Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Fattening the Planet

Almost lost in this very long article about complex causes of weight gain is the part I find most fascinating: a claim that weight is rising not just in humans but also in many species of animals, wild and tame, pets and lab animals.  It's the effect on animals that is not explained well by any of the claims about what causes humans to gain weight.  It's just too widespread.  So if that effect is real, I'd look for a pervasive change in environment: the uptick in background radiation from nuclear activity, climate change, the soup of chemicals dumped into the biosphere, I don't know what.  This is the first I've seen the reference to animal weights going up, so it may not be reliable.  At least the part about human weight is more thoughtful than claiming it's a lack of willpower.  I have been suspecting that it's a combination of artificial food-like products and a society that presses people into sedentary work, because yes, the energy intake/outflow equation is always important.  But there may be more going on than that.  Creepy concept. 
Tags: food, news
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  • 9 comments
fayanora

fayanora

August 27 2013, 01:27:33 UTC 7 years ago

I read recently that the ways humans are changing the landscapes of the planet are making animals (even wild ones) smarter, and encouraging bigger brains. Maybe the two things are related?
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

August 27 2013, 01:30:41 UTC 7 years ago

Maybe? Except that the weight gain supposedly affects both wild and tame animals.
siliconshaman

siliconshaman

August 27 2013, 10:59:59 UTC 7 years ago

Hmph.. I suspect you wouldn't have to look far for the cause. Oestrogen mimicking chemicals produced as plasticisers are found in literally every part of the biosphere. They are stubbornly persistent, degrading very slowly so they are concentrated through the food chain. They are super stimulants, pan-specific and produce weight gain as part of their effect.

Species aren't just getting fatter, there are increasing levels of feminisation and morphological abnormalities as well.
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

August 27 2013, 17:56:07 UTC 7 years ago

>> They are super stimulants, pan-specific and produce weight gain as part of their effect. <<

... and many plastics exude hormone-mimicking compounds, and plastics are everywhere now. Okay, that's plausible.

>> Species aren't just getting fatter, there are increasing levels of feminisation and morphological abnormalities as well. <<

Now that I had heard about, along with vastly increased rates of infertility and deformity. What's happening with amphibians is especially ghastly, because of their semi-permeable skins.
siege

Re: Hmm...

siege

August 27 2013, 22:33:21 UTC 7 years ago

Just like giardia, we could have chosen to limit their distribution -- if we had been aware of the effects they have. But plastics are too useful (unlike giardia), and humans are generally very wasteful (because in the natural pre-citified state, we were just tossing degradable organic garbage away with occasional metals, instead of severe contaminants, and the worst toxins were given sacred burial!). So just as hikers with giardia contamination eventually got into the last few places that didn't have it in the water, plastics and their chemical byproducts have finally got into every place on the planet that didn't already have them.

I keep observing that the problem has to exist before a people realize that it needs cleaning up. Sigh. That's kind of what's going on here: once the problem exists, it needs to be acknowledged. And humans are very stubborn from generation to generation. This is going to take at least three to four generations before it's properly addressed as a toxic effect of human industrialization. If we even bother.
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

August 27 2013, 22:36:35 UTC 7 years ago

>> This is going to take at least three to four generations before it's properly addressed as a toxic effect of human industrialization. If we even bother. <<

... or have enough population and technology left to be able to do anything about it, which at the current rate of damage, is open to debate.
siliconshaman

Re: Hmm...

siliconshaman

August 27 2013, 23:02:51 UTC 7 years ago

I wouldn't lay money on those odds, plastic takes thousands of years to break down, and it just keeps leaking chemicals.
siege

siege

August 27 2013, 22:35:31 UTC 7 years ago

Oestrogen mimicking chemicals produced as plasticisers

Like BPA (I believe it is) which makes PVC flexible so we can use it in baby bottles, as clothing options/accessories, special straws and piping, and other common uses.
siliconshaman

siliconshaman

August 27 2013, 22:58:43 UTC 7 years ago

True that, it's also used in the tiny microscopic beads used in toothpastes and facial scrubs etc, and consequently spreading throughout the biosphere.

Seriously, if you wanted to subtly poison an entire planet with hormonal endocrine disruptive chemicals, you couldn't invent a better distribution system.