CHICAGO -- Thousands of gizzard shad are going belly up along Chicago's lakefront in a large die-off that's left many of the fish frozen in the ice along the city's harbors.
Rather than admit something weird is going on, a theory was put forth that the fish may not have matured enough to survive the significant drop in temperature. Riiiight.
At this point, I'm concerned that we haven't heard more concern that our food supply has been seriously compromised, by nature or disease or chemical. When conspiracy theories would typically be flooding the net, there is an eerie silence instead. I am left with worries and an image of a bunch of men in suits sticking their fingers in their ears and singing "lalalalalalala" as loud as they can.
Zandar, you of all people should be aware that media reports are an entirely unscientific way to evaluate frequency or trends in sensationalized events.
ReplyDeleteLook up reporting bias, and then give scientists a chance to do a statistically valid investigation before you jump to conclusions. I'm positively certain that recent media reports have focused the attention of genuinely concerned scientists on the matter, and that they won't let sensationalism skew their observations.
Given the recent news about apian CCD and Bayer, your suspicions are not unfounded. But give science a chance; there are more than enough unscientific, fear mongering brands of stupid out there already. Please don't add to teh stoopid. Your blog title (a fine one, btw) obligates you.
That one was from Bon actually, and as far as I'm concerned, I'd love to hear a solid scientific explanation for all this.
ReplyDeleteSorry - I usually read the bylines. Missed it that time, in my objective zealotry.
ReplyDelete