Attack of the Outlaw Mussels and Brain Eating Amoebae
The title might at first seem flippant, but the subject of invasive species and organisms is quite serious. Whether or not one considers globalization or global trade to be a desirable trend, there exists the irrefutable fact that the exchange between continents is not always beneficial. As more countries accelerate their efforts to increase industrial capacity, and, as there is an increased exchange of goods and people flowing across borders, invasive species and organisms find homes in environments where they previously did not exist.
Further, the increased industrial development and the concomitant degradation of the planet's atmosphere, surface conditions, and weather patterns induce species to migrate to areas where they previously had been unable to thrive. Our concern herein is not with the reptiles or amphibians that hitch rides in the wheel wells of aircraft or the shipping crates of vessels and thereby find new homes in Hawaii or Florida. Neither is it the intention of this article to deal with the already well-publicized microscopic bugs such as HIV and the Ebola virus. Rather, the intention is to comment on some insidious critters that have recently invaded our waterways and received a moderate amount of notoriety.
Quagga mussels, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, are native to Russia and the Ukraine, and likely hitched passage on vessels traveling from Russia to the eastern United States in the late nineteen eighties. An individual quagga mussel is about the size of a small pinto bean, or, if you are from Florida, you might prefer to think of it as being the size of a coquina. These tiny mussels have now proliferated in the eastern waters of the United States, and in the Great Lakes they are causing a huge problem by clogging water pipes, water treatment systems, and power generating systems, and millions of dollars have already been spent in trying to dispatch the tiny but destructive invaders.
The growing problem is that quagga mussels have migrated to western waters, that they have been discovered in Lake Mead in Nevada, and that now they're disabling pumping systems and corrupting freshwater ecosystems in southern California lakes. Further, the mussels consume huge quantities of freshwater plankton that are usually eaten by small lake fish, and they readily absorb particles of pollution that in turn poison the fish that feed on the mussels.
Attack of the Outlaw Mussels and Brain Eating Amoebae
Of course, the tiny quagga mussels are only peripherally related to the subject of climate change. Besides causing increased pollution in the atmosphere, the industrialization initiatives in underdeveloped countries* have added to the growing traffic in international shipping lanes, thereby fostering the opportunity for the introduction of non-native species that in turn disrupt ecological stability in their newly adopted countries. Everything is related.
One microscopic creature now making its effects felt in American waters is capable of killing a human being. This creature, this tiny killer, has already caused the deaths of twenty-three people in the United States between 1995 and 2004, with cases in Arizona, Florida, and Texas. The latest fatality was a fourteen year old Arizona boy who was infected with the amoeba while swimming in Lake Havasu. This virulent bug is likely to kill even more people now that global warming is heating freshwater in northern states and allowing the nasty creature to travel to the warmer waters. This microscopic killer is an amoeba, Naegleria fowleri.
Apparently, the amoeba resides in the murky bottom deposits of streams and lakes where it dines on the bacteria and algae in the sediment. Once a wader or swimmer riles the sediment and then by splashing ingests the amoeba into a nostril, the creature is able to imbed itself in the olfactory mucosa and nasal tissue, from where it travels via olfactory nerve fibers toward the brain, destroying tissue as it travels. Once in the brain, the amoeba feeds on brain cells. The death of the human host, often preceded by headaches, fevers, and hallucinations, generally occurs within two weeks. Good Lord, think of that; brain eating amoebae, moving north with the gradual warming of our freshwater.
*As an afterthought, I should like to say that I am not at all pleased with the phrase, underdeveloped countries. Is the phrase meant to suggest that a country that is not committed to increased industrialization and the mass production of goods and services is necessarily underdeveloped and unenlightened? Isn't it possible that a country could be more interested in developing local agriculture, in developing artistic, intellectual, and philosophical pursuits, in developing self-sustaining communities, and in living in harmony with the natural world? Might that country be more enlightened than a so-called developed country with modern factories and dutiful factory workers and consumers?
Attack of the Outlaw Mussels and Brain Eating Amoebae
While I'm on this subject, allow me to mention a few other invaders. Most of us have heard of kudzu, the vine that is now choking native plant populations throughout the southeastern United States, and, in the process of its proliferation infusing copious amounts of nitrogen compounds into soil, water, and atmosphere. This invasive pest was introduced into the United States in 1876, as an ornamental plant from Japan. Also, there are a couple of invasive fish that most people have likely not heard of, including the leaping Asian carp now so profuse in midwestern waterways that it is displacing native fish—or another Asian interloper, the snakehead fish that is native to China. This ugly fish, uncannily, is able to scoot across short stretches of land, and is now found in several states around the U.S., and is also threatening native fish populations. Have a look at these sites:
Yes, EarthLab is the place where one can find bad news about the environment, news of brain eating amoebae, news of the wildly dispersing kudzu plant, news of rampant pollution; the list is endless, but this bad news is introduced as a means of galvanizing action to combat global warming, stabilize the climate crisis, and subdue the invasive species. Consequently, EarthLab is also the place to find good news, the place where one learns that other caring individuals are joining the good fight by making changes in the way that they have been adversely affecting their environment, by making conscious changes to preserve their small diggings on our fertile planet. They have decided to help transform Earth into one vast, lovely garden, instead of one vast, festering garbage dump.