Agent Orange is back
"Agent Orange is one of the most devastating weapons of modern warfare, a chemical which killed or injured an estimated 400,000 people during the Vietnam War -- and now it's being used against the Amazon rainforest. According to officials, ranchers in Brazil have begun spraying the highly toxic herbicide over patches of forest as a covert method to illegally clear foliage, more difficult to detect that chainsaws and tractors. In recent weeks, an aerial survey detected some 440 acres of rainforest that had been sprayed with the compound -- poisoning thousands of trees and an untold number of animals, potentially for generations.
Officials from Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA were first tipped to the illegal clearing by satellite images of the forest in Amazonia; a helicopter flyover in the region later revealed thousands of trees left ash-colored and defoliated by toxic chemicals. IBAMA says that Agent Orange was likely dispersed by aircraft by a yet unidentified rancher..."
More at Treehugger.
I can't think of anything to say. The outrage I feel is just staggering. I just wish I could do something. Something severe enough to matter and provide a little justice for all the organisms affected.
ReplyDeleteThe man is cutting the branch he is sitting on; the descent of man continues…
ReplyDeleteIf the ranchers are trying to gain land for their use, wouldn't using agent orange defeat that purpose? It's hard to graze animals on land that won't grow. That's going to be really ugly for a while.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievably heinous. Some men are like a cancer on this planet. Frustrating.
ReplyDeleteOne more time I come to TYWKIWDBI to learn something very grave about my own country that the brazilian media doesn't utter a word about. I've searched "agente laranja" at Google News and the only place that published this information is the Communist Party site. Thank you again, Stan.
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely shocked by such callous disregard for all life and all for the obvious pursuit of profit. The suffering of the wildlife in that region must have been horrific. The long term consequences involved by such action is mind blowing. I am totally outraged, yet also disappointed and very angry. I sincerely hope that a sever form of justice is brought down on those responsible.
ReplyDeleteThe question is ... who is still making it. Monsanto? Dow? Go after the manufacturer as well.
ReplyDeleteIs there any proof that this is actually agent orange? Not some other similarly plant-toxic substance?
ReplyDeleteGet your people in check Brazil, you're killing the one of the most precious environments on earth.
ReplyDelete