mikedilger on Nostr: The push to control nitrogen emissions is strong in New Zealand too, not just the ...

The push to control nitrogen emissions is strong in New Zealand too, not just the Netherlands. I've heard multiple times that New Zealand has some of the most polluted rivers in the world. Here's an article claiming that the river that runs through my city is "one of the most polluted in the Western world": https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/3097651/Manawatu-River-among-worst-in-the-West They say it measured 107 on a scale from 0 to 4. Maybe that is downstream, because where I visit the river it is cold and clear, me and the dog swim in it without issue, I can see the bottom clearly, and the only sign of any pollution is that the rocks where the water gets shallow are covered in a green algae. It is no big deal to me (just don't slip!). I'm a recreational user of the river and I'm fine with it. I wonder who is complaining.

Here is that horribly polluted river:

When I think of a polluted river, I think of things like this:

https://www.trbimg.com/img-57ce0d7d/turbine/sdut-new-river-pollution-wetlands-mexicali-environment-2014apr23



Ok now let's look at my local river again, the one that is "among the worst in the West":




Now, do you think farmers should have their farms shut down in order to clean up my local river? Anybody?

Luckily our current government isn't doing that.