July 2007 Archives

Nothing is safe in its path, as a dark tornado plows through a rural.

From July's edition of The Green Guide:

As summer vacationers flock to the beaches to enjoy the sun, saltwater and sand between their toes, some disturbing facts linger: Each year an estimated 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the world's oceans. Plastics now make up 90 percent of all floating marine debris, and most of it originates from land.

Plastic bags, bottle caps, cigarette butts, food packaging and other waste ends up choking, poisoning or blocking the digestive tracts of sea birds, turtles and other marine animals who mistake it for food. Shrimp and fish ingest particle-sized plastic bits that resemble plankton. According to researchers at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach, California, there is some level of plastic in all of the seafood we eat.

Petroleum-based plastic contains suspected hormone-disrupting chemicals that leach out into substances it comes in contact with. It also absorbs toxics such as PCBs and pesticides, and can transport these chemicals via sea currents to shores where they are leached out again. And the problem isn't getting smaller: Algalita researchers are currently studying a "garbage patch" in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas and growing by the minute.

Jeff Darnell - Viewer Correspondence

Thank you to the folks who continue to write in to this blog and to our regular email: comments@natgeochannel.com. Summer is truly upon us here in Washington, DC as we 'enjoy' another day of 90+ degree weather. Sounds like a perfect chance to catch up on some questions that have come through the mail bag lately.

Carollann: I am very, very disappointed I cannot view your channel on my cable service (I used to be able to). I was always a faithful viewer of the program and my family and friends were, too. We have basic cable because we cannot afford to upgrade our cable service to $90 per month. I think it was very unfair for you to take the channel away from us.

NGC: That is very disappointing for you and for us. This issue comes up now and then as cable systems reconfigure their lineups. For many viewers, NGC can be found on basic cable and when our channel moves, that can be very frustrating. Our desire is to be available to as many viewers as we can, we would love to be on basic cable on every system. However, cable operators only have so much space and there are a lot of cable networks out there so we are put onto digital tiers in many markets. The best course of action here is to talk to your cable operator and express your interest in NGC or any other channel you would want- they very much value your opinion and want to know the channel preferences of their customers.