this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2025
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collapse of the old society

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Here’s why you should never, ever drink the rain.

While precipitation has become less acidic, a growing body of evidence suggests that it’s now full of many other pollutants that pose a risk to public health, including microplastics. And unlike the compounds that cause acid rain, these pollutants are almost impossible to get rid of.

Over time, these modern-era substances — which famously take decades to millennia to degrade — have leached into the environment, reaching every corner of the planet, no matter how tall or deep. Microplastics, PFAS, and some other compounds, such as pesticides, are now so widespread

They’re so common, in fact, that they’re even found in the rain.

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[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 35 points 1 day ago* (last edited 3 minutes ago) (5 children)

When i learned that there is microplastic in the rain a few years ago, i gave up on human future civilization. We will all be increasingly infertile in a few decades.

The only way to eat food that isnt full of microplastics would be indoor growing with a heavily filtered supply of water, filtered or closed loop fertilizer and soil, etc. Its impossible to do that for even a fraction of humanity.

[–] NotLemming@lemm.ee 2 points 1 hour ago

All conditions for handmaids tale are met then

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!

[–] ChinoKawaii@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

the dirt would have the microplastics anyway

we're just not getting rid of it, unless there is success with some of those plastic eating micro bugs and stuff

[–] angrystego@lemmy.world 9 points 23 hours ago

You can grow hydroponically, no need for dirt. But yeah, we need another solution.

[–] Beastimus@slrpnk.net 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Honestly, infertility is probably one of the best bad things for us rn...

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Human population count will almost certainly peak in this century anyways, but i guess moving that point closer isnt so bad lol. Maybe the humans that survive the coming centuries and millennia will just evolve resistance to microplastics by having an adapted gut biome.

[–] parpol@programming.dev 3 points 23 hours ago

We're in the ai-ren timeline.