Volume Three

November 2022

Hassan Abbasi

List

Title                                                                                                                           Page

Foreword                                                                                                                2

Chapter One                                                                                                          7

When capital sows the wind, the worker reaps the storm!                                   7

Chapter Two                                                                                                          15                   

Glasgow Conference November 2021, COP26                                                       15                                                  

Chapter Three                                                                                  37

Cigarette and tobacco production and consumption in the world                                  

Chapter Four                                                                                   45     

Plastics and microplastics in the human body and other living organisms

Chapter Five                                                                                    54

Capital, the destruction of living organisms, the precursor to Covid-19, and the          emergence of epidemics

Chapter Six                                                                                      67

The coherence of profit-making cycles and environmental destruction, continued from Book Two                                                                              

Resources                                                                                         87                        

Foreword

The war in Europe in 2022 became an excuse to once again place the entire burden of the global capitalist crisis and the costs of war, which are the inevitable result of the crisis, on the shoulders of the world’s workers. The skyrocketing increase in the prices of products and goods needed by the working masses in a large part of the capitalist world has led to the further spread of poverty, displacement, and the increase in the cost of living. In addition, the COP 27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, showed that the entire world of fast-paced, four-wheeled capital has thrown away all the illusions, promises, and agreements of its previous conferences and is rushing towards a world of turbulence and unparalleled competition that we only witnessed during the first and second imperialist wars. Wars, which themselves arise from capitalist crises and are their inevitable consequence, lead to a new arrangement of the spheres of capital, which is the result of the purification of some of the previously reserved spheres. From wars and during those techniques, new productivity of labour power emerges with unparalleled speed and evolves in the arena of unparalleled collisions and competition of the giants of capital and enters the cycle of production and circulation of capital.

Consider the recent wars between the three capitalist states of America and Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Consider the paranoia of the leaders of these three powers. None of these leaders are capable of understanding the consequences beyond their own excesses. This is the nature of war, its necessity for the entire capitalist world is still a clear and obvious consequence of their policies, but the results of war are never controllable by them.

The US can only end the war against Iran at the cost of a strategic defeat – therefore, uncontrollable escalation is looming. Does it even make sense anymore to take note of the statements of the – well – President of the United States? Since the beginning of the Iran War, Trump has shifted his position almost hourly: from threats of escalation to declarations of victory, from speculation about withdrawal to insults directed at NATO allies. Virtually anything can be attributed to the president by citing this or that statement.  The stream of mutually contradictory signals from the fascist borderline personality1 in the White House, whose erratic behaviour and pathological narcissism reflects the swelling irrationalism of capital brought about by the crisis, could simply be traced back to the fusion of psychopathology and fascist ideology in the – well – person of Donald Trump. Truth, reality, space-time, past or future – none of these seem to offer any reference point for his political reflexes anymore. All that remains is the “now-time” of the crisis, marked by intensifying shocks that fascism triggers and/or reactively amplifies. The talk of “alternative facts”2, which defined the beginning of the Trump era, has now reached its full expression.

Thus, war not only brings about a new refinement and arrangement of capital but also throws into circulation a part of the accumulated surplus value that has wandered, destroying cities in order to open up new areas with plans larger than Marshall’s. Nevertheless, the current wars of about four decades have only resulted in the destruction of cities, the displacement of hundreds of millions, and the killing of millions of working masses, without revealing any aspect of the Marshall plans. World capitalism has reached such a stage of historical decay that it not only does not care about the environmental destruction and disasters resulting from its operations, but also uses wars as a means to destroy surplus and wandering capital, and only turns Damascus, Aleppo, the entire ruins of Syria, Beirut, Yemen, Afghanistan, parts of Iraq, and all of Latin America into ruins. A look at the latest decisions in Europe and America while drafting this introduction reveals the true, catastrophic and pitiful face that capital has painted for humanity. January 3, 2023 “NATO member states agreed on a new goal: their defence spending will increase to at least two percent of their economic output. This is only for peacetime, and defence spending cannot be lower than this. The member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have long been arguing about increasing their defence budgets. Now, it seems, they have reached an agreement on a minimum. The initial goal is that by 2024, all countries will spend at least two percent of their gross national product on defence.” In this fierce competition, the Eastern part of European capital has turned almost all of Russia’s social capital into a war zone and is galloping towards a full-scale war. A look at the largest giants of military and mass destruction goods, in terms of capital composition (military and civilian), shows how huge capital monopolies are able to quickly change the cycle of production of goods from military to civilian and vice versa. As of 2019, with $2 trillion in arms sales worldwide (2.4 percent of global GDP), including 16 giants and large global capital-producing companies, what is in parentheses is the income from military production, and the rest is the production of civilian goods (civil goods):

First Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35, with revenue of $52 billion in 2019 (89% of revenue), second is Boeing with $33 billion in sales this year (44% of revenue), third is the American company Northrop Grumman with $29 billion (86%), fourth is the American company Raytheon with $25 billion (85%), fifth is the American company General Dynamics with $24.5 billion (62%), sixth is the Chinese company AVIC with $22 billion (34%), The seventh is the British company Bayer Systems with $22 billion (95%), the eighth is the Chinese company Setec with $15 billion (46%), the ninth is the Chinese company Norinco with $14.5 billion (32%), the tenth is the American company Harris Technology with $14 billion (77%), the eleventh is the American United Technologies with $12 billion (17%), the twelfth is the Italian company Leonardo with $11 billion (72%), the tenth is the French-German Airbus Group with $11 billion (14%), the fourteenth is the French company Thales with $9 billion (46%), the fifteenth is the Russian company Almaz Anti with €9 billion (98%), and the sixteenth is the German company Rheinmetall with $4 billion (70%).

The following data (table from 2019 to 2021) is extracted from the annual reports of the Swedish Institute SIPRI. Surely, with the increasing share of European countries and the United States, other competitors including China, Japan, and India will not sit idle and planlessly waiting for fate in a turbulent and tense world with fierce competition to gain as much share of capital profit as possible from the average international profit rate.

As a result of the production of weapons and military equipment, military spending in 2022 has increased and made an unprecedented leap with the outbreak of war in Europe. It should be noted that the NATO decision on January 3, 2023, determined the minimum military budget of each country and considers this to be in peacetime because NATO, like Russia, does not see itself engaged in a war with Russia! The same NATO report states that some member countries have included more military quotas in their budgets than other countries. “Greece is at the top of defence spending: Among NATO members, Greece is ahead of other countries, allocating 3.76 percent of its GDP to defence spending. After Greece, the United States is next, allocating 3.47 percent of its GDP, which is equivalent to $822 billion (€768 billion). The fact that many small and medium-sized capitalists spend a larger portion of their budget on weapons and military equipment simply means that a limited number of large social capitals are the main producers of military goods, and a much larger portion of the world’s social capitals are the buyers of these goods. All this is happening in a situation where financial organizations and institutions of the world of capital, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are making much bleaker predictions for 2022 for the world’s largest capitalist economies, namely Europe, America, and China, while Europe was plunged into a deep crisis and recession during 2022. Everything that has been and is being inflicted on working humanity during the life of capitalism, from war, poverty, displacement and migration from one land to another, to the increasingly catastrophic destruction of the environment, all spring from the infernal relations of capital. This is the fate that capital, the institutions of capital, and their governments determine for us. We, the workers, while we are the producers of all values, capital, and military and civilian goods, materials and goods harmful to nature and humanity, do not have the slightest involvement in what should be produced, the processes of production, or the consumption of commodities. Capitalist governments always try to pretend that the root of the growth of regional and global wars, crime and crime lies in the nature of individuals, the criminality of some leaders and government management, and the purity and innocence of others. In a word, the root of the astronomical increase in even environmental destruction and the above-mentioned cases must be sought in human nature. They even seek the emergence of war crimes, the formation of militant fascist groups in all corners of the world, in places other than the existing dominant relations. Throughout the hell of capitalism, the vast majority of people are workers, the targets of capital’s ruthless exploitation, separated from their work and the fruits of their labour. A minority also owns capital and dictates the fate of work, production and the life of the working class. The root of the continuous growth of environmental destruction, war and crime, the ever-increasing production of means of mass destruction and the narrowing of the living conditions of the working masses, the daily increase in crime, theft and prostitution is the rule of the capitalist octopus system. The way things are is that capital, in order to reduce the effect of the fall in the rate of profit and compensate for it by the amount of profit, not only increases the intensity of work but also reduces the share of work in production (wages). Any struggle against the atrocities inflicted on us workers can only be pursued by opening a front against wage slavery. This is our battlefield against all economic and political intransigence. This is a long war in all spheres of social life, a war of all the workers of the world against capitalism, a war of the international working class against the system of wage slavery. This war requires preparation, equipment, organization, awareness and all the real requirements of radical class struggle. The identity indicator of this war is that it is anti-capitalist. It is a fight to determine the fate of one’s work, production, and life. Every step of victory in it, even if insignificant, is a step in consolidating the foundations of one’s anti-capitalist class power, a step in pushing back the bourgeoisie, in imposing one’s urgent demands on capital and the capitalist state, a step in reducing unemployment, slums, poverty, hunger, freedom-killing, criminal sexual discrimination, and environmental pollution. If we do not do so, the ensnarement of capital and the evil forces of fascism will rob us of the colourful essence of work and struggle and turn us against each other. This is a scenario that is currently being implemented and practiced in the heart of Europe, the Middle East, and many other regions of the hell of capital.

Chart 1 Data from the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (Sweden) SIPRI

The United States spent three times more on defence in 2020 than its two rivals, China and Russia, combined. According to a study, military budgets have reached a new record despite the coronavirus pandemic. Germany is in third place in Europe.

Chapter One:

When capital sows the wind, the worker reaps the storm!

In today’s world, we have several major air currents, some very old and some new. Both the old ones are changing in their structure, their role in the flow and movement of air and water, and the amount of water vapor, and new phenomena are becoming increasingly important. I have discussed some of them in the second book, “Capitalism and the Disaster of Environmental Pollution,” and I will now begin this chapter by mentioning them as titles and end by mentioning new ones. Capital in its general sense, global capital, both in terms of volume and value, has grown and increased thousands, millions, and in some areas billions of times compared to one hundred and seventy years ago, for example, in the fixed and circulating parts of capital (raw materials, auxiliary materials such as energy). During the same period, environmental destruction has reached astronomical proportions and is growing in both breadth and depth. Does environmental destruction occur as a result of mistakes, negligence, and miscalculations by capitalists and their governments? If they took into account the consequences of nature and humans in their calculations and reduced their negligence to a certain extent, such disasters would not occur, and capitalism would become a good thing for humans and nature?! Research by the British Met Office in January 2020 shows that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this year will reach its highest level since records began in 1958!! According to the British institution’s forecast, this concentration will exceed 417 parts per million (or parts per million, a unit of measurement of substance concentration) in May 2020. Its annual average will also reach 414 parts per million (ppm), which is 3 parts per million higher than the average of the previous year. This means that the acceleration of the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been accompanied by terrifying leaps in recent years. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that the world’s oceans have not been this acidic for 300 million years. It is worth noting that the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is reducing the ability of the biosphere (life on Earth) to absorb this gas. This increase can be explained by the El Niño weather phenomenon this year. These climate changes, which are associated with the warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean, have a direct impact on the relationship between the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean water, and are associated with storms and heavy rains that sweep the world’s oceans, especially the Pacific Ocean, every four to seven years (the frequency of their occurrence has decreased in the last 15 years). We mentioned the Yellow Dust phenomenon in China, Korea, and Japan, which began in Central Asia and the eastern Caspian Sea and reached China and Japan. We said that this began with the drying up of the Aral Sea (Khwarazm Sea) during the Soviet occupation. The incalculable increase in salt, like other lakes, rivers, and wetlands on the planet that are being destroyed, in addition to the consequences of years of military-nuclear tests in the region, the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and all the remnants of industrial projects during the Soviet state capitalism and after, led to the emergence of a new phenomenon. This phenomenon, which generally begins in spring with winds from the eastern side of the Caspian Sea and travels to East Asia, carries light and low-weight particles of salt, sediments from the plains left by the lake, other pollutants such as those mentioned above, and finally pollutants from industrial cities on its way into the air flow under discussion. The indicator of the occurrence of this ominous environmental incident is thick yellow fog and smoke (Smog), which obstructs human vision and causes pulmonary complications and other diseases. Meanwhile, the increase in sulphur particles, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, carbon particles, aluminium, heavy metals (cadmium, lead and zinc), other carcinogenic substances including polyaromatics and phthalates, radioactive substances, bacteria and fungi, give new dimensions to this disaster. The field of passage of this air flow is the vast distance of the plains of Kazakhstan, the cities of China, Russia, the plains of Mongolia, the cities of Russia, North and South Korea to Japan Monsoon rains: The world’s most powerful weather phenomenon, which plays a crucial role in determining the seasons from Australia to the Himalayas, is known by this name. When the Asian monsoon rains fail, the resulting drought can determine the fate of large parts of Asia, almost half the world’s population. For thousands of years, the inhabitants of countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, parts of China, Cambodia, etc. have lived by celebrating this phenomenon, by transforming these celebrations into religions, rituals and traditions. Whether the monsoon rains of this season begin and end on time is a matter that deeply affects the lives of humans and animals from Australia to India, at least for parts of the following year. Let’s look at the capital’s role in these waters, rains, and lakes and their impact on human life. In recent decades, these life-giving rains have become environmental disasters. The Asian monsoons, which for thousands of years brought greenery, increased and enriched soil content for thriving agriculture, have now become a destructive factor. This is due to acid rain, the death, disease, and misery that capitalism has brought to the workers of Asia. Data from recent decades show that when monsoon rains are more intense, their acidity also increases more than usual. In other words, the acidity of monsoon rains during their intensity is tens of times higher than that of moderate monsoon rains (in history about 50 years ago). The destructive effects of monsoon rains and winds are as clear as day to us, considering the location and living conditions of hundreds of millions of poor working masses in the areas that are under the pressure of this weather phenomenon every year. If millions of poor agricultural workers in China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos used to obtain edible plants and fish suitable for their diet a few decades ago, thanks to the benefits of monsoon rains and, of course, in proportion to the price of their labour, today they no longer have the same. A large part of these workers, enduring the more severe pressures of capitalism, have joined the vast hordes of chained people who live in slums and slums on the outskirts of cities and on riverbanks, seashores, and in short, places where even animals avoid living. These places are the worst places due to their exposure to winds and monsoon storms and the subsequent rains, and we witness their huge victims every year. A large part of these workers, enduring the more severe pressures of capitalism, have joined the vast hordes of chained people who live in slums and slums on the outskirts of cities and on riverbanks, seashores, and in short, places where even animals avoid living. These places are the worst places due to their exposure to winds and monsoon storms and the subsequent rains, and we witness their huge victims every year. For hundreds of millions of poor workers in these regions, the monsoon rains are no longer life-giving rain. Under the influence of capitalist relations, they have now become the focus of humanitarian disasters that claim the lives of thousands of workers and displace hundreds of thousands every year. With the onset of monsoon winds and rains, all the sewage and factory water enters the lives of its residents and causes various diseases. These cities, which were created without any accounting, without any water supply and sewage systems, were created only by the gathering of workers. Even with a strong breeze, all their affairs collapse and the environment of their residents becomes a swamp of faces and factory sewage. Environmental pollution caused by the spread of urban and industrial sewage into the surface and deep waters of these regions not only directly causes illness to their residents, but also creates a plague, along with monsoon rains, that humanity has never seen before. Most importantly, it is the new dimensions of these disasters every year that give the history of capitalist relations a new colour in terms of criminality. In late 2020, a series of devastating storms hit the world. A warming climate has led to more of these storms forming in the mid-latitudes, where most of the world’s population lives and most economic activity occurs. As the world warms, the temperature difference between the equator and the poles decreases, affecting the “jet streams”. Normally, these very high-altitude air currents keep storms away from the ground. As the climate warms, this type of air activity, known as the jet stream, which occurs in the mid-latitudes (in the northern half of Korea above the equator), weakens, allowing this type of storm to form in extreme cases. Last August (2020), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the first part of its sixth assessment of the science of climate change. The results showed that climate change is increasing the impact of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. New studies suggest that climate change is increasing the range of tropical cyclones, exposing millions more people to these devastating storms each year. Currently, hurricanes (and cyclones) are mostly confined to areas north and south of the equator. But research shows that rising temperatures will also cause these events to occur in the middle latitudes, which include cities such as New York, Beijing, Boston and Tokyo, the study, published in the journal “Nature Geoscience”, found. The researchers say their study shows that by the end of the century; hurricanes are likely to spread over a wider area than they have in the past three million years. North Atlantic hurricanes are now maintaining their power more than in the past when they make landfall, which is linked to global warming. Evidence suggests that in the recent past, these storms were less destructive after they made landfall. But in the last 50 years, hurricanes have stayed on land for almost twice as long on average. The researchers say that global warming is giving hurricanes more momentum, so they are more likely to stay on land longer. They predict that this will make them more destructive in the years to come. In 2020, the North Atlantic saw 29 extratropical hurricanes, a new record.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey lingered over Houston, Texas, for several days, bringing some of the heaviest rainfall in hurricane history. Now, research shows that climate change is preventing these storms from rapidly waning after they make landfall. Hurricanes are powered by moisture from warm tropical waters. Climate change is making the air above the ocean’s wetter and heavier, which increases the intensity of hurricanes. But once a hurricane makes landfall, it can no longer draw on this moisture and must quickly dissipate. However, a new study suggests that this is no longer the case. In the 1960s, hurricanes typically lost 75 percent of their intensity on the first day after making landfall, but now they lose about 50 percent on the first day. Researchers believe that the key to hurricanes’ staying power is the warm moisture they pick up along the way. This acts as an extra fuel tank, keeping the hurricane active even after it makes landfall. This phenomenon is expected to intensify as the Earth warms. A UN report in August 2021 in preparation for the Glasgow conference stated: 

