- submitted by s.levenstein on 07/16/2009
Backyard Swimming Pools. Once So Refreshing, Now So...Toxic
By Steve Levenstein
What better way to beat summer's heat than with a cool refreshing dip in the backyard pool? Problem is, the pools in back of the nation's millions of foreclosed homes are anything BUT cool and refreshing -- unless you're a pregnant mosquito, that is.
Think for a moment, if you will: mosquitoes breed in calm, stagnant water. Now imagine hundreds of thousands of neglected swimming pools dotted across the nation like huge, tiled pots of moldy pea soup... and they're green indeed thanks to rampant algae growth and laid-off pool boys.
The skeeters have found their own (formerly) Blue Lagoon sans Brooke Shields, since these pools are devoid of natural predators that would normally make a quick meal of their defenseless larvae. Add in the fact that most of the foreclosed homes are located in populous urban and suburban areas and you've got a bug-borne epidemic just waiting to happen.
Enjoying the swine flu? You're gonna love West Nile, Dengue fever, malaria and they're more itchy & scratchy then The Simpsons ever offered.
Our fearless leaders are aware of the problem and in some cases have sent out skeeter terminator squads to salt the festering cauldrons with pesticides. Great, now instead of bloodsucker breeding grounds, we have hundreds of new toxic ponds -- and just when we were making progress on that Superfund mess.
But hold on... you just know penny-pinching local authorities are going to scrimp on the DDT or whatever the poison de jour is; sorta stretch out the supply to better balance their bottom lines. Bully for their budgets but bad for us -- those fetid artificial swamps can be likened to a tuberculosis patient who's feeling better and decides not to finish his/her course of prescribed antibiotics.
End result in both cases: the weaker bugs (of any size) bite the biscuit while the stronger ones survive... and breed with other strong bugs, begetting even stronger bug-spring. After enough begetting, y'know what's gonna emerge from the deep end? I'll give you a hint: they're big, they're bad, and they're HUNGRY!
OK, things probably won't get that bad but why leave things to chance? Let's try looking at those thousands of tepid, slime-covered open-topped septic tanks as man-made ponds, ideal habitats for frogs and toads. Remember them, the frogs and toads said to be disappearing worldwide? Here's our chance to help our warty little buddies... our warty little insect-eating buddies. Soon summer nights will reverberate to a chorus of croaking and peeping, a new and welcome sound for those of us who don't live near after-hours clubs. As for the mosquitoes, sorry guys, Everybody Outta the Pool!
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Steve Levenstein was born & raised at the then-northern edge of metro Toronto, Canada. Looking through the prism of the suburbs has not only given him a slightly skewed view of society, but has also helped frame the wider world as a series of variations on a theme. Closer to home, Toronto's multicultural mix acts as a rich, vibrant tonic -- an essential elixer that, by putting people out of their place, highlights the common humanity which lies within.
After a 15-year dip in the corporate pool, Steve abandoned the daily commute to focus on his first love, writing, and spending time with his family. Steve's wife of 18 years hails from Tokyo, Japan, and provides a unique window into the delights and diversions of modern Japanese culture while his 2 sons (the younger an established tech blogger in his own right) help keep the house from getting too quiet. Steve writes for a number of respected blogs including InventorSpot, WebUrbanist, Dark Roasted Blend and The Thinking Blog....read more rants
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