It Ain't Natural

September 18, 2018

I wrote about scientists trying to reduce methane emissions by feeding cows seaweed.

Because I didn’t want to be a spoilsport, I didn’t mention all the things that have gone wrong every time scientists mess with the natural order of things. Think rabbits in Australia; think kudzu in the southern U. S. And now…Bradford Pears.

Bradford Pears are pretty. But they have cross-pollinated with other pears and the offspring are reverting to Chinese Calley pears, which are thorny nightmares, which choke out native trees.

So before you start going crazy with the seaweed, Scientists…Think about how what you’re doing—possibly creating a demand for huge seaweed farms, and all the disruption that that could entail—could affect us all down the line.