In a new report on the state of the planet’s climate, UN experts have stressed that humans are “unequivocally” responsible for climate change. The report states that humans have no choice but to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the devastating consequences of climate change. UN experts have also warned that global temperatures will rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 compared to pre-industrial times. This is while it was previously thought that humanity would face a one and a half degree increase in the Earth’s temperature by 2040. The new three-thousand-page report was prepared in collaboration with 234 experts and researchers. According to the researchers, some of the consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels, are “irreversible.” On the other hand, the increase in unusual weather phenomena has been described as “unprecedented.”  The capacity of oceans and forests to absorb carbon dioxide has declined, according to a report by UN experts. The British government, which will host a UN climate change conference in November 2021, called the new report by the organization’s experts a “stark warning” about the impact of human activity on the planet. The report says that today a total of 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted per year and that instead of reducing, emissions are increasing every year. This figure is the sum of all greenhouse gases based on carbon dioxide. The report says that the evidence linking various types of extreme weather to human impacts has strengthened since the last report was published in 2013. The capitalist deception and demagoguery are clearly evident in these phrases, “human activity”, “human impacts” and that humans are considered the cause of such environmental disasters! It is only patched up with the camouflage of capital and capitalist relations of production. How can this humanity, which the charlatans, managers, and capitalist governments who are the cause of these disasters pretend to have lived on Earth for tens of thousands of years, create so many environmental disasters in just about 170 years? Yes, this human being actually exists, but in the form and image of personified capital, the state of capital, and the capitalist human being. However, they are trying to suggest that as if a human being without a class identity is the cause, and therefore, if individuals and humans do this and that in their daily consumption and life, all environmental destruction will disappear! While billions of workers around the world workday and night to produce energy, transport it to industries and cities, and accumulate astronomical amounts of capital in this area, approximately 3 billion of these workers lack adequate cleaning and toilet facilities, and more than 1.5 billion workers lack electricity. About 3 billion of these masses, producers of capital and various goods, whose surplus value from exploitation amounts to thousands of billions of dollars a year, use firewood and wood, not electricity, for their daily cooking. The demand for energy in various areas of capital investment will increase by one-third of its value in 2013 by 2035, and the demand for electricity will increase by 70 percent during the same period. And these are the demands of capital, not the energy needs of the world’s billions! The growth of capitalism, which coincides with the mass production of goods and the growth of cities, will increase the need for water by 55% in 2050 compared to 2015. In 1990, about 1.9 billion of the world’s population (mostly the working masses) used water that was contaminated by untreated sewage. This figure increased to 2.08 billion in 2015. The number of these working masses who produce astronomical mountains of profit and capital while themselves are increasingly deprived of the bare minimum of daily living is undoubtedly much higher than this number. These workers are currently suffering the most from polluted water, lack of access to water supply and sewage systems, and finally from natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods. This is about increasing the risk of more intense heat waves, torrential rains and severe droughts, severe storms, and longer, more frequent events. Meanwhile, coastal cities in India, Bangladesh, Latin America, and Africa, like all cities formed by the development of slums that have emerged from the accumulation of migrant workers in search of work, are highly vulnerable to climate change, storms, floods, and the like. With the smallest incidents like this, all the sewage and factory water enters the lives of its residents and causes various diseases. These cities, which were created without any accounting, without any water supply and sewage systems, were created only by the gathering of workers. Even with a strong breeze, their entire structure collapses and the environment of their residents become a swamp of faces and factory sewage. Environmental pollution caused by the spread of urban and industrial wastewater into the surface and deep waters of these regions directly causes illness in their inhabitants. According to a United Nations report, 90 percent of wastewater in Latin American, African, and Asian countries enters rivers, lakes, seas, and wetlands without the slightest treatment system, and ultimately enters the irrigation, drinking, and washing systems, thereby causing skin diseases and a wide variety of environmental disorders. The number of people in the world at risk of flooding will double by the end of this decade. Climate change is the main cause. By the middle of this century, the numbers will be catastrophic. By 2030, 147 million people, mostly workers, will be at risk of flooding worldwide. River and coastal areas will experience devastating floods. Ten years ago, the number of people at risk of flooding worldwide was only 72 million. Three-quarters of the world’s oceans are moving faster. According to current scenarios for the consequences of global warming, the acceleration of ocean winds and waves was supposed to happen by the end of this century. This dramatic change is already taking place. The acceleration of ocean circulation on a global scale in the past two decades is now a reality. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan have reached similar conclusions to those described above, that climate change is causing more severe storms to occur, which will last longer than before and will therefore have more catastrophic consequences. According to the journal Nature, storms that form over oceans that are warming carry more moisture with them, so they stay strong and don’t lose their intensity over land. As a result, hurricanes and typhoons will become more destructive in relation to global warming, affecting people living in areas that were never hit by storms in the past, including those that were previously unaffected, according to researchers. At the same time, coastal areas will be at risk of being submerged due to heavy rains and flooding. In their new work, the researchers analysed hurricanes that have occurred in the North Atlantic over the past 50 years. They found that the intensity of hurricanes decreased almost twice as slowly during their first day after making landfall than 50 years ago. Computer simulations have shown a direct relationship between rising ocean temperatures and the intensity of hurricanes. As hurricanes carry more moisture, the amount and frequency of rainfall increases, potentially reaching catastrophic levels. The increased moisture, which is caused by faster water circulation, is causing more rainfall in a shorter period of time. A month’s or even a year’s worth of rain in a few days in a limited area can cause great damage to the weaker residents of these areas. This phenomenon, which has been observed for years in India, China, large parts of Latin America and Africa, has now reached the northern regions. Last year’s storms and heavy rains that led to flooding in Germany and Belgium affected only a limited number of states but caused the flooding and destruction of homes of the lower social classes in these countries. Dozens of wildfires are burning across the prairies and forests of the western United States in September 2020. The largest fires have affected the three states of Washington, Oregon, and California. The fires are now being fanned by strong winds. The largest wildfires in the western United States California wildfires: California recorded its hottest day on record this year, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). The original fire was ignited by lightning on August 17 and grew into the state’s largest wildfire in the following weeks, furled by strong winds. Six of the 20 largest fires in state history have occurred this year. The “August Series” of 37 smaller fires later became the largest wildfire in California history. This period of fires, known as megafires, is characterized by its length and the presence of tornadoes. The fires in the western United States began on August 17 and ended on September 5. Strong winds have caused a wildfire in Washington state to spread rapidly, prompting evacuations. California wildfires have increased eightfold since the 1970s. “Climate change isn’t just making the heat waves that fuel wildfires worse,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA who studies wildfires. “The bigger, more important effect is happening under the skin: “A gradual warming, a few degrees of average temperature increase over a few decades… you don’t feel it that much, but it’s still there in the background, taking moisture from the soil and the forest floor and the grasslands.” It’s not just the US that’s been experiencing such climate changes in recent years. The Russian Arctic has seen record-breaking heat in 2020, and fires caused by these extreme temperatures have destroyed parts of the Siberian taiga forests. The smoke from these fires has also released millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, further increasing global temperatures. On June 20, 2020, one of the coldest cities in the world made headlines when temperatures hit 38 degrees Celsius. This was a record for the city of Verkhoyansk, located in the Yakutia region of northeastern Russia. It was also the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic Circle. Researchers at the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that in some places, temperatures in May were more than ten degrees above average. It wasn’t just May that was very warm. Throughout the winter and spring, researchers saw repeated periods of above-average temperatures. The vast Siberian region has always experienced significant fluctuations, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a program supported by the European Commission, but “it is unusual that these high temperatures persisted for such a long time.” Meteorologists at the Russian Hydro centre, the state agency for weather analysis and forecasting, also confirmed this. They say the first half of 2020 was the warmest six months of the year since temperature records began, going back 130 years. The immediate consequences of climate change and global warming are widespread forest and grassland fires (the recent fires in California and Australia are vivid examples; 2021 was also full of extreme weather conditions. Summer floods in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany were one of dozens of examples), desertification of parts of the world, sinking of coastlines, severe droughts accompanied by torrential rains, and the death of large numbers of coral reefs. But this is not the only factor, other factors that are themselves affected by global warming and its atmosphere have become independent factors that expand the entire process of environmental destruction. Fires usually start in May and peak in July and August, but in April 2020, fires that were 10 times larger than last year’s fires broke out in the Sakha region (Yakutia Republic), located in Russia. As the Siberian forests in northern Russia experience unprecedented heat, researchers say the Arctic Circle saw a new heat record on Saturday (38 degrees Celsius). The European Union’s satellite system (Copernicus Institute for Climate Change) confirmed on January 10, 2022, that the past seven years have been the hottest on record. Western Australia has been hit by massive bushfires this month. A blaze near Margaret River has burned more than 6,000 hectares of land, forcing people to evacuate their homes and flee. Earlier this year, weather models predicted a La Nina weather event in the Pacific Ocean in 2022. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US), the upcoming winter in the United States, especially in the southern states, will be relatively warm. Therefore, the possibility of drought in the southwestern states of the US in the summer is not far-fetched. These conditions could be a breeding ground for dangerous fires in the summer and fall of 2022. Global warming is expected to continue throughout 2022, with the polar ice caps melting more rapidly. In this regard, a new study (published on August 11, 2022) shows that the northern region of the planet has warmed four times faster than other regions of the planet over the past 40 years. The warming of this region, known as the Arctic, which includes the areas around the North Pole, affects sea levels. This figure shows that the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2019 that temperatures in the Arctic region are rising “more than twice the global average” due to its unique climate characteristics. Although researchers agree that the Arctic is warming faster than other parts of the world, their estimates of this phenomenon vary depending on the time period and geographical area of ​​the Arctic studied. Experts from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believe that sea levels have risen by 20 centimetres compared to 1900. This is despite the fact that the rate of sea level rise has almost tripled since 1990. Ocean and sea levels are expected to rise another 40 to 85 centimetres by the end of this century. Meanwhile, the Greenland ice cap, which researchers say is approaching its melting point, alone contains a volume of frozen water that, if melted, could raise ocean levels by up to six meters, far more than the United Nations estimated in 2019.

Major and catastrophic changes in the water and water vapor circulation system over the Amazon

The Amazon rainforest has approximately 400 billion large and small plants and a complex climate mechanism of its own. This complex, in a specific harmony and complex organic connection, emits 20 billion tons of water vapor and clouds every day, which causes the phenomenon of “rain in the forest” and a river flowing in the space between and above the plants, which is much larger, more voluminous and heavier than the Amazon River on Earth. This phenomenon, similar to it but on a smaller scale in the forests of Congo, Liberia and Ivory Coast, is the main reason for the name rainforest. One of the wonders of this phenomenon is that during times of drought, water scarcity and low humidity, the amount of water and vapor that transpire increases. Annual deforestation over several decades (in the last two decades, about one million square kilometres of Amazon forests have entered the capital cycle; in 2019 alone, 200,000 square kilometres were destroyed, which is about 3% more than in 2018) has caused this harmonious ecosystem to be torn apart and fragmented. Large parts of this harmonious rainforest system have been lost for centuries. The disruption in this system has caused large areas of Brazil, Peru, and even California and Texas to become dry in recent decades (more on that later). Researchers estimate that the loss of 25 percent of the Amazon rainforest would cause the rainforest to die and stop. Some say we have already reached this point. In 2015, the space river stopped flowing, leaving the great city of São Paulo without water, leading to riots by millions of people and the poor living on the outskirts. One recent phenomenon that has occurred in the wake of this drought and low humidity is the reduction in the water levels of the rivers surrounding the city, which has caused phosphates and chemicals from industrial and agricultural wastewater to crystallize into foam several meters above the water level of the riverbed. Now let’s turn to Africa, but before that, let’s say that the above phenomenon and the disruption caused by the capitalization of the forests of this continent have also severely affected nature, the human environment and animals. However, in the case of this continent, we will discuss the resurgence of the Malaria epidemic, a monster that seemed to have lifted the shadow of death from the inhabitants of this continent. The Asian water dragonfly is an insect from the dragonfly family that lays eggs in the rice fields of India. When the monsoon rains reach the southern coast of India, this insect takes flight and travels between the two continents at an altitude of 1,500 meters in the Earth’s atmosphere, along with the humidity of the Indian Ocean, and due to its extremely high ability to fly long distances (this insect, with a length of approximately four centimetres, can fly more than seven thousand kilometres continuously). In the vast, humid river that flows like the Amazon between India and southeast Africa across the Indian Ocean, dragonflies travel about 4,000 kilometres in a week. The Amazon creates seasonal ponds, lakes, and wetlands in the African plains, where the insects lay their eggs. The young of these insects feed on the metamorphosing babies of malaria mosquitoes. Now, as this spatial river has undergone changes due to global warming and, more importantly, as India’s industrial agriculture uses more and more pesticides to combat insects and small animals, both of these have contributed to the decline in the number of waterfowl and the resurgence and spread of the malaria epidemic in recent years. According to the World Health Organization, in recent years, between 200 and 300 million people are infected with malaria annually, of which about 400,000 people die, making the malaria epidemic the fifth largest in the world among the ten major epidemics. A researcher from Kenya reported in early 2021 that “We started organizing periodic trips to Kenya in 1984, and we have returned regularly over the years. The weather there has been changing regularly between dry and rainy seasons. Everything used to be predictable. Now the weather is much more unpredictable. In Nairobi, when we were there in 2016, five years of drought had been replaced by rain and extreme cold. In general, researchers believe that dry areas are getting drier and rainy areas are getting wetter. In northern Kenya, Lake Turkana has dried up”. The decline in the number of water dragonflies due to the increasing use of insecticides and its impact on the increase in the malaria-carrying insect is just one factor in the increase in the incidence of this epidemic and its mortality. Other factors are affecting this increase. On World Malaria Day on April 25, 2022, the World Health Organization announced. Climate change and rising temperatures in various parts of the world will mean the spread of this disease in areas where there was no sign of it before. “Increasing temperatures will make mosquitoes more capable of transmitting the malaria parasite and spreading the disease,” says Dr Isabel Fletcher, technical director of scientific information at the Welcome Trust. Climate change will make more parts of the world more suitable for malaria-carrying mosquitoes to live,” she warns. “As the world warms, malaria is expected to spread to higher elevations in the world that have previously been too cold for the disease to spread.” Researchers warn that in addition to rising temperatures, increased rainfall and humidity, and even droughts, will lead to a rapid increase in malaria-carrying mosquitoes in areas where the disease has never been seen before. “Research shows that in countries in the Caribbean and Brazil that have had periods of drought, people have been storing more water. Storing water creates a good habitat for mosquitoes. That’s why we may see an increase in dengue transmission even in drought conditions,” says Dr. Fletcher. The concern is that if this factor increases the incidence of dengue fever, there is a similar possibility for malaria.

