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CLARIN

How Wildlife Survives Along A Toxic Argentine River

As officials plan a cleanup of the foul Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin, in Buenos Aires scientists are awed by the handful of creatures that manage to survive there.

The Matanza River is the most contaminated river in Argentina
The Matanza River is the most contaminated river in Argentina
Gretel Gaffoglio

BUENOS AIRES — The hyper-polluted Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin in Argentina has the dubious distinction alongside the likes ofChernobyl of being one of the world's 10most toxic sites.

And yet somehow, someway, certain animals manage to survive in this "wetland," where decomposition of organic matter through microorganisms sucks up the water's oxygen. Wildlife observed in the basin include carnivorous turtles, coypus (river rats), herons and other native birds.

The area absorbs the untreated sewage of some 6 million Buenos Aires residents, many living in ramshackle housing without sewerage, as well as factory chemicals. How is it, then, that some creatures remain? Good question, say scientists, who aren't yet clear if the surviving rodents and reptiles are "clinging to life" or evolving to deal with their toxic reality.

For insight, Gabriel Ciacobone, a zoologist working with the city government, is studying the area's turtles. "Tortoises are living fossils, animals that have tolerated everything, from radiation to pollutants," he says. They also breathe air, which is important, since there is little to no oxygen left in the river and surrounding wetlands.

Measurements by municipal researchers have shown the waters to have between 0 and 1 mg of oxygen per liter. Fish generally need twice as much to live, and a healthy river should have between 5 and 7 mg oxygen/liter. There are no fish, therefore, in the Matanza-Riachuelo, meaning that for sustenance, tortoises must snap up other delicacies, like birds.

The Buenos Aires city government is planning a cleanup of the area that is expected to cost millions of dollars and take decades to complete. In the meantime, municipal boats monitor the waters, where recreational navigation is banned.

In the most polluted part of the wetlands, the enclosed Cildáñez stream, government scientists are testing the stomach contents of some of the big tortoises. No doubt there are clues to be gleaned from dissecting their diets. But there's still the question how the reptiles can actually live in the toxic sludge. Or how they can stand to drink it!

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Geopolitics

U.S., France, Israel: How Three Model Democracies Are Coming Unglued

France, Israel, United States: these three democracies all face their own distinct problems. But these problems are revealing disturbing cracks in society that pose a real danger to hard-earned progress that won't be easily regained.

Image of a crowd of protestors holding Israeli flags and a woman speaking into a megaphone

Israeli anti-government protesters take to the streets in Tel-Aviv, after Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Yoav Galant.

Dominique Moïsi

"I'd rather be a Russian than a Democrat," reads the t-shirt of a Republican Party supporter in the U.S.

"We need to bring the French economy to its knees," announces the leader of the French union Confédération Générale du Travail.

"Let's end the power of the Supreme Court filled with leftist and pro-Palestinian Ashkenazis," say Israeli government cabinet ministers pushing extreme judicial reforms

The United States, France, Israel: three countries, three continents, three situations that have nothing to do with each other. But each country appears to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown of what seemed like solid democracies.

How can we explain these political excesses, irrational proclamations, even suicidal tendencies?

The answer seems simple: in the United States, in France, in Israel — far from an exhaustive list — democracy is facing the challenge of society's ever-greater polarization. We can manage the competition of ideas and opposing interests. But how to respond to rage, even hatred, borne of a sense of injustice and humiliation?

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