their milk packaging http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/1,61612-0.html http://www.answers.com/topic/oakhurst-dairy GM Foods Monsanto's GE Crops Spawn
Herbicide-Resistant Weeds in North Carolina http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_2889.cfm 20 questions on genetically
modified foods http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/ Genetically Modified
Foods:Are They a Risk to Human/Animal Health? http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/pusztai.html Canadians are Guinea Pigs:
Biologist http://home.intekom.com/tm_info/rw10208.htm#10 'Superweeds' invade farm
fields; Canola plants are almost pesticide-proof, experts
say http://www.purefood.org/gefood/canolasuperweeds.cfm GMO Technology a
gentle genie or a tyrant? http://spokane-county.wsu.edu/smallfarms/Biotechnology/GMO%20technology4.htm Plant bacterium used in GM
foods can transfer plant tumors to humans http://home.intekom.com/tm_info/rw10206.htm#01 http://home.intekom.com/tm_info/rw10206.htm#03 http://home.intekom.com/tm_info/rw10206.htm#12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrobacterium#Agrobacterium_in_biotechnology American long-grain rice has
become widely contaminated with genes from an
experimental, gene-altered rice http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001903.html Antibacterial soaps in soil Antibacterial Soap ends up
in sewage sludge that is spread on farm fields across the
country http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines06/0510-07.htm http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/segment.php4?seg=880 http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/go.php?http://video.indiana.edu:8080/ramgen/ip/soundmed/2006/080606_2.rm http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/114/111085.htm?pagenumber=2 Mercury and other airborne
toxins released from burning coal Coal-fired power plants are
the nations largest source
of mercury
air emissions http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/fact_sheets/fs_util.pdf A better use for coal than
burning it http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html How Air Pollution from Power
Plants Threatens the Health of Americas Children http://www.catf.us/publications/reports/Children_at_Risk.pdf Mercury in Fish Advisory for Kosher
Consumers http://fn.cfs.purdue.edu/fish4health/FishAdvisory%20Kosher%2006.PDF Mercury warnings for NY
State http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishregs/fishhealthadv.html Mercury and Fatty Acids in
Canned Tuna, Salmon, and Mackerel http://www.cfse.purdue.edu/media/news/MercuryFattyAcidsCanned.pdf Overfishing Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services Study Sees Global Collapse of Fish Species Transgenic Fish Transgenic Fish Coming http://www.i-sis.org.uk/TFC.php "Transgenic
tilapia, modified with pig growth-hormone, were three
times larger than their non transgenic siblings." The Coming of Biotech
Animals http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2001/101_fish.html Transgenic fish could
threaten wild populations http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/0002.Muir.trojan.html Careful risk assessment
needed to evaluate transgenic fish http://calag.ucop.edu/0603JAS/pdfs/BiotechFish.pdf Transgenic Grains Cancer Promoting Transgenic
Rice http://www.i-sis.org.uk/CPTR.php Bayer's herbicide-resistant
"Liberty Link" Rice escapes, creating
Superweeds http://pested.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/september2006/liberty_link.htm http://pested.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/november2006/liberty-link.htm http://www.agbios.com/docroot/articles/02-281-005.pdf http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2004/ricebriefingfinal2.pdf Monsanto & Gene Giants
Spread Genetic Pollution http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/pollution.cfm American long-grain rice has
become widely contaminated with genes from an
experimental, gene-altered rice Superbugs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_resistance Miracle Drugs vs. Superbugs:
Preserving The Usefulness Of Antibiotics http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/698_bugs.html Antibiotics are losing their
punch as microbes learn to resist them http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6596812/site/newsweek/print/1/displaymode/1098/ H5N1 General info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H5N1 http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_01_15/en/ Acquisition of easy
transmissability to humans http://www.recombinomics.com/News/10220501/H5N1_H9N2_Recombination.html http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0003C46B-CB18-1421-84E683414B7F0101 http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/101/21/8156.pdf H5N1 emerges in high-density
industrial-scale poultry farms http://www.vnaa.org/vnaa/gen/Avian_Flu,html~germ_protection_center_avian_flu.html.aspx http://www.vnaa.org/vnaa/images/H5N1_outbreaks_2005.gif Surveillance, prevention and
disease management of Avian Influenza in the EU Desertification http://www.unccd.int/knowledge/faq.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification http://www.fao.org/desertification/default.asp?lang=en http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/desertific/ 2006 was the international
year of desertification http://www.iydd.org/ (happens to be the 1st UN
event ever held in Israel http://www.iydd.org/documents/iydd_docs/Israelconferencenov2006.pdf) Teflon, PTFE nonstick
coatings "Can non-stick make you sick?" ABC News http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin2/010718a.asp http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=15&cat=18&articleid=2874 Damaged Ozone Layer and
increase of UV rays http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/ozonelayer.html http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr51/en/index.html http://www.wmo.int/web/arep/reports/ozone_2006/exec_sum_18aug.pdf Climate modelling:
Measurements and assumptions, evidence and inference Penetration of Human-Induced
Warming into the World's Oceans Warming the World's Oceans Behind the Hockey Stick Climate change: 'One degree
and we're done for' Is the hydrologic cycle
intensifying? Global Hydrological Cycle
with Global Warming Phenomenological solar
contribution to the 19002000 global surface warming Attribution of 20th Century climate change to CO2 Why it's necessary to look
at real, empirical observations and not just computer
models: Global Warming Discussion
on Scientific American site http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?cat=19 http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=are_you_a_global_warming_skeptic http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=are_you_a_global_warming_skeptic_part_ii http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=are_you_a_global_warming_skeptic_part_ii_1 http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=are_you_a_global_warming_skeptic_part_iv Sea level rise: Sea Level May Rise 40
Percent Higher Than Predicted Sea Level and Climate http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs2-00/ Images of what the
coastlines would look like after various amounts of water
level rise: Algae gone wild Giant toxic algae bloom could hit B.C.shore, CanWest http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061228-ichetucknee-video.html http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=e19ce359-93d2-4230-b5a0-c3783b3af23e http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/notedevents/Canadian_article_6-3-00.html http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a002200/a002241/florida_algae_103098_web.jpg |
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2007 NISHMA