Chapter 2

Glasgow Conference November 2021, COP26

Glasgow Conference November 2021: Deceptive hype, government trickery, camouflage of capital’s environmental bloodbath The heads of 200 capitalist governments gathered in Glasgow, UK, on ​​November 1, 2021, to spend nearly two weeks, through pompous speeches and the issuance of deceptive posters, spreading the ugliest lies surrounding the decision to combat global warming! deliver to the workers of the world. This time, despite the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, they gathered at the level of presidents, managers, and rulers of capital. Although they were unable to impose any restrictions on capital and were not in the habit of doing so, they bluntly denounced the lies and deceptions of capitalists and governments about supposedly thinking about human environmental issues! They are trying to contain the increase in global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 on the agenda of governments! This is while the same group, in more than a dozen international meetings and conferences, including the largest of them, the Paris Conference in 2015, made speeches that deafened the ears of the workers of the world, and made promises and agreements, none of which were implemented and none of which were intended to be implemented comprehensively. According to an analysis by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in October 2021, the world is on track to warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius. This estimate is also very optimistic. The Earth was already 1.2 degrees warmer than it was in 1880 (Figure 2). Most of this warming has occurred in the last decade. If this trend continues at this rate, it will reach 4 degrees Celsius by 2100. A few degrees of warming may not seem like much, but we are already seeing the devastating and catastrophic effects of even a mere one degree. A two degree increase in global temperatures will become a reality by 2035. First of all, this increase will occur at different rates in different parts of the world. The Arctic will see a 10 degree increase in temperature. Many parts of the Earth will become uninhabitable, which is what we are already seeing in California and parts of East Africa and many other places. The reasons for this are as follows: the amount of carbon dioxide from traffic, factories, deforestation (which could absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide), etc. is increasing every year more than the previous year, and therefore its concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere is increasing (Figures 3 and 4). These are real data, while the spokespeople of the capitalist governments in their conferences so far have not yet managed to officially include even a sentence indicating the connection between global warming and fossil fuels. The deceit and trickery of politicians, statesmen, and even some environmental organizations have gone so far as to pretend to convince each other of this, while for a long time, this heinous crime of capital, as well as the increase in capital’s value at the expense of the poverty and misery of workers, has been as clear as day for most of the world’s workers. They do not think about the essential, iron, indissoluble, and inescapable connection between the existence of capitalism and environmental disasters, all genocides, crimes, holocausts, famines, displacements, homelessness, dictatorships, and genocides, and they maintain absolute silence about this organic connection. In these conferences and similar gatherings, as is customary, capital speaks, and its speakers, from Boris Johnson to Biden and all the naked, shameless, and heinous capital managers, state that until now and to this day they have not been aware of the dimensions of the disasters, and that it seems that from now on they are supposed to think of a solution! The deceit of these capital managers has gone so far that they even deny knowing and recognizing the data of the oil giants. The decay, degeneration and anti-humanism of capitalism have reached the height of the galaxies and these days it is not hidden from any worker that it is the cause of all the environmental disasters of capital and wage labour relations. Documents according to which energy industry companies such as Shell, Exxon and BP already knew that there was a link between their products and global warming. About 40 years ago, oil companies like Exxon and Shell made assessments of the carbon dioxide produced by their fossil fuels and the consequences of their emissions for the planet. For example, in 1980, Exxon predicted that by 2060, carbon dioxide levels would reach 560 parts per million (ppm), double the level before the rise and spread of industrial capitalism, and that this would cause the average temperature of the planet to increase by about 2 degrees compared to the pre-industrial capitalist era. Just a few years later, an internal report at Shell predicted the same consequences, but according to the Shell report, reaching this level could happen even earlier, by 2030. These companies had no doubt that there was a link between their products, global warming, and the environmental damage they caused, because their research showed this link. According to Shell’s assessment, global sea levels were predicted to rise by one meter, and global warming could also lead to the loss of the Antarctic ice sheets (which we are currently seeing), leading to a global sea level rise of “five to six meters”. At the Paris conference in 2015, it was said that more than half of the budget allocated for carbon dioxide had been spent to control the increase in global temperatures by more than two degrees. Even if that was a start to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the use of these fuels would have to end by 2030! Otherwise, the 4-degree temperature increase scenario (RPC8.5 scenario) will be a realistic scenario by 2100 ocean acidification, which is the result of nearly 80 percent of carbon dioxide dissolving in the world’s waters and forming carbonic acid in them, is one of these fatal changes. Global warming and rainfall changes are not happening equally in different parts of the world. A 2 or 4 degree increase in average global temperature by 2100 would mean different temperature changes in different parts of the world. And this would lead to the complete disappearance of polar ice caps. Similarly, a terrifying scenario is currently occurring in terms of changes in precipitation on the Earth’s surface. At the poles of the Earth, a higher percentage of rain falls, and at the same time, large parts of the Earth’s surface have become uninhabitable deserts and more deserts. On the other hand, parts of the world, the banks of rivers and seas where hundreds of millions of poor workers live, are being subjected to more violent waves, and the scenario is getting closer to the submersion of these areas and the end of the lives of this huge population, cursed by the hell of capitalism. The working masses living in these areas are now exposed to floods, deadly heat, devastating air and sea disasters, and increasingly severe storms. Conservationists in Australia estimated in January 2020 that as a result of the massive fires (known as mega-blazes) in Australia, an estimated 1.25 billion animals died directly or indirectly as a result of the massive fires in the country. 5.5 million hectares of land, equivalent to the size of the island of Ireland, have been burned, and vast areas of forest in this vast country have now been turned into desert. The Geological and Mineral Exploration Organization of Iran reported in February 2020 that 90 percent of Iran’s plains have “gone out of balance”. The organization described the situation as a “major crisis for the country” and said: “From 2008 to 2014, 150 plains in the country did not have aquifers, and in fact, 10 percent of aquifers are plains in which there is a state of equilibrium”. The organization announced that Iran is currently located in the “world’s dry belt” and warned of increased land subsidence in Iran, saying: “With the decrease in rainfall, we are facing a decrease in water, and this is causing the phenomenon of subsidence, while a number of plains are also drying up, and these will become dust centres”. According to the organization, Iran is a naturally hazardous land, “in such a way that it is said that out of the 43 natural hazards known in the world, 34 of them occur in Iran.” According to the World Meteorological Organization, the twenty warmest years on record have occurred in the last 22 years. In 2019, temperatures were recorded in the Northern Hemisphere about 400 times that were the highest temperatures recorded in history. Temperature records were broken in 29 countries between May 1 and August 30. A third of all these high temperatures were recorded in Germany, followed by France and the Netherlands. In addition to carbon dioxide, methane is also on the rise, increasing its volume in the atmosphere. Methane gas concentrations in parts per billion (ppb) of dry air from data from three global measurement centres between 1984 and 2020. Concentrations of this gas were about 1,850 parts per billion in 2015, at the time of the Paris Agreement, and have increased to about 1,900 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020. The increase from 2019 to 2020 was greater than from 2018 to 2019 and was also higher than the average annual growth rate over the past decade. Nitrous oxide, or nitrous gas, is both a potent greenhouse gas and an ozone deplete, accounting for about 7 percent of long-lived greenhouse gas emissions. The global average net N₂O fraction reached 333.2 ppb in 2020, an increase of 1.2 ppb compared to 2019. The annual increase from 2019 to 2020 is greater than the increase from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average growth rate over the past 10 years. At climate conferences, it is customary for capital states and their institutions to give medals of honour to some of their strategic allies and to present some governments as the cause of the dire situation. In the Climate Protection Index next year, published by two capital institutions, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are at the top of the list of countries implementing good environmental policies, respectively! Let’s see how this works in reality. According to the Nature Conservancy, Sweden annually releases as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from areas where its social capital forests are cut down as all the carbon dioxide produced by its cars, and in addition, a large amount of methane is emitted from these areas. In addition, Sweden annually exports a large amount of peat (Torv, a dense brown to black mass of incompletely decomposed mosses and plants. Peat usually forms in very humid areas and in temperate and cold regions of the world and is used as fuel. Peat is the first stage of coal formation, which has a high carbon concentration. In addition to carbon dioxide, this mass also produces methane gas during its evolution) to neighbouring countries such as Finland and Norway and other European countries. In addition, less than 10 percent of Sweden’s natural forests remain, and what is seen as forests is industrial forestry, which uses both chemical fertilizers and dangerous pesticides and hormones such as phenoxyacetic acid. All of these factors have combined to cause a sharp decline in animals, from tiny creatures to birds, rodents, and large forest animals in the country. With the long-standing capitalist forest policy, effectively a system of planting, owning, and harvesting with a very short payback period, instead of the 20 to 30 years or even longer of the more distant past, now the effort is to harvest in one year (I will return to the abysmal state of Swedish forestry at the end of this chapter). New research shows that some of the world’s most protected forests are producing more carbon than they are absorbing, and Sweden’s forests are one of them. These protected forests have become carbon producers because they have been subjected to widespread fires, logging, and cultivation that is different from the forest structure over the past two decades. At least 10 forests listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Yosemite National Park in California, USA, have become carbon producers over the past two decades. Official data shows that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has reached its highest rate in more than 15 years. A report by the Brazilian Space Agency (INPE) in November 2021 showed that the intensity of deforestation has increased by 22 percent in the past year. According to the latest data, about 13,235 square kilometres of these forests were destroyed in the period 2020-2021, the highest figure since 2006.

Figure 2 is 1.18 degrees, taking into account the difference between 1.02 degrees (2020) and -0.16 degrees (1880). The past ten years have been the warmest in recorded human history

Figure 3 shows the steady increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (parts per million ppm) observed at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii over a 60-year period.

Greenhouse gas measurements began in 1959. Source: NOAA. Data is up to March 2019, while 2020 data show a concentration of 413.3 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2013, the concentration of this gas was 396 ppm, just 4 ppm below the threshold that the IPCC considers a turning point in the history of this gas increase in that year (a 141 percent increase compared to the pre-capitalist period). It is noteworthy that the concentration of this gas, which is considered to maintain the extent of its destruction, including a 2-degree increase in global warming, is 450 ppm in the atmosphere in 2100.

Now, in the first half of 2022, the concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, has reached 421 parts per million, higher than at any time in human history. The figure of 417 parts per million was recorded in October 2021, and less than a year has passed since then, when the figure of 421 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is reached! This means that the faster the increase of this gas, along with the staggering increase in the production and consumption of raw materials by capital, the more astronomical the need for capital accumulation. The characteristic of capital production and the relentless need for accumulation is despite the crippling crises of capital, the increasing poverty and misery of the working masses, war, the displacement of hundreds of millions of hungry and homeless workers. Capitalist governments are full of boasting about the progress and development of capital, the creation of new areas of production such as wind and solar energy, electric vehicles, etc., and this is only the result of its gigantic development! The increase in greenhouse gases, the endless environmental disasters for humanity, are an excuse to increase profit and capital production in new ways. These were never intended and cannot be a path to the happiness of working humanity. The owners of capital use all the disasters they bring upon humanity in these conferences and gatherings as an excuse and a pretext to open up new areas of capital advance, and as is the nature and purpose of capitalist production, they all call their search for greater and more golden profits “serving” humanity! They talk about the challenge of the destructive effects of industrial production and their replacement with ecological products!! While in practice, as can be seen from the figures expressed in these writings, never and in no case during the life of capitalism have they taken a step towards the health, treatment, and environmental protection of humans and animals. When the conversion of agricultural land, mines, seas, lakes, oil and gas resources, air, wind, and sunlight into capital by exploiting the quasi-free labour of five and a half billion workers in the world is the daily business of capitalism and the need of the moment, the moment of survival of this system, the discussion of ignoring the added values ​​of new areas of capital advance is pure demagogy, like all the words and claims of other capitalists. The production and supply of goods under the titles of environmental, recycled, sustainable development, etc. is an effort by manufacturers and government agencies to make it seem as if the capitalists of this or that field of production care about the quality of goods and the health of humans and consumers! Is this really the case? Is there a goal outside the scope of advertising and deception other than making as much profit as possible? Commodity production, and its most advanced form, capitalist production, is the origin, driver, and full-spectrum mirror of the fetishist role of the product of human labour. The very replacement of the relationship between humans with the relationship between objects and commodities implies that commodities or capital become everything and humans become nothing. Under the rule of capital, the worker, his environment, the earth, air, water and space, as far as the needs of human life are concerned, are in the process of becoming nothing, and instead it is capital that accelerates the dynamic of playing its divine role to the limit. Commodity fetishism is the inevitable result of the separation of man from work and the product of work. As I will show in the following writings, the development of metals known and new to the astronomical increase in the production of new types of goods from the layers of the earth is not an exception to the above rule, and for this reason, it has no goal other than profit and the production of as much capital as possible from each unit invested, and is entirely capital-oriented and anti-human, and by the very nature of capitalist production relations, it will have no other result than what we have witnessed so far. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on May 18, 2022, that the world’s oceans reached their highest temperatures and acidity on record in 2021, with their levels reaching record highs due to melting polar ice caps. “Earth’s climate is changing before our eyes,” said Petteri Talas, the WMO’s secretary-general, in a statement. The WMO says that in 2021, the amount of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere was higher than at any time during the industrial era. Last year’s weather was slightly milder than 2020 due to a phenomenon known as La Niña, but it was still among the seven hottest years on record. “Sooner or later, we will break another record for annual heat,” Mr. Talas said. The oceans are the most important sinks of warming and emissions. They have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat accumulated in the atmosphere over the past 170 years and 23 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by capital. The report says the oceans have warmed significantly over the past 20 years, reaching a record high in 2021, a trend that is expected to continue. The change is likely to be irreversible for hundreds or thousands of years, according to the WMO. The oceans are also the most acidic they have been in 26,000 years due to the absorption of carbon dioxide. Sea levels have risen by 4.5 centimetres in the past decade, with the annual rate of sea level rise from 2013 to 2021 more than double that from 1993 to 2002. The WMO also compiled a list of heat waves, wildfires, floods and other climate disasters around the world. Experts attribute this year’s bad weather to the “La Niña” weather phenomenon, which originates in the Pacific Ocean and can affect all regions of the world. Floods have many causes, but a warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to climate change has made extremely heavy rainfall more likely. In the last months of 2022, severe heat waves have affected the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in northern India. Parts of the country have experienced five heat waves since mid-March, including one in mid-May when temperatures in parts of Delhi reached 49.2 degrees Celsius. Reports suggest that the unseasonably warm temperatures have reduced wheat production and also increased demand for electricity, leading to power outages in many states. The average maximum temperature in March was the highest in 122 years. Summers are always a tough season in many parts of India, especially in the northern and central regions where huge masses of workers struggle to make ends meet. According to the World Meteorological Organization, last year the US witnessed its hottest summer on record, with hundreds of people dying in heat-related incidents. In 2021, the Dixie Fire burned 3,900 square kilometres’, making it the largest wildfire in California’s history. The consequences of warming are, for example, in the United States. Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border near Las Vegas, formed by the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, is the largest reservoir in the United States, supplying water to 25 million people in three US states and Mexico, generating energy and meeting the water needs of industrial capital, agriculture and livestock. Here are the staggering dimensions of the drought in the American West. Water experts warn of a more worrying consequence: that if the dam continues to fall, it risks becoming a “dead basin” – a level at which the Hoover Dam can no longer generate electricity or deliver water. As a severe drought on the US West Coast is expected to worsen during the hot summer months, Californians are being told to conserve water at home or face mandatory restrictions. People are being advised to reduce their water use in their yards and take shorter showers. In Los Angeles, many residents are being asked to cut their water usage by 35 percent. The restrictions come after California experienced its driest start to a water year on record. Things are already tough for industrial agriculture. About 75 percent of Lake Mead’s water is used for industrial agriculture. Huge investments in this sector of the US produce more than a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts in California. But tens of thousands of acres of land lie fallow because industrial agriculture doesn’t have enough water to grow crops. NASA, the US space agency that monitors changing water levels, warns that the American West is now entering one of the most severe droughts in its history. “With climate change, it seems like the dominoes are starting to fall,” says J.T. Rieger, a NASA hydrologist. “It’s getting warmer here, and there’s less rain and less snow. The dams are drying up, so in a place like the American West, you’re going to have more fires.” Mr. Rieger said the consequences are “getting worse”: “It’s like we’re watching a disaster unfold in slow motion.” For many people living in the heart of California’s agricultural belt, wells are already starting to dry up, increasing the cost of drilling deeper wells. “It’s scary because we don’t know if we’re going to have water in a month or two.” In many areas, wells are still working, but their water is contaminated with chemicals used in agriculture and is unfit for human consumption. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached this level 4.1 million years ago, when the Arctic was covered in forest and humans had not yet evolved. According to U.S. government data, carbon dioxide concentrations have reached 421 parts per million (ppm), more than one and a half times higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution. These high levels of carbon dioxide indicate that planet Earth is entering an unpredictable state—one that existed long before humans first set foot on it. The only time carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been this high was 4.1 million years ago, when they reached about 400 ppm. It’s called the Pliocene epoch, and the world was very different from ours today. The Arctic was covered in forests, and sea levels were five to 25 meters higher than they are today. Volcanic activity was very high. However, the number of plants that had the power to purify and absorb carbon dioxide was very high. The UN Climate Change Conference is currently taking place in Bonn, Germany, and will last until June 16, 2022. The conference is supposed to pave the way for practical solutions to be achieved and implemented at the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Egypt. Although scientists from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have repeatedly said that to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030!! The Big Island of Hawaii Meteorological Centre measured a concentration of 421 ppm in May of this year (2022). Before the start of industrial capitalism, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was about 280 ppm. This concentration remained constant for about six thousand years, providing the conditions for the advancement and expansion of human civilization. Since the Industrial Revolution, capitalism has released about 1.5 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which could warm the planet for hundreds or thousands of years to come. The beginning of industrial capitalism and the invention of the steam engine, the increased consumption of coal and oil with the aim of increasing labour productivity, were the beginning of the staggering production of greenhouse gases and the creation of environmental pollution. Leading capitalist countries have been at the forefront of the extraction and appropriation of natural resources and their capital consumption since the Industrial Revolution and capital in general.

Chart 4: Amount of carbon dioxide emitted and absorbed in the Earth’s atmosphere in the last two and a half decades

In addition to carbon dioxide, methane gas is also on an upward trend and its volume in space is increasing. In 2019 and 2022, the amount of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere was as shown in the following chart:

Chart 5 b

 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Overview, by Type of Gas: 2022

The Chart 5 shows the 5% of each of the major greenhouse gases that have a significant impact on global warming in the years 2019 (chart 5a) and 2022 (chart 5b). We will explain each of them in terms of quantity and concentration over time. The Glasgow conference, like other gatherings of capital managers, does not address any of these gases and pretends that the majority of the world’s population has no problems other than a certain amount of carbon dioxide, which will be solved by the wisdom of capital managers and government officials!

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

As can be seen from Figure 5, the percentage of these greenhouse gases has not changed in these years, as it has in the past (see the first volume of this series).

Regarding the increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere as a parameter for measuring other greenhouse gases, you can refer to the following site, which has measured the amount of this gas until February 2026. The increase in this gas has never stopped or decreased during the period of industrial capitalism, that is, since 1850.  According to the graph below, the concentration of this gas reached 429 ppm by the mentioned date (February 2026). Data source: NOAA, measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory.

https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/carbon-dioxide

Figure 6: Methane concentrations in parts per billion (ppb) of dry air from three global measurement sites between 1750 and 2025. The concentration of this gas was about 1,850 ppb in 2015, at the time of the Paris Agreement, and has increased to about 1,900 ppb in 2020 and to 1,946 ppb in November 2025. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for about a decade. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), methane accounts for about 16 percent of the long-term warming effect of greenhouse gases. Approximately 40 percent of methane is emitted to the atmosphere by natural sources (e.g., wetlands, deforested areas, and Siberian tundra melting due to warming), and about 60 percent is supplied by capital sources (e.g., ruminants, rice farming, fossil fuel exploitation, landfills, and biomass burning). This increase from 2019 to 2020 was greater than from 2018 to 2019 and was also higher than the average annual growth rate over the past decade, and this trend will increase in the third decade of this century, as Figure 6 shows.https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/earth-indicators/methane/

Figure 7 shows the concentration of nitrous gas during the growth of capital accumulation.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/nitrous-oxide-long

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is both a potent greenhouse gas and a chemical that destroys the ozone layer in the Earth’s atmosphere, which protects humans and many other living things from the sun’s ultraviolet light, which is a form of electromagnetic radiation. It accounts for about 7 percent of the long-lived greenhouse gas emissions. N₂O is released into the atmosphere from natural, agricultural, and industrial sources, including oceans, soils, biomass burning, fertilizer use, and various industrial processes, such as oil and gas and petrochemicals. The global average net N₂O fraction reached 333.2 ppb in 2020, an increase of 1.2 ppb from 2019, and is expected to reach 336 ppb in 2022 and increased to 338 ppb in 2024, according to NASA data. The annual increase from 2019 to 2020 was greater than the increase from 2018 to 2019 and also higher than the average growth rate over the past 10 years (0.99 ppb per year). Global N₂O emissions from capitalist industrial agriculture, which is driven by the addition of nitrogen to cropland, have increased by 30% over the past four decades. Industrial agriculture, due to the use of nitrogen fertilizers and animal manure, accounts for 70% of total N₂O emissions. This increase has been largely driven by the growth in atmospheric N₂O. Nitrous oxide concentrations in 2015 were about 327 parts per billion and have increased by 1 ppb each year since then. Nitrous oxide is 310 times more heat-trapping than carbon dioxide, making it a major contributor to global warming. Its contribution to global warming is estimated to be between 4 and 6 percent. Now, if we consider these three greenhouse gases in terms of their thermal effect on each other and add the units of methane and nitrous oxide based on the effect of carbon dioxide on increasing global warming, a concentration of 426 (ppm) is obtained in 2024 and more than 430 ppm in 2025. It should be noted that water vapor, which makes up about 75% of the Earth’s atmosphere, also has a thermal effect of between 36 and 70% among greenhouse gases. Methane is a gas that, after carbon dioxide, is the most important factor in increasing global temperatures. It should be noted that water vapor, which makes up about 75% of the Earth’s atmosphere, also has a thermal effect of between 36 and 70% of greenhouse gases. Methane is a gas that, after carbon dioxide, is the most important factor in increasing the Earth’s temperature. The amount of this gas in the Earth’s atmosphere has more than doubled since the beginning of industrial capitalism (1850), and its effect on increasing the Earth’s temperature among all greenhouse gases is about 20%. Methane gas can absorb 23 times more heat than carbon dioxide, but its lifetime in the Earth’s atmosphere is about 10-15 years. The amount of this gas’s effect on global warming is between 4-9 percent. In addition to these three important greenhouse gases, other gases are also added to their annual amount in the Earth’s atmosphere, which we have not included in these calculations because of their lesser importance. Gases such as ozone, whose negative effect is through the absorption of ultraviolet light by the Earth, which increases the Earth’s temperature by 3 to 6 percent in this passage. Other greenhouse gases that are sent to the Earth’s atmosphere from factories, production processes, and cold storage are fluorine compounds. Their amount is small (1.5 percent) but they have a very destructive effect. Fluorinated gases do not exist naturally, and modern capitalist industry has produced them. These gases absorb the heat emitted by the earth 22,000 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. In addition, they are very stable and can remain in the earth’s atmosphere for thousands of years. Their factors and centres of sublimation are: HFCs in refrigerators, air conditioners and cold rooms, SF6 in the electronics industry, PFCs in aluminium production and the electronics industry, CFCs in refrigerators and air conditioners.

Now let’s return to the main source of carbon dioxide production, which has become so controversial and which the representatives, managers and capitalist governments in this conference are especially pointing the finger of accusation at each other as the main culprit. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pretends to be the greatest environmentalist and is thinking about solutions in this area day and night. He forgets, and certainly intentionally forgets, that the British Prime Minister of the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher, sent several thousand mine workers into a hell of poverty and unemployment due to the high cost of coal mining and the nearing end of one of the worst fossil fuels. This was not because of her love of nature, but because the economic interests and profits of Britain’s social capital required her to do this. In addition to the fact that Britain was the first country to produce coal, oil and gas in the world, capital was Thatcher’s turn towards BP. Therefore, British capitalism thinks that the memory of the workers of the world is short, and they have forgotten that for more than a hundred years this empire has been the greatest destroyer of the environment of humans and all of nature and still is. The crocodile tears of German Chancellor Merkel, Biden, Putin, Macron, etc. are also shed. German capitalism has been a producer and consumer of the worst types of fossil fuels for over a century and is still a major importer of Russian gas through the Stream 1 and 2 projects. The Chinese president sees the competition with American capitalism over increasing greenhouse gases as a contribution of China, which entered the arena of capitalist development later, and has another 40 or 50 years to reach the level of the British and American empires in this field. The same reasons are listed by other large capitalist countries such as India, Australia and Brazil. The basis of what has been called “environmental justice” for some time is also the bargaining of different social capitals over the share of surplus value produced by the global working class and the reduction of capital costs. There is no justice between workers and capitalists. Although the factions of the bourgeoisie disagree over the share of surplus value and participation in the governance of the system, they are united in the exploitation and exploitation of workers, and this is the basis of the rights and justice of capitalist production relations. The category of “justice” in capitalist society is as unreal and false as the claim that capital buys “labour”. This category is as fake as the capitalist class’s interpretation of freedom, justice, humanity, equality and all legal, moral and human concepts is fake. The foundation of capital’s existence is based on the exploitation of labour, and capital’s view of the world, society, man and all phenomena of human life originate from the depths of the interests and conditions of reproduction of this exploitation of labour. There is no real common justice between capitalist and worker, this is a false category that the capitalist class has created to use as a powerful weapon against the working class and its anti-capitalist movement.

Chart 8 Average daily oil production in the world over the last two and a half decades. As long as there are vast reserves of oil in the world at low production costs, capitals thirst for raw material is insatiable. The slight drop in oil production in 2020 was entirely temporary, and now capital’s greed has caused the price of this essential commodity to rise daily. For this reason, according to estimates, carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere in 2020 decreased by 4% compared to 2019 (the largest annual decrease since the Second Imperialist War), thus returning to 35.33 billion tons, i.e. around 2017. But these declines quickly gave way to increases that not only compensated for the temporary decline but also fuelled capital’s insatiable thirst for ever-increasing accumulation. This has been due to the halt or reduction of many productions, the reduction of transport and all transportation due to Covid-19, and the reduction of capital consumption of oil and gas. This is once again evidence of the halt in the production of these raw materials and many other goods as the only solution to environmental destruction and has no other meaning than the halt in capitalist production, the abolition of wage labour by anti-capitalist workers’ councils.

The Production Gap report, first presented in 2019, tracks the gap between capitalist governments’ fossil fuel production plans and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. UNEP researchers provide insights from their experience with other production gap reports. They say governments are aiming to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C. The production gap has remained largely unchanged since our first analysis in 2019, and two years later, as the climate crisis becomes clearer and more urgent, capitalist governments are continuing to extract more coal, oil and gas. The vast majority of major oil and gas producers are planning to increase production by 2030 or beyond, and several major coal producers are planning to continue or increase production as they anticipate that global capital demand for energy and fossil fuels, which are much cheaper than other energy sources, will increase. G20 countries have allocated more financial aid to fossil fuels than to clean energy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Figure 9 Fossil fuel production gap – the difference between global fossil fuel production projected by government plans (red line) and that consistent with warming pathways of 1.5°C and 2°C (blue and green lines). Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions released when fossil fuels are burned remain high.

Figure 10 shows two different things: the bluffing of capital governments and their actions. Government planning as a whole suggests an increase in global oil and gas production and only a slight decrease in coal production over the next two decades. This would lead to future production levels far higher than those agreed upon at the 2015 Paris conference by the same governments, who agreed to limit warming to 1.5°C or 2°C. During the same period between 2015 and 2021, the charlatanism of capitalist governments was visible like a rooster’s tail through a fox’s cloak. The scales of this diagram are displayed in four directions from 2019 to 2040, with physical units displayed as secondary axes: billion tons per year (Gt/year) for coal, million barrels per day (Mb/d) for oil, and trillion cubic meters per year (TCM/year) for gas. This is while the major producers and consumers of coal announced on the eve of the Glasgow conference that they do not intend to abandon the production and capital consumption of this dirtiest and most destructive energy raw material, which has been produced and consumed for nearly 170 years. The Chinese capital government announced that it would continue this trend until at least 2060, and the Indian capital government also went even further and set 2070 as the minimum coal extraction and capital consumption year. At the same time, the Australian capital government, the world’s largest coal producer, did not announce any date for the cessation of coal production, and the conference of heads of state of 200 countries was completely silent!! Therefore, the estimates of the capital institutes specified in graphs 9 and 10 by 2040 must be more than this, and the scenario of 4 degrees of global warming compared to the period of industrial capitalist development is real. They were not supposed to have any words or actions to change the catastrophic state of our lives. Their words, or those of any capitalist or statesman, are not a lack of awareness of the dire state of environmental disasters, which is another fundamental issue. The heart’s message or the conscience’s message emanating from the social existence of all capitalists and their governments is that not only is capital the qibla of the world, the provider of sustenance, the source of life, the guarantor of life, the key to human life, but also the solution to the problems it has created itself, is this hellish system, its governments, its colourful institutes, and their annual meetings. And we workers, if we want life, if we expect a clean-living environment, if we even seek for our evening meal, shelter, a future for our children, we must think about getting rid of being workers. We must lay the foundation of the struggle. We do not want to be workers, we do not want to be producers of surplus value, we want to dominate the fate of our work, production and life. We must stomp our feet and stop the wheel of production of everything that endangers our lives and has become a scourge for our souls!! As long as we are silent and as long as the prospect of our strikes, protests and riots is higher wages, as long as we demand a life free from pollutants from capital and we pin our hopes on the meetings, parliaments and the hubbub of capitalists, capital’s response to us is the same as it has been so far and will become even more disastrous.

Now let’s return to the topic that began at these conferences with the distribution of “medals of honour” to some capital governments and the spitting and cursing of others.

In the climate protection index for next year, published by two institutions (German Watch and New or New Climate), Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are respectively at the top of the list of countries that implement good environmental policy!! Let’s see how this is in reality. Meanwhile, according to a report by the Nature Conservation Agency, Sweden annually emits the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from areas where forest trees are cut down by its social capital forest area as all the carbon dioxide produced by the country’s small and private cars (about 5 million private cars), and in addition, a large amount of methane gas is emitted from these areas. And that’s about 13 percent of the country’s total annual carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, Sweden annually produces a large amount of peat (a dense brown to black mass of incompletely decomposed mosses and plants, Torv). Coal (Torv) is usually formed in very humid lands and in temperate and cold regions of the world and is used as fuel. Coal is the first stage of coal formation, which has a high carbon concentration. In its evolution, this mass produces methane gas in addition to carbon dioxide, which it exports to neighbouring countries such as Finland and Norway and other European countries. Despite the fact that new peat formation occurs much faster than fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, it has large amounts of stored carbon in many areas. Over a time, horizon of up to a few hundred years, studies show that greenhouse gas emissions from peat are comparable to fossil gas emissions. Therefore, the combustion of peat (peat) gives off net emissions of carbon dioxide, unlike other fossil fuels. The classification of peat differs between the Swedish electricity generation system, the European Union’s carbon emissions trading system and the international climate negotiations at the United Nations. Both in Sweden and the UN Climate Panel, peat is classified as a fossil fuel. However, in Swedish law it is included among renewable energy sources. According to the Swedish Energy Agency, peat coal falls under the category of “other fuels” and is exempt from energy and carbon taxes. Sweden, Finland and Ireland have the highest percentages of their annual energy from peat in the world. Finland has 7%, Ireland has 5% and Sweden has 0.7%, but let’s not forget that Sweden supplies a large amount of the peat needed by Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. Between 2019 and 2020, Sweden’s cultivated peat output increased by 19.7 percent, from 1.6 to 1.9 million cubic meters. This is the highest measured amount for cultivated peat since measurements began. There is increasing demand, especially abroad, where cultivated peat exports increased by 13 percent over the same period. While Sweden has no other fossil fuel resources, its energy and forestry industries enjoy high levels of labour productivity, which puts the country’s share of social capital profits above the world average. The use of various pesticides in forestry has a long history. Before the Swedish forestry sector entered a phase of widespread use and advanced industrial exploitation in this field, around the late 1800s, workers of these companies used saws and axes in groups of several hundred people to cut down huge trees in the forests because the capitalists of this capital-intensive sector knew well that sturdy and old trees contained high-quality fibres for carpentry, wooden construction, pulp production, etc. Simultaneously with the first automobiles, vehicles capable of greatly increasing labour productivity in difficult forest areas appeared. During the Second Imperialist War, the need for European capital for wood, charcoal, and their products increased astronomically. It was here that mass production of forest products was the solution, and the forest itself presented obstacles to the development of techniques for felling trees, transporting them to factories, and even planting new seedlings. One of these obstacles was the uncontrolled and unregulated growth of deciduous plants, shrubs, and whole plants that did not require capital investment in the manner of the capitalistic forestry sector. The first thing that comes to mind for today’s forest people at the mention of the word pesticide is the controversial herbicide, phenoxy acids, against deciduous plants, or the insecticide, DDT, against insects. However, the use of pesticides began much earlier, in the late 1940s, and had a purpose not entirely different, but in a different sphere of capital. It should be noted that large-scale use only came about when large-scale forestry companies in Norrland (northern Sweden) began serious restoration work to remove vegetation with chlorate solutions in the early 1950s. Further tests were carried out on other biocides. Continued trials were carried out in other locations in Sweden over the next few years with satisfactory results from the point of view of the Swedish Agricultural and Forestry Institutes. As early as 1944, attempts were made to prevent the formation of dead branches in birch with various chemicals such as sodium arsenate, sodium chlorate and sodium pentachlorophenol (all of which are extremely dangerous to humans and animals). Experiments began in 1948 with hormone derivatives such as (2,3,7,8-Tetraklordibenzo-p-dioxin – TCDD) and

(-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA)) and) *(polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)) then primarily phenoxy acids. Since the early 1950s, they have been successfully used to control weeds in agriculture, and thus, with the silence of the capitalist workers, this field has taken a more aggressive step against nature. The advantage of hormonal derivatives is their selectivity, that is, different derivatives affect different species. Its derivatives are similar to dioxins, growth hormones, meaning that they attack the short plant and die when exposed to the hormone derivatives. Or some others specifically target and dry out deciduous trees, not pines. The most potent phenoxy acids were selected and this process continued until 1977, when most of the forests used in this capital reserve area were mainly pine forests. The need to control deciduous plants (birch species, such as birch, alder, beech and oak. Most birch species are small to medium-sized trees with short lifespans and are native to the temperate and subarctic parts of the Northern Hemisphere) was the main focus of this capital reserve area. he Forest Owners and Forestry Companies Organization explains this period in its history as follows: “The labour force used to uproot and cut down trees and deciduous shrubs was very large, and its high cost made forestry uneconomical.” The demand for a cheaper solution to the problems of what was called “forest rejuvenation” led to aerial spraying experiments conducted near Kramfors in 1950. The experiment was carried out with three different preparations in three different concentrations from a helicopter, and the results exceeded expectations. “Airborne spraying trials began the following year, and the good results continued.” Large forestry companies were now taking a serious interest in this type of control of deciduous trees and so-called “weeds,” and the public reaction was not long in coming. The masses gave headlines such as “Birch killing in Dalarna,” “Flying causes hormonal death.” Mass protests against the clearing of forests of deciduous plants gradually grew, leading to large gatherings in the forested areas of upper Sweden, with environmental activists and the public from Torsby, Fallon and Gävle, among others, strongly opposing aerial spraying. They followed the spraying plan from the ground, maintained radio contact during reconnaissance, and found airfields and runways camouflaged in the forest, where they chained themselves to trees in protest in 1976. Government officials and forestry companies unanimously said it was profitable and not dangerous. The Thorsby Conservation Group took on the task, becoming the forerunner of the modern environmental movement. The generally working-class Thorsby crowd began collecting testimonies from the people of the area for the “cancer report”. The 25 pages are fully written about how it is to live in the vicinity of the sprayed areas and work with the poison. There is evidence of dead animals and people who have become ill. The hatred for using such a method grew. When the time came for the Environmental Days in Torsby in June 1977, the Working Mass Movement for the Environment, together with some writers, theatre actors and what in Sweden are known as cultural workers (kultur arbetare) from Stockholm and Uppsala, began to grow under the slogan Save the Forest and experienced successful days. 6,000 people in a community of 3,500 people demonstrated, lectured and staged. This was the peak of the workers’ movements against the disasters of capital on the environment, and the situation was similar throughout Europe for several years. However, these protests never turned into a social-class movement, and the working masses of Sweden, nor any other country, entered the process of struggle against capital and the disasters it created. Nowhere in the hell of capital did workers stop working for their environment and the future of their children, and never did the process of capital accumulation threaten capitalist states. On the sidelines of this Glasgow conference, young working-class families, numbering in the tens of thousands, staged protests in Glasgow, London, Paris, and other European cities, but nowhere did this turn into a mass workers’ movement against the capitalist foundation, and as Greta Thunberg called it on Friday, November 12 (the last official day of COP26), it was a “two-week festival for ‘business as usual” ! They were practically the stage managers, planners and all-rounders of the capitalists, their governments and the relevant institutions. Once again, capital sent a message to the workers of the world that the master of the earth and time, the provider, the determiner of the present and future of humanity, is not only a destroyer of the environment, nature, and the loser of its fellow living beings, but also a planner and stage manager of occasional shows, and this will continue to be the case until the workers have completely surrendered themselves to him. Let us return to the environmental conditions of Sweden, which are an example of a glutton.

For about two decades, this investment bank in Sweden has been using new pesticides in a different way because most of the forests have been cleared of deciduous plants and consist of pine, are very dense, and the only roads needed to cut down trees and transport timber cut through the thickets. The phenoxyacetic acid harvesters used in this field are similar to those used in industrial farming, but they are much more advanced and there are various capabilities in the same combine that not only cut trees, debark, cut timber, and load them onto trailers with three carriers, but today a new generation of these combines has entered the production field, which in addition to the above tasks have 8 legs like a crab. All four legs on the sides of the field furrow, the next turn they plant and fertilize. In this way, they use very little labour with very high productivity.

Demand for forest products is increasing in order to meet the growing demand for forest products, the forest industry continues to harvest from our natural forests, i.e. forests that have been allowed to grow naturally and have never been cleared or planted. Today, only 10 percent of Sweden’s forests are natural forests. This is a disaster for the forest. Not for each tree, of course, but for the forest as an ecosystem, says Sebastian Kripo. He is a forest biologist and fights for the protection of more forests in Sweden. “A timber farm is not a forest” A planted forest is a wooded area. In the forest, various animals, from tiny creatures to large animals, all kinds of plants make up an ecosystem. He says that this is not a forest and can never replace natural forests. The forest industry wants to replace fossil products with biological forest products, which increases the pressure on the forest. We cannot call these trees a forest, this is a timber plantation. A functioning natural ecosystem can never be replaced by planted trees. The habitat of animals and plants is being drastically reduced. Many birds are disappearing because their habitat is being destroyed, the small organisms, plants and seeds they feed on are being destroyed and our new generation does not recognize the sounds and songs of birds! Forest biologist Sebastian Krepo, who is now involved in forest conservation, says that this threatens the biodiversity in the forest. Due to the low average age in Swedish forests, a large part of the harvested timber is found in the few remaining unprotected natural forests. The forestry industry wants to invest in faster-growing trees that can be cut down sooner. They are trying to speed up natural processes. It’s a bit like anabolic steroids, where you have to speed up muscle growth for a while instead of training properly to have strong muscle that works and is durable. “We are creating a kind of living environment that is doping,” says Sebastian Krepo. The pulp and paper industry in Sweden is enormous. The mass production of Sweden’s forests today is not enough to feed all the pulp and paper factories, let alone to produce materials that compete with fossil fuels. The extract, which is produced by distilling and boiling forest plants to offset fossil fuels, produces only carbon dioxide and water when used in cars! This is not a compensator or renewable fuel in any way! Although the Swedish capital government and the Swedish Forest Industries Association defend themselves by claiming that they produce wood products that save the climate. However, a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency shows that of every tree sawn, only 10 percent is converted into wood products, while most is converted into paper, pulp and energy.

The World Meteorological Organization has warned of the consequences of climate change for energy security. A new report from the organization states that extreme weather conditions are putting power plants and infrastructure at risk. The World Meteorological Organization warned in its annual report, released on October 11, 2022, ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that climate change threatens the world. The organization says heat waves and droughts are reducing the water needed to run hydroelectric power or cool nuclear power plants. In addition, hurricanes and other extreme weather events are putting infrastructure at risk in many parts of the world. According to the report, a third of combined heat and power plants that require cooling water to operate are in areas facing severe water shortages. This is currently the case for 15% of the world’s nuclear power plants and is likely to rise to 25% in the next 20 years. Heat waves and water shortages are also posing problems for hydroelectric power plants. Rising sea levels and storms are also putting power plants near the coast at risk. At the same time, the energy sector is also contributing to climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Accordingly, electricity generation from renewable sources must double within eight years to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. For example, Africa has more than 60 percent of the world’s best solar energy resources. However, only one percent of photovoltaic capacity is currently installed on the continent.  Photovoltaics are systems that can directly convert solar energy into electricity. The World Meteorological Organization says funding to help countries transition to clean energy has fallen since 2018, from $14.2 billion to $10.9 billion the following year. An annual investment of $25 billion is needed to install clean energy everywhere in Africa. The World Meteorological Organization said in May 2022 that the world’s oceans reached their highest temperature and acidity on record in 2021, with their levels reaching record highs due to melting polar ice caps. This comes as COP26, the climate change conference held in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, 2021, hosted by the United Kingdom. The main goal was to propose programs to prevent global warming!! The main reason for the decrease in investment in solar energy in areas where the efficiency of using the amount and intensity of solar radiation is high, for example in Africa, is firstly the cheapness of producing and transmitting energy from conventional (fossil) fuels, which after 2020 has become more affordable than before with the growth of oil and gas production and especially the influx of huge capital from China, India and Australia into coal. For example, according to a plan presented by Xi Jinping to the Communist Party Congress in October, carbon dioxide emissions will increase every year until 2030, reaching what is called the peak of carbon dioxide emissions. Only then will they reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the COP26 conference, China also set the end of coal consumption for China’s social capital as 2070. Chinese officials have said that annual coal output will increase to 4.6 billion tons in 2025. And that means 12 percent more than in 2021. Xi also said in a 2020 speech to the United Nations that China’s greenhouse gas emissions should peak in 2030 but did not specify what level it would reach. A significant part of the renewable energy production system relies on subsidies and tax cuts for capital-owning producers in these areas and increased taxes and levies on the consumer masses. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released on 27 October 2022 ahead of the COP27 conference (6-18 November), shows the world on track to reach an average of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

Things are going badly for many of the world’s wild animals. The number of animal species has declined by almost 70 percent in the past 50 years, according to a new report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). The situation is worst in tropical countries. Researchers from the Zoological Society of London, in conjunction with the Living Planet 2022 report, have surveyed almost 32,000 wild populations of vertebrates around the world. That’s almost 11,000 more species than previous surveys. These include mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. It is not a question of whether the number of species is declining, or the total number of animals measured, but rather how geographical populations of animal species are performing, which can be compared over time. Some populations are increasing, for example mountain gorillas, while others, such as river dolphins, are declining. But overall, things are going backwards for wildlife. Wild vertebrate populations have declined by an average of 69 percent between 1970 and 2018. A rainforest expert at the Worldwide Fund for Nature says:

“You think about your children and everything you might think about, how it’s going to happen. At the same time, we know that it’s actually possible to reverse this trend for some, but there are cases where a species has completely disappeared and there is no way back, and unfortunately these are increasing. There are various explanations for the decline of many species, but the main one is that substances and pesticides are spreading. Habitats are being exploited and destroyed, deforestation, industrial agriculture, hunting on a capital scale, mechanized fishing, environmental pollution and climate change. He says: The greatest decline is in tropical countries. In South and Central America, species have declined by 94 percent. There is also a similar development in Africa and tropical Asia. Animals that live in lakes and rivers are the worst affected. There, stocks of fish, birds and frogs, among others, have declined by an average of 83 percent”. Animals are also rapidly declining in numbers. The following chart from the Worldwide Fund for Nature illustrates this trend.

Chart 11: It should be noted that for decades, industrial and advanced fishing and hunting on a large scale by advanced and powerful capitalist countries such as European countries, Japan, China, and many others have been systematically carried out in all four corners of the world on land, water, and air with advanced equipment and techniques. An example of this was the unwillingness of the world’s major social capitals at the fifth meeting to reach a global agreement to protect the oceans and aquatic life, which, according to its spokesperson, failed. Negotiations to ratify the UN “High Seas Treaty” were underway for two weeks in New York in August this year (Morocco 2022), but the capital governments were unable to agree on its provisions. International waters cover approximately two-thirds of the world’s oceans, but only 1.2 percent of them have been agreed upon between governments.

A new analysis (published in September 2022 in the journal Science) suggests that if current warming trends continue, the Earth is at risk of crossing six “dangerous” climate equilibrium boundaries. Crossing these boundaries would disrupt Earth’s systems in ways that would lead to the collapse of polar ice caps and the destruction of coral reefs. Scientists have previously said that reaching such a point would be a climate “emergency.” The researchers analysed these boundaries by analysing 200 studies published since 2008, including: The study, published in the journal Science, found that at current warming rates, there is already a risk of reaching these six climate abysses, and that the risk increases with every tenth of a degree Celsius increase in temperature. The Climate Action Tracker estimates that even in the most optimistic scenario, if current global warming targets are met, the world will see a 1.8°C increase in temperature compared to pre-industrial capitalism. The idea of ​​“climate equilibrium limits” was first proposed two decades ago by the UN climate panel, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). According to the United Nations, crossing these boundaries could trigger significant changes in the functioning of Earth’s systems, changes that would affect the state of the oceans, climate and chemical processes and would be “irreversible.” Once an “equilibrium boundary” is crossed, the process of system failure will be spontaneous, meaning it will continue even without further warming: like a ball rolling down a hill that will never stop. Irreversible waterfall:

At the time, it was thought that these boundaries would only be crossed if the Earth’s average temperature rose by more than 5 degrees Celsius. But since then, increasing evidence has emerged that these boundaries could be breached much sooner. The six equilibrium boundaries that the new study says are “likely” to be crossed include: 1. The collapse of the Greenland ice sheet; 2. The collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet; 3. The collapse of ocean currents in the Arctic North Atlantic; 4. Mass die-off of coral reefs at low latitudes; 5. The sudden melting of the Arctic ice cap; and 6. The sudden disappearance of sea ice in the Barents Sea.

Lead author David Armstrong-Mackay, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, University of Exeter and the Earth Commission, said some of the unstable conditions that occur before a system collapses are already visible in the polar regions. The UN says Greenland and Antarctica are now melting ice at six times the rate they were 30 years ago, and the Greenland ice sheet has been shrinking steadily for the past 25 years, all due to climate change. Although some other “balance boundaries” – such as the shrinking Amazon rainforest – are not expected to be crossed until global warming reaches 3.5°C, all of these systems are interdependent. So, when one system starts to fail, the rest are more likely to collapse. Multiple balance boundaries: “It is important that many equilibrium elements in the Earth system are interconnected, which makes the possibility of a chain of equilibrium crossings one after another a new concern,” says Riccardo Winkelmann, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a member of the Earth Commission who co-authored the study. For example, if there are fewer glaciers and ice caps in the polar regions, less light is reflected from the Earth’s surface into space, making the Earth warmer. In addition to identifying the boundaries that are most likely to be crossed, the team also said that the list of potential equilibrium boundaries could increase to 16. In the above report, every effort has been made to postpone all the disasters and what is currently happening to the future! This is the method of capitalist institutions to pretend that everything depends on the will of managers, politicians and planners of capital, so that by turning a pencil on paper, the fate of man and human societies can take a different direction. A look at the writings so far, the research carried out and the results that are evident in our lives so far and present shows that the boundaries of equilibrium have already changed. Therefore, the possibility of crossing the boundaries of equilibrium is optimistic and delusional because all the parameters listed in this report indicate that the collapse of global glaciers is occurring, both in the Arctic and Antarctic, as has been witnessed for years, the terrible changes in ocean currents such as monsoons and El Niño, the occurrence of ultra-wide forest fires, terrible annual storms whose destruction and intensity break previous records every year, the destruction of marine corals and Siberian tundra, the increase in the temperature of the earth, air and oceans, the increasing acidity of rainwater and oceans, all indicate the disruption of the aforementioned balances.

Chapter 3

Production and Consumption of Cigarettes and Tobacco in the World (Capital, Trade in Death)

https://ourworldindata.org/smoking

The Deputy Minister of Health announced the turnover of the tobacco industry in the country at 25 trillion Tomans. Flavoured and flavoured tobaccos contain 7,000 chemicals, 70 carcinogens, and 400 toxic substances, and the trade in these types of substances is a trade in death, just as the production, sale, and exchange of industrial agricultural goods, full of pesticides and all the additives to preserve the shelf life of goods, is playing with the lives of the working masses. In Iran, about 8 million people use tobacco products, and about 65 billion cigarettes are consumed annually (statistics for 2010). Unfortunately, the age for smoking tobacco products, including hookahs, has decreased, and we are witnessing an increasing acceptance of these products by women. Regarding the activities of foreign companies producing tobacco products in Iran, the Deputy Minister of Health of the Capital Government said: “Korean, Japanese, English and American companies are engaged in producing tobacco products in Iran. Korean companies left Iran due to sanctions, but their tobacco company is still active in the country. American companies are not allowed to operate in Iran, but B.A.T. is jointly producing tobacco products in Iran in cooperation with British firms. The Japanese company G.P.I produces Winston in Iran. He announced the statistics of the development of the tobacco industry as follows: “In 2015, there were 7 tobacco producing units in the country, which increased to 23 units in 2018, which is a 4-fold growth. We have not witnessed a 4-fold growth in any industry in this period of time. Also, the number of tobacco and hookah production units in 2015 was 15 units, which has now increased to 39 units.” Now let’s look at some figures in this regard. Last year, eight international companies sold $140 billion worth of cigarettes; 8 million people die annually worldwide from the consequences of using tobacco products; in Iran, 60,000 people die annually from tobacco use; last year, Iranians smoked 65 billion cigarettes; that is, 783 cigarettes were smoked per Iranian. Of course, the tobacco market is not limited to cigarettes, and according to statistics, Iranians consumed more than 10,000 tons of hookah tobacco last year. According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health, Iranians consumed a total of 65.11 billion cigarettes in 2019, which, on average, represents 783 cigarettes per capita for a population of 83 million. Of course, this number is only for cigarette consumption and does not include all tobacco products; because according to statistics, Iranians also consume 10,000 tons of hookah tobacco in the country annually, which is a significant figure in itself. Statistics from the Ministry of Health also show that last year, out of the approximately 65 billion cigarettes consumed in the country, approximately 55 billion were produced in the country and 10 billion were imported through smuggling. The presence of foreign companies in Iran is notable from this perspective, as the number of cigarette manufacturing companies in Iran in 2014 was only seven with an annual production of 29 billion cigarettes, which increased to 12 companies with 45 billion cigarettes in 2016 and to 23 companies with a production of 55 billion cigarettes in 2019. Studies also show that $855 million in foreign investment was attracted to Iran last year, of which more than half was said to be in the field of tobacco production. Capitalist production is the production of goods, and it is said that a commodity is primarily an object that satisfies some kind of human need. This need can be physical or intellectual and psychological. This commodity enters the exchange process and is transferred to another person who uses it. Capitalism, by exploiting the labour force of workers, not only produces goods but also creates the need to consume them, and this need is both physical and intellectual and psychological. Many goods were also produced in pre-capitalist economic formations. Cigarettes and tobacco are among the goods that were cultivated, harvested, packaged and presented in various forms for personal and collective consumption in close connection with the emergence and spread of industrial capitalism. If previously people exchanged the products of their labour based on the human labour necessary in it, now this entire exchange takes place between the living and dead labour of the worker, between the commodity that is his living labour and the capital that is his dead labour but is owned by someone else, the capitalist. It is capital that makes no difference to capital the type of commodity, its quantity, and the means of its production, whether the commodity is an invigorating drink or a bomb or mortar, narcotics, or tobacco that is life-threatening and deadly, as long as the product of the labour of the working man, the condensed human labour, the content of socially necessary labour time, from the sale of which it can make a profit. In the capitalist process of commodity production, the worker’s relationship to his work, to himself, to his co-workers, to life and everything around him is a relationship outside his being and between things. It is his own work that has become outside of him, alien to him, his antithesis, his god, his enemy to the teeth, the overwhelming force dominating everything about him, it is his dead work that rules over his entire being, rules over him and exercises power in economics, politics, law, civilization, thought, culture, morality, habits, creeds, rituals, tastes. In the process of production, social activities alienate man from himself and make him against himself, they make the need for capital to expand itself the need for humanity and in fact they consider this need, which is created by capital, against himself and the real needs and interests of his human life. Just as they make the forced, compulsory and inevitable sale of their labour power a free, voluntary and honourable exchange, they also make the consumption of deadly goods a free and voluntary choice.

Figure 12. Cigarette production and sales first began and increased in Western capitalist countries and Russia in the early 20th century with the onset of industrial capitalism. Since then, tobacco production has gone through a century-long cycle of peaks and declines. In this process, new social capital countries such as China, Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar with populations of several billion have had massive production and sales in this area in recent years. In the chart above, we see the average number of cigarettes sold per person over 15 years of age per day in many Western capitalist countries (including the United States and Europe), Japan, and Russia.

Figure 13 shows the percentage of countries’ populations that smoke cigarettes in 2021.

Tobacco is the common name for several plants of the subgenus Nicotiana and is also a general term for any product made using cooked tobacco leaves, such as cigarettes and cigars. Tobacco products are addictive and can be challenging to quit due to the presence of the stimulant nicotine in tobacco leaves. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills more than 8 million people worldwide each year, including both smokers and nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke. The U.S. Centres for Disease Control says tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. Tobacco use increases the risk of lung cancer, mouth cancer, heart disease such as high blood pressure and blood clots. Tobacco use also increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and leads to tooth and gum decay and skin wrinkles. In general, the highest rates of smoking today are found in Southeast Asia and the Balkan region of Europe. People in Western European countries and the Americas tend to reduce smoking rates, however, this is not always guaranteed and is erratic, with some societies experiencing a brief and temporary decline before consumption returns to normal. Chile has one of the highest rates of smoking in the world. Of the top five countries with the highest smoking rates in the world in 2018, three are in the Pacific Islands, one in Southeast Asia and one in South America. But the rankings are changing, with others taking the top spots. In many countries in South and Southeast Asia, smoking rates are very high for men and very low for women. For example, in Indonesia, the smoking rate for men is 76.20% and the smoking rate for women is 3.60%. However, this also varies, with European countries seeing a greater increase in smoking among women than men, while in previous decades the increase in smoking was attributed to men. The minimum smoking age in the United States is 21 years old. The smoking age was raised from 18 to 21 in December 2019. Smoking rates vary across US states, with the highest prevalence of smokers in West Virginia and the lowest in Utah. Here are the 7 countries with the highest smoking rates in 2018: Myanmar (46%), Chile (45%), Lebanon (43%), Serbia (41%), Bangladesh (39%), Greece (39%) and Bulgaria (39%). The smoking rate in Iran, according to a report to the World Health Organization, is 14% of the population (24.6% of men and 3.5% of women in 2020), or 12 million people, which contradicts the Iranian Ministry of Health’s report of 8 million people (see the report above).

Figure 14 shows lung cancer mortality rates in the United States and many other Western capitalist countries since 1950. In many countries, lung cancer mortality rates have increased, peaked, and then declined significantly during the twentieth century. These peak trends are directly related to cigarette production and consumption. In the United States, mortality rates peaked in the 1980s.

In Spain, the peak was later, only in the 1990s. In Russia and Bulgaria, the peak was in the last century. For the entire 20th century, it is estimated that about 100 million people died from smoking, most of them in Western European countries, the United States and Russia. Smoking has been one of the leading risks for premature death in the last century. Global studies by the World Health Organization estimate that about 8 million people die each year from smoking, a figure that is on the same level as the previous century. This means that about 15% of global deaths are attributable to smoking. In some countries, it is more than 1 in 5 deaths. Deaths from smoking tend to affect older people: more than half of the deaths occurred in people over 70 years of age. 93% were over 50 years of age. One reason for this is that it takes a relatively long time for the effects of smoking and even inhaling tobacco smoke to develop into serious complications. Another chart shows cigarette sales per person. Smoking is the biggest risk factor for lung cancer, and we see that the trend for lung cancer is followed by a delay of about 20 years for smoking. In 2017, 7.1 million people worldwide died from smoking. We can add data on lung cancer in women in the United States to this chart. In the United States, smoking was once very common among men, so the peak incidence of lung cancer for men was much higher. Smoking later became more common among women, so the lung cancer death rate for women peaked later.

Figure 15 a. Various diseases are associated with smoking and even indirect inhalation of cigarette smoke. The annual Global Health Survey estimates that 8.5 million people die each year from tobacco use. 7.1 million of these deaths are due to smoking, 1.3 million are non-smokers who die from exposure to second-hand smoke.

https://ourworldindata.org/smoking

Figure 15 b. Tobacco smoking has been one of the world’s largest health problems for decades. Over the course of the 20th century, it killed around 100 million people, most of them in today’s rich countries. The health burdens of smoking are now moving from high-income to low-to-middle-income countries; some estimates have suggested that one billion people could die from tobacco over the 21st century. (Another 56,000 people die each year from chewing tobacco.) The majority (71 percent) of those who die from tobacco use are men. It should be noted that smoking and tobacco also play a significant role in the incidence and severity of heart disease and high blood pressure. Cigarettes, pollutants and smoke, obesity, high blood sugar are among the factors that increase the risk of dementia. Researchers say that if lifestyle and nutrition patterns do not change, the global number of people with dementia will reach 153 million by 2050. A scientific study published in the Lancet journal predicts that in the next three decades, the number of people with dementia will triple the current figure. For this reason, the possibility of 153 million people developing dementia by 2025 is very high. In 2019, the number of people with dementia worldwide was 57 million. Researchers expect that in the coming decades, dementia rates will increase in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and will reach their lowest levels in Japan. For Germany, an increase of 65% is predicted, which is lower than the Western European average. According to the German Ministry of Health, 1.6 million people in the country suffer from dementia and its complications. Dementia can be caused by a variety of factors, including thyroid disorders, vitamin deficiencies, medication side effects, depression, anxiety, infections, pollutants, cigarette smoke, strokes, Parkinson’s and other medical and health problems. Dementia is commonly confused with Alzheimer’s disease, while forgetfulness is a subset of this syndrome. Dementia is currently the seventh leading cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of disability and increased need for care in the elderly. Four risk factors for dementia: An international research team has examined the prevalence and distribution of dementia in 195 countries, based on the 2019 statistical model.

The World Health Organization writes in its 2023 report:

When we look at the breakdown of deaths from smoking by age, we see that it is mainly older populations that are affected. In the visualizations, we show the death rates from smoking by age bracket and the share of annual deaths that occur in each age group.

Here, we see that death rates from smoking are much higher in people older than 70 years old, followed by those aged 50 to 69.

 Around one-in-four adults in the world smoke tobacco.

But where in the world is smoking most common?

In the map, we see the share of adults aged 15 years and older who smoke tobacco.

There are a number of countries where more than a third of the population smokes. The places where many people smoke are clustered in regions. South-East Asia, the Pacific islands, and parts of Europe.

In some countries, very few people smoke.

Several factors influence the prevalence of smoking. One is prosperity: if we look at the relationship between smoking prevalence and income, we find that richer countries tend to smoke more. But as you see in this correlation, there are very large differences at each level of income.  Smoking rates are high across many countries, but we know from the history of many countries that this can change quickly. Many of today’s high-income countries had much higher smoking rates in the past and have seen a large reduction. The prevalence of smoking also differs significantly between men and women. The authors of the study, examining four main factors – smoking, obesity, high blood sugar and low levels of education – estimated that better access to education could reduce the rate of dementia by six million people. Controlling obesity, high blood sugar and avoiding smoking could also eliminate the risk of developing dementia in seven million people.

According to a study published in late 2022 in the journal Alzheimer’s Disease, conducted at Ohio State University in the United States, middle-aged smokers are more likely to experience memory loss and mental confusion than their peers. Although the respiratory and cardiovascular effects of smoking were previously known, it seems that its consequences for human cognitive abilities are not insignificant. The study by scientists at Ohio State University is the first to examine the relationship between smoking and cognitive impairment by asking participants a single question. Participants were asked whether they had recently experienced a worsening of memory problems and confusion. The findings, by scientists at Ohio State University, are published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

In the second volume of the series “Capitalism and the Disaster of Environmental Pollution, Chapter 4”, I spoke in some detail about the destructive effects of pollutants on the brain, its anatomy and mechanism. The data from those years are still valuable as a source of study in their own right, but in recent years, and especially in 2022, similar studies around the world show the dimensions of these disasters to be greater than what has been said so far. Let’s examine some of this data. A study published in February 2022 of 30,000 men found that the ability of sperm to swim in the right direction can be affected by air pollution. The researchers said that the smaller the size of the airborne pollutants, the lower the quality of sperm and their mobility. “Our findings suggest that smaller pollutants may be more effective than larger pollutants in causing impaired sperm motility,” the paper states. For this study, researchers at Tongji University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, studied data from 33,876 men from 340 cities in the country, with an average age of 34, between January 2013 and December 2019. The main question asked was whether the participants had been exposed to particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres, 2.5 to 10 micrometres, and larger than 10 micrometres in the 90 days before the test. The researchers then focused on sperm count, concentration and motility. Although the researchers were unable to find a significant association between air pollution and sperm quality in terms of count or concentration, they did find that the more exposure a participant had to fine particulate matter, the less progressive the sperm’s motility, or ability to swim forward. Specifically, for someone exposed to particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres, sperm motility decreased by 3.6 percent, compared with 2.42 percent for those exposed to particles smaller than 10 micrometres. This means that different sizes of airborne pollutants may have different effects on semen quality, and it is likely that the smaller the particles, the more likely they are to penetrate deep into a man’s lungs. “The results of the association between air pollution and semen quality are striking because they use sperm quality data from more than 30,000 men,” said Alan Pacey, professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Another study published in late February of this year showed that air pollution causes inflammation in the brain, which reduces sperm count in the body. In this study, conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States, researchers conducted experiments on a group of laboratory mice and found that healthy mice exposed to polluted air had lower sperm counts than mice that did not have certain neuroinhibitory. Scientists say about 92 percent of the world’s population lives in areas where levels of particulate matter in the air exceed minimum safety standards set by the World Health Organization. Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter are created by greenhouse gases from factories, forest fires or wood stoves, or incomplete combustion in cars. In this study, two groups of healthy mice and mutant mice bred to lack a marker of inflammation in the brain (IKK2) were exposed to polluted air. After monitoring them and performing tests, the researchers recorded no decrease in the sperm count of the second group of mice. This was while the healthy mice experienced a decrease in sperm count after exposure to air pollution. Researchers say a specific type of neuron, which is normally involved in sleep cycles and obesity, is responsible for the drop in sperm count caused by air pollution. These neurons are usually found in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger, thirst and sexual desire. The hypothalamus also works with the pituitary gland in the brain, which is responsible for making hormones that are directly related to the reproductive organs. “Looking at past research, it makes perfect sense to assume that hypothalamic neurons are responsible for perpetuating this inflammatory response leading to reduced sperm count,” says Dr. Charles Hong, professor of medicine and director of cardiovascular research at the University of Maryland. “Because we know that the hypothalamus is a major communication pathway between the brain and the reproductive system.” Scientists say the new findings have implications beyond fertility, and that many conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, can be caused by inflammation in the brain due to air pollution. Scientists already knew that there could be links between air pollution and an increased risk of a number of disorders, from obesity to diabetes and fertility. The origin of these disorders has largely been determined to be stress messages sent by the brain, but until now, the details of how this was done had not been observed. Studies in recent decades have shown a decrease in sperm counts in men, and researchers have carried out several research projects to find out why this happens. New research published in June 2022 on male urine shows that a significant increase in chemical pollutants is one of the main reasons for the decline in sperm count in men. The latest research on the factors affecting the decline in male sperm count was published in the journal Environment International. The study, which examined urine samples from nearly 100 male volunteers, found that men’s endocrine disruptors had reached alarming levels. A problem that reduces fertility in humans. In examining these samples, it was found that chemical pollutants such as bisphenols and dioxins that affect sperm quality were observed up to 100 times higher than normal. The authors of the paper say that the presence of these chemical cocktails has a significant negative impact on male reproductive health. The study was conducted on urine samples from 98 Danish men aged 18 to 30. In addition, data from the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) was used to estimate the possible levels of 20 other chemicals. The authors of the paper, led by Professor Andreas Kortenkamp from Brunel University London, say they were surprised by the significant levels of these chemical compounds in the samples. They were also surprised by the amount of bisphenol BPA in the samples tested, a substance that is considered a very serious risk to sperm health. Reduced sperm count: Sperm quantity and quality have declined dramatically in Western countries in recent decades, with research showing that sperm counts in men have more than halved in the space of 40 years. Meanwhile, other reproductive health disorders, such as undescended testicles and testicular cancer, are on the rise. Researchers around the world have considered a wide range of other possible causes behind low sperm counts, including lifestyle factors, tobacco use and air pollution.

Chapter 4

Plastics and microplastics in the human body and other living organisms

Mass production of plastic began in 1950, with a production of only 2 million tons, and in 2021 it reached 375 million tons, 187 times the production of 1950. Plastic production in the year of the capitalist crisis of 2008 decreased by about 4% compared to the previous year, but this decrease, like all capital production, was temporary, with production reaching 335 million tons in 2016. The world also saw a 0.3% decline in production of this commodity in 2020, but in 2021 it grew by 2.2% to 375 million tons. Global annual plastic production has been increasing continuously and has doubled over the past 15 years, from 230 million tons in 2009 to 288 million tons in 2012. Production reached about 311 million tons of plastic in 2014, and this figure rose to 360 million tons in 2018. It takes 400 years for plastic, such as a plastic bag, to decompose in nature. This means that the masses of plastic that capitalism produces and is released into nature are accumulating. Research in the first study in 2015 shows that of the total global plastic production, its consumption, and its fate, the accumulation of plastic in the world reached 9.2 billion tons by 2017 over nearly 70 years. The amount of plastic remaining in nature (after reducing its amount, such as by incineration) is expected to reach 12 billion tons by 2050. But this figure is very optimistic, because despite all the deafening clamour of capital governments, the recovery of this commodity in 2019, its best year, only reached a meagre 9 percent of that year’s production (368 million tons). The United Nations says nearly 80 percent of all plastic produced ends up in landfills. The organization said in a report in mid-2018 that five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year, equivalent to 10 million plastic bags every minute. Only 9 percent of all plastic produced in 2019 was recycled, 12 percent was incinerated, while the majority, 79 percent (6.5 billion tons), remains on land and in the sea.

Microplastics (MPs) are among the most persistent environmental contaminants due to their widespread presence in water, soil, food, beverages, and biological tissues. Annually, millions of tons of plastic waste degrade into micro-sized particles (5 mm to 1 μm) through physical, chemical, and biological processes. MPs pose significant risks to humans, animals, and plants, with confirmed presence in human biological samples such as breast milk, faeces, urine, and semen. These particles have been linked to respiratory disorders, inflammation, cellular damage, metabolic disturbances, and reproductive dysfunction. Compared to other materials such as wood, metal and glass, plastic is a relatively young material that began its development in the middle of the 20th century. Now this capital good, which is almost as much as all types of metals and minerals, is produced with various purposes and applications, from synthetic fibres, softeners, durable parts for ship hulls, aircraft, automobiles to similar goods made from other capital raw materials.

Environmental pollution due to microplastics (MPs), heavy metals (HMs), pesticides, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and others has been a rising concern in recent years. Among others, MPs (plastic particles < 5 mm) are the most significant pollutants found in soils and water as a result of their growing production and consumption in the 21st century. Annually, over 400 million tons of plastic are manufactured, of which over 93 % ends up as waste. MPs are generated when plastic pollution, mostly in the form of packaging materials, is discharged into the environment and decomposes as a result of physical, chemical, and biological processes. MPs are therefore widespread across the land, freshwater, sea], and air, penetrate the food chain, and pose significant risks to both humans and animals. There have also been reports of MPs detected in the human body, including the lungs, the respiratory tract, the placenta, blood, and faeces. Consequently, MPs can have a number of adverse effects on human health, including DNA damage, oxidative stress, organ malfunction, neurotoxicity, metabolic disorders, immunological response, and toxicity to reproduction and development. Due to their toxicity, endurance, and bioaccumulative nature, PMs pose a serious environmental threat. MPs are frequently classified based on their origin, size, shape, and chemical compositions. Numerous studies have proven that MPs’ toxicity is directly correlated with their size, with smaller MPs being more harmful to the environment. MPs occur in a wide variety of sizes, with particle sizes ranging from 1 μm up to 5 mm. In a similar manner, the shapes of MPs have also been linked to their adverse effects. MPs are present in a variety of shapes in the environment.

Commodities are inherently perishable, but capital in all areas of production has tried, and has been successful to some extent, not only to increase their useful life but also to increase their flexibility by using techniques and materials. It is in this direction that production processes are made flexible by using various types of plastics and increase the speed of production. Many plastics with their flexibility, impermeability and indestructibility have wide applications in various production processes. The longer goods spoil, the more resistant they are to heat, pressure, and chemical reactions, the wider the market they will find. Plastics have all the necessary properties in these areas. Capital, however, creates a mass of goods based on the need for accumulation and scale of production, not on the needs that must be met, because these needs are created in the process of production and the development of capitalism. This means that capital also creates goods and with it their capital and personal consumption needs, and in all this process the driving force is the accumulation of capital on a larger scale. The foundation of capital’s work is based on the production of maximum goods by minimum labour, the extreme reduction of the cost of various components of the fixed capital sector, the highest possible quality of goods, and the maximum competitive power in the capitalist market. Capital appreciation is the determining goal and driving force of capitalist production relations. When production institutions start producing a certain commodity, they ignore the type of health and biological abnormalities and their severity and the dangers they bring to humans, animals and nature. Therefore, the opening of each new area of ​​capital advance arises from the requirements of capital accumulation, and as long as these requirements exist, the new area continues to expand.

According to statistics, global plastic production is projected to reach 445.25 million metric tons in 2025 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213343725038965)

Regardless of whether a country is developed or developing, microplastics remain one of the major problems in many countries, from China to the United States. MPs are present in numerous sources, including textile products, plastic bottles, fishing nets, lipsticks, masks, creams, and other personal care products. Tests on bottled water from major companies have shown that almost all of them contain tiny plastic particles. In the largest study of its kind, 250 bottles purchased in nine different countries were tested. On average, there were 10 plastic particles per Liter of water, each of which is wider than a human hair in diameter (more than 100 microns) – very small plastic particles (microplastics). Particles smaller than 100 microns (a micron is one thousandth of a millimetre) were much more numerous than those larger than 100 microns, averaging 314 particles per litter. In addition, microplastics, which are less than five millimetres in diameter, are used in many cosmetics, hygiene and laundry products. Clothing made from synthetic fibres produces a large portion of the world’s microplastics. Research on MPs in human-derived samples was enhanced in 2019, once nine distinct MPs were found in human faecal samples. Through dietary, dermal, and inhalation exposure, recent studies have demonstrated the accumulation of MPs in a number of vital life-sustaining tissues, such as the lungs, kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal system, placenta, reproductive system, brain, and human amniotic fluid. The accumulation of MPs in the human body has been connected to a number of detrimental health consequences. Acute and chronic exposure to MPs in humans and animals can induce various molecular pathways. Researchers worldwide have detected MPs in various environmental media, including food, water, soil, and air. Major sources of MP pollution include plastic bottles, bags, construction materials, personal care products, and textiles. Over time, environmental weathering causes plastic waste to break down into MPs. Among all ecosystems, soil has emerged as the most heavily contaminated with microplastics.

About 60 percent of clothing is made from synthetic wool and down, and the trend of using cheap synthetic yarns has been growing. According to the results of a new study in 2018, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of floating plastic between Hawaii and California, now covers more than 960,000 square meters, equivalent to 58 percent of the area of ​​Iran. The massive plastic debris is estimated to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and weigh about 88,000 tons, the equivalent of 500 large airplanes. The new figures for the volume and weight of the debris are 16 times higher than previous estimates. Since then, the plastic debris has been expanding, and similar findings have been seen in other oceans around the world. Plastic production has increased by 200% in the past 20 years, and it is predicted that by 2050, the amount of plastic in the oceans (known as plastic fish) will exceed the number of actual marine creatures. What is more important is the accumulation of this dangerous commodity in nature for all living things. Some types of plastic have a lifespan of several hundred years. Microplastics are also created through the breakdown of plastic waste, abrasion, and washing clothes and cars. The tiny blue beads found in hygiene products such as toothpaste, face wash, or body wash are actually tiny plastic beads used to scrub and remove dirt. Microplastics not only pollute rivers and seas, but millions of people ingest them every day through tap water. Research in the United States, examining more than 150 samples of tap water from several cities on five continents, concluded that 83 percent of the samples contained microscopic plastic fibres. Car tires and street and road markings are also other sources of microplastics. According to statistics from the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2017, car tires (with 28 percent), synthetic fibre fabrics (with 35 percent) and urban dust (with 24 percent) are the largest contributors to the production of microplastics. Plastic is now found in the form of ordinary pebbles. Research shows that tiny pieces of plastic debris found on the seashore bear an uncanny resemblance to beach pebbles. Plastic pollution has reached the highest peaks and deepest valleys on Earth. These tiny pieces of plastic, called pyroclastics, are created either by heating plastic as part of the manufacturing process or by melting plastic pieces in the environment through unknown processes. This plastic waste then oxidizes or erodes when it hits sand and seawater like rocks, releasing microplastics. Because these plastics look so much like pebbles, they may have been hidden from the eyes of the world. The result of this process is microplastic and nano plastic particles that have been found in food, food containers, including plastic drinking water bottles. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) warned on January 19, 2022, that plastic pollution is an urgent global problem that requires a serious UN treaty to solve. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) argues in its report that plastic pollution is almost equivalent to the problem of climate change. The relevant organization, which has a huge budget, does not mention in its report, like other international organizations of capitalist governments, any reference or source whatsoever to introduce what it calls the “climate change problem.” But this same organization knows very well and clearly that this is not a problem of the capital cycle, because plastic production, like the entirety of capital, only creates profits for capitalists, and the problem of change is something else. In short, this is a problem of the billions of workers in the world, who must find a solution for it themselves! The organization emphasizes in its report that the air we breathe now contains very small plastic particles, and that plastic particles have found their way into soil, food, and even the Arctic ice cap. For example, it is reported that about 20 elephants in Thailand died after eating plastic-laden garbage at a landfill. The report’s authors urge countries to agree to a UN treaty with binding targets to reduce plastic production and disposal. “If this growing tide of rampant pollution continues, by 2040 the amount of plastic dumped in the oceans could exceed the weight of all fish in the oceans,” said Tom Gammage of the Environmental Research Institute.

The United Nations has identified “climate change,” “biodiversity loss,” and “pollution” as three existential threats to the environment, concluding that they must be addressed together. Multilateral agreements to combat biodiversity loss and climate change have been in place for nearly 30 years, but they have not been effective in halting carbon dioxide emissions or protecting the natural world. The idea of ​​a treaty to tackle plastic pollution has faced opposition from some countries in recent years. But more than 100 countries, including Britain, are said to be backing the proposal, which is due to be tabled at the next UN Environment Assembly in February and March. Then-US President Joe Biden said his country would support a global agreement, while former President Donald Trump opposed it. However, it is unclear whether he will be able to convince Congress, as most plastics are made from oil and gas, which the country produces. Japan is said to be trying to limit the scope of such an agreement. Gulf Arab states and China have also remained silent so far. China is the largest producer of “virgin plastics” (plastics made for the first time from petroleum). However, the US and the UK are said to be the biggest producers of plastic waste per capita. “The visible nature of plastic pollution has raised serious public concern, but the vast majority of plastic pollution is invisible,” Mr Gammage said when the report was released. “The damage caused by the overproduction of virgin plastic is irreparable – it threatens human civilisation and the fundamental ability of the planet to maintain a habitable environment.” “The risk it poses is becoming almost as serious as climate change.” Richard Thompson, a senior plastics expert at the University of Plymouth, told the BBC that the UN treaty should focus on the full life cycle of plastics. “The underlying problem is rooted in the unsustainability of production and consumption,” he said. “Supporting policies that only encourage the use of ‘recyclable’ plastics will not be effective unless there is a local infrastructure for effective collection, separation, and recycling of these plastics.” It seems that asset managers, government officials, and influential think tanks at financial institutions are concerned that plastic pollution is becoming the second largest environmental pollutant.

But this big lie has been told by them many times in all cases of environmental destruction by capital against us, the working masses. What they are concerned about is stopping, disrupting and questioning, however insignificant, the production of capital, and in this specific case the production of plastic. The process of capital circulation and capital production is the most sacred foundation of this system, and no worker has the right to question it. A worker is a human being who sells his labour power, and by selling his labour power, he is exempted from interfering in determining the fate of his own production and life. Capitalist governments are the guardians of this system, and they tell us workers that the right to interfere in the sacred affairs of production belongs to the capitalists, the capitalist state, and the capitalist parliament. If you want to say something about this, start creating unions and unions, parties and dissolving all kinds of parties in opposition, start environmental cleaning groups and groups, and in short, provide the tools to dissolve the working-class power as widely as possible!! At the same time, environmental destruction is disrupting the lives of the world’s workers every day, creating diseases and killing. In this way, our class war has challenged the workers. But the class war power of the working masses is manifested and exercised only in their organized, Council, nationwide, anti-capitalist movement. This power cannot be aligned in any other container. The fate of the world working class is tied to how to get out of this impasse. A challenge that, if won, could have the widest possible impact on the entire world labour movement. We must take the fate of life, work and production into our own hands. We must emerge from this impasse, the pitiful subjugation of the working masses, from the failure to recognize the history-making power of our class struggle and the feeling of helplessness in organizing an anti-capitalist and nationwide council of this power. Without breaking this barrier, the working class is unable to do anything important and is the target of all the black, catastrophic scenarios of history. Our war may be won, or it may be lost, but even the defeat of this war will be the cornerstone of the future victory of the proletariat.

Let’s take a look at some of the latest achievements of the capitalistic murderous system.

On March 23, 2022, researchers found microplastics in human blood for the first time. They report in the journal Environment International that eight out of ten subjects had microplastics in their blood. Dick Wettak, professor of ecotoxicology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, says there is reason to be concerned. The key question is what happens in the body. Do the particles stay in the body? Do they travel to specific organs, for example through the blood-brain barrier? And are the levels high enough to cause disease? The study is based on the analysis of blood samples from 22 anonymous donors, all healthy adults. Microplastics were found in the blood of 17 of them. Half of the blood samples contained PET plastic, which is used to make plastic bottles, in total particles of Polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polymers of styrene (polystyrene, expanded polystyrene, acetonitrile butadiene styrene etc.), polymethyl methyl acrylate. A third of the particles found contained polystyrene, which is used to make plastic bags. The researchers used technology that allows them to detect particles 0.0007 millimetres (700 nanometres) or larger in human blood. The study is published in the journal Environment International.

Food and drink: Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are up to five millimetres in size. They are used in cosmetics and as raw materials in the plastics industry, but they are also formed when larger plastic products are crushed. Microplastics are scattered all over the world and have even been found on the top of Mount Everest. It is well known that humans ingest microplastics through food and drink. According to one study, the average person ingests 50,000 microplastics per year. In this study of a small group of blood donors, the average total measurable concentration of plastic particles in the blood was 1.6 micrograms per millilitre, the first measurement of the mass concentration of the polymer component of plastic in human blood. The study also shows that plastic particles are fully capable of being absorbed into the human bloodstream.

Now let’s return to our previous discussion, let’s return to the fact that until we workers take our destiny, the history-making power of our class struggle, what we produce into our own hands, capital will continue to create darker scenarios for us. Capital will create an escape from the “second pollution of the environment” for circulation and profit-making. The important law of capitalist economy is that the more these relations of production develop and expand, the less they can survive by retaining the tools and methods of their past work. The inventions and discoveries of capitalism are only a flash of the internal compulsion of capital to relentlessly develop technique and industry and other necessities of increasing the productivity of labour. The invention of plastics, like other materials, is one of these. The astronomical speed of the use of these materials necessitated the need for capital, just as the introduction of industrial machinery in production once required an increase in production volume and the use of more raw materials and a wider range of raw and auxiliary materials, which in turn led to the further development of the division of labour at the level of society and within the factory, and the further improvement of labour productivity, creating new environmental conditions within the factory and in the fields of production, society, and nature. Just as there is no end to the use of machinery, there is no end to capital’s need for what is in the path of its production. Therefore, capital finds an escape from the plastic spillage in nature, the environment and our lives to generate profit, increase the intensity of capital circulation, discover and create new areas of capital advance. A look at what the capital institutes are proposing immediately after the “second environmental pollution” plan is not how to stop the wheel of plastic production (in fact, the wheel of capital production), but on the contrary, how it turns this disaster into an ornament for capital, humanizing it and its naturalism! In none of the scenarios explained in the diagram below is there even talk of stopping production, not only in this area, but this amount of capital, like in other areas, must continue to accumulate.

Figure 16 Annual rates of plastic pollution input into the environment estimated from 300 Monte Carlo simulations. (A) Time series of plastic pollution input into aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (million metric tons per year ± 95% CI) by scenario, between 2016 and 2040, are different scenarios.

The scenarios are Business as Usual (BAU), Collection and Disposal Scenario (CDS), Recycling Scenario (RES), Reduction and Replacement Scenario (RSS), and Plastic Pollution Rate System Change (SCS). The plastic pollution rate for all scenarios is the same between 2016 and 2020. The black dot estimate in 2040 represents the annual plastic pollution rate assuming that global commitments to reduce plastic use and increase recycling announced from June 2019 are implemented through 2040. No time series is provided for this scenario because the timing of implementation is unknown. (B) Estimated density of plastic pollution (million metric tons) in 2040 based on each scenario.

Researchers from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand reported in June 2022 that they had collected samples from 19 locations in Antarctica for the first time, all of which contained microplastics. These tiny plastic particles were found in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica. Microplastics are dispersed by the erosion of plastic products and range in size from invisible particles to something smaller than a grain of rice. The researchers found an average of 29 plastic particles per Liter of melted snow. They identified 13 different types of plastic, the most common of which was PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which is used in the production of plastic bottles and clothing. It was found in 79 percent of the samples. It is the most durable type of plastic, remaining unchanged in nature for hundreds of years. Previous studies have found microplastic contamination in Antarctic sea ice and surface waters, but this is the first time plastic has been seen in fresh snow. A large study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that microplastics are spreading across the Earth, often carried by dust, wind and ocean currents. Researchers found tiny plastic particles near Mount Everest in 2020. They have also been found deep in the ocean. Microplastics can carry harmful substances that stick to their surfaces, such as heavy metals and algae. They could be a way for harmful species to reach remote and sensitive areas that they otherwise wouldn’t reach. Experts also say that humans inhale and absorb tiny plastic particles through air, water and food. A study by Hull York Medical School and the University of Hull published last year found that ingesting large amounts of microplastics could have potentially harmful effects, such as cell death and allergic reactions. Snowfields, polar ice caps and glaciers around the world are already melting at a rapid rate, and scientists say dark microplastics deposited there could accelerate the process by absorbing more light and heat. These white surfaces, naturally unpolluted, reflect a large portion of sunlight, but other pollutants, such as soot, have also been found on them, which are said to accelerate the melting of snow and ice. Glaciers in parts of the world that are melting rapidly are becoming an increasingly dangerous source of danger, triggering landslides, avalanches and the overflowing of mountain lakes.

The history of capitalism, from its beginning to its end, has been and will be a history of the most horrific distortions, fabrications, and deceptions, but it can be said with confidence that what this group is weaving and trying to feed the working masses is, if not the most catastrophic form of capitalist brainwashing, then certainly the most ridiculous. From the first distortion to the last, the above scenarios collect and recover what capital, and its daily production wheel throws out and pollutes the environment of humans and animals. The capitalist statesmen are determined to announce to the working masses that there is not and will not be the slightest disruption in the process of capital circulation, profit production by the workers and capital accumulation. What is needed is the creation of new areas of profit and capital production through the creation of purification centres!! Now how, where and with what means and techniques is this going to be done, while the producers and industrial centres are scattered all over the world and the products of personal consumption and capital have been scattered in all parts of the world and in the most remote villages for 70 years. To the same extent that large industries have advanced in the field of exploration and extraction of minerals, raw and auxiliary materials for the production of various types of plastics, the dimensions of the destructive environment of humans, animals and nature have also expanded. This means that the causes of environmental destruction and the working conditions of the working class should not be sought in some secondary and superficial side effects of capitalist production, but the roots of all this, including deadly diseases and the daily killing of thousands of workers around the world, should be explored in the capitalist relations of production themselves. The forms of these disasters may have varied and changed throughout the history of capitalism, but they all stem from the same source. They are all the product of the existence of capital and the natural laws of profit-making in this mode of production. An important difference has certainly occurred. Today, especially given the global nature of capitalist production relations, the environmental destruction of this system also breaks all national borders and takes on catastrophic international dimensions. To the extent that capital is global and capitalism has become global, its pests are also global and do not recognize national borders, and to the extent that capital grows, the pressure of its pests and destructions also comes to an even greater degree on humans and nature. In this article, an attempt has been made to open up some corners of these destructions and pollutions using the documents and evidence at hand to enlighten the minds of the workers.

While plastic is visible in nature on beaches and in the sea, microplastics and chemicals, many of which are extremely dangerous to human health, animals and nature, are invisible. A new study shows that rainwater in most places on Earth contains levels of chemicals that are “far above” the safe levels for living organisms. These synthetic chemicals are called PFAS, short for polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and are used in non-stick pans, fire-fighting foam, and waterproof clothing. Known as “persistent chemicals,” these synthetic chemicals persist in the environment for years. They are now so prevalent that researchers say there is no safe place on Earth to avoid them. Researchers at Stockholm University say that PFASs pose far greater health risks than previously thought, including cancer. There have been growing concerns about the spread of these persistent chemicals in recent years. There are about 4,500 types of these substances, which are fluorine compounds, and they are found almost everywhere on Earth in hundreds of everyday products, including food packaging, non-stick cookware, rain gear, adhesives, paper, and paints. Safety concerns have also been raised about the presence of these persistent chemicals in drinking water. Earlier this year, research in the UK found that PFAS were present in water samples at levels exceeding the safety levels set by Europe. The new study, which looked at four specific chemicals in the group, found that levels of one PFAS chemical in rainwater around the world were often “far above” the levels previously set. Evidence suggests that soil is similarly contaminated around the world. Based on their findings, the authors of the study conclude that this contamination no longer knows any boundaries across the planet, meaning there is no safe place on Earth to avoid these substances. “Our argument here is that we are already beyond the safe operating range, because we now have these chemicals everywhere, and the existing safety recommendations are no longer achievable,” says Professor Ian Cousins, lead author of the study at Stockholm University. “I’m not saying we’re all going to die from the effects of this pollution,” he explains. “But we are now in a situation where you can’t live anywhere on the planet and be sure that the environment there is safe from these chemicals.” While this is undoubtedly a cause for concern, there are caveats. Many of these existing safety levels are advisory, meaning they are not legally enforceable. There has been a lot of research into the health risks of PFAS, with scientists saying that high levels of exposure may be linked to an increased risk of some cancers, fertility problems and stunted growth in children. Professor Crispin Halsall, of Lancaster University in the UK, said: “The levels of these chemicals in the rain are already above environmental quality standards. This means that over time, we will have statistics showing that these chemicals are having a significant impact on human health.” Professor Halsall, who was not involved in the Stockholm University research, added: “And how will the impact of these increased chemicals manifest itself? I’m not sure, but it will become clear over time, because we will exceed the concentration level that is harmful to our health, and their presence in drinking water will expose people to it.” Removing the chemicals in question from drinking water in treatment plants is possible, but expensive. But getting below the U.S. recommended level is challenging, the study authors said. While scientists have learned more about PFAS over the past 25 years, the recommended safety levels have steadily fallen. This has also happened to the levels of chemicals in soil, which is also causing problems. In 2018, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure set new limits on the concentration of PFAS in soil and dredged material. But this led to the halt of 70 percent of construction projects that involved moving soil or using excavated materials. After protests, the government relaxed the guidelines. According to the new research, this kind of safety degradation is likely to happen with water pollution as well. “If you apply these guidelines everywhere, you can’t build anywhere,” says Professor Cousins. “I think they’ll do the same with the US drinking water recommendations, because they’re just not practical to enforce,” he explains: “It’s not because there’s something wrong with the risk assessment. It’s just because you can’t apply these guidelines. From an economic point of view, it’s impossible to apply any of these guidelines.” The authors of the study say “the key challenge with these chemicals is their persistence, not just their toxicity. While manufacturers phased out some of the harmful PFASs two decades ago, they remain in the air, water and soil. One-way PFASs cycle through the environment is in the form of tiny particles that enter the sea and are carried; these particles are carried into the air and then return to land. As Professor Halsall recently wrote in a report, the inability of PFASs to break down in the environment means they are now found even in remote areas of Antarctica”.

Chapter 5

Capital, the destruction of organisms, the emergence of Covid-19 and the emergence of epidemics

In the introduction to this book, I wrote, “Indian industrial agriculture is waging war on insects and small animals with the ever-increasing use of pesticides, both of which have contributed to the decline in the number of waterfowl and the resurgence and spread of the malaria epidemic in recent years.” This is just one example of the great catastrophe that has been planned and implemented by capital for decades for animals, from the smallest to the largest, throughout this hell. In order to explain the causes of pandemics, we will first explain their foundations.

In the first volume of this series, I said: Today (2015) there are about 10 million known chemicals in the world. Of these, about 50,000 are actively used in various products. If the protests of the 1970s led to the cessation of the use of substances such as DDT and PVC, today tens of thousands of similar substances have taken their place. An October 2018 report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows the catastrophic state of wildlife to date. It says that 60 percent of wildlife, from mammals to fish and birds, has disappeared in just over four decades. The WWF report includes data from 1970 to 2014: During this period, the number of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians has decreased by 60%. According to studies conducted by the Zoological Society of London on 4,050 species of vertebrates and the “Biodiversity Index” on which the above report is based between 1970 and 2014, 60% of wild vertebrate species, including fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, have disappeared. The report says that in the past four decades, vertebrate populations in South and Central America have declined by 89 percent. Freshwater species have declined by 83 percent. The report also identifies 11 hotspots in the forest loss process, where widespread destruction has occurred and is expected to continue in the coming decade. Other hotspots include the Amazon, where Brazil’s newly elected president has spoken of the possibility of her country withdrawing from the climate treaty, the Congo Basin, Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia and Malaysia, where warnings have been made for years about widespread destruction of tropical forests. The content of the report shows that species and wildlife extinctions are occurring at rates 100 to 1,000 times faster than previous rates, before capitalist production relations became the main cause. Golden toads; last seen in 1989. Sudan; last male northern white rhinoceros, who and his descendants did not live to see the spring of this year (2018). Orangutans in Sumatra; Extensive deforestation in Sumatra has been seriously threatening the lives of these animals for years. In November 2018, Australian researchers reported that modern drugs used to treat humans are entering the food chain of animals through sewage, disrupting their biological systems. Scientists studying animals living in six rivers near Melbourne, Australia, found that they had high levels of painkillers, antidepressants and other drugs in their bodies, which had been leached into the water after flowing through municipal sewage systems. The study examined the presence of 98 commonly used drugs in aquatic animals, mammals and insects living in these areas. For example, animals such as trout and platypus, which live in water, were found to have significant amounts of antidepressants:  https://www.maff.go.jp/j/syouan/suisan/suisan_yobo/attach/pdf/fishmed-56.pdf). (in Jan-31, 2022) and (in Nov-30, 2022). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166445X23001571. (in July 2023).

In contrast, insects contained large amounts of painkillers, antifungals, antibiotics and antihypertensives. Although the study was conducted in Australia, it is not unlikely that it exists in other countries. In February 2019, new research published in the journal Biological Conservation showed that the increasing decline in the number and variety of insects could have a “catastrophic” impact on the environment and put human life on Earth at risk of extinction. According to existing research, about 40% of insect species have declined, and their decline is eight times faster than the decline of birds, mammals and other species. According to existing estimates, insects may be at risk of complete extinction within the next century. Insects make up two-thirds of all life on Earth and are a key player in the cycle of life. They help pollinate trees, stabilize soil, and provide food for other species. Their extinction would pose irreversible risks to the planet. “If the extinction of insects is not stopped, the consequences will be catastrophic for both the planet’s ecosystems and human survival,” the author of the new study said in an interview. In May 2019, a group of researchers warned in a report prepared for the United Nations that an “unprecedented” one million species of animals and plants on Earth were at risk of extinction (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ipbes-un-biodiversity-report-warns-one-million-species-at-risk).

The report states that only a major change in the global economic and financial system can prevent the threat to the planet’s ecosystem. According to the United Nations report, one million of the world’s eight million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction in the next few decades. Scientists have stated that industrial agriculture and overfishing are the main factors contributing to the extinction of various species. The rate of species extinction is tens of thousands of times faster than the average over the past 10 million years, the researchers say. The destruction ranges from the destruction of coral reefs under the ocean to the drying up of rainforests and their transformation into flat plains. The number of wild mammals has declined by 82 percent, natural ecosystems have lost about half their size, and millions of species are at risk of extinction. In terms of habitats, wetlands have suffered the most destruction. 73% of them have disappeared since 1700, with unintended consequences for water quality and bird life. Forests, especially tropical forests, are disappearing. In the first 13 years of the last century, the area of ​​intact forests decreased by 7% (approximately the area of ​​France and England combined). This trend has intensified since this date:

The area of IFLs remaining in 2025 is 1086.2 Mha, which makes up only 8.4% of the Earth’s ice-free land area and includes 21% of the global tree cover. The largest tracts of intact forests are found in the Amazon and Congo River basins and in the northern boreal forests. Eleven countries (Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, the United States, and Venezuela) host more than 90% of the global IFL area. Most other countries that still retain IFL areas have only a small portion of their forests intact. From 2000 to 2025, the global IFL area declined by 194.7 Mha (15.2%), an area nearly equivalent to the land area of Mexico. The largest absolute IFL losses occurred in tropical South America and the boreal regions of Eurasia and North America, which accounted for 34%, 28%, and 18% of the total area reduction, respectively. During this period, Romania lost all its IFLs, while Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Solomon Islands lost >75% of their IFL area. The Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Laos, and Liberia lost more than half of their IFL area. (https://intactforests.org/world.map.html)

The oceans are no longer untouched by capital. Only 3 percent of the seas are safe from capital pressure in this reserve. Industrial fishing occurs in more than half of the oceans, and a third of fish populations are overfished. According to a study in California in April 2020, the population of monarch butterflies suffered a sudden 86 percent decline in 2018. Some insects are called harmful because industrial agriculture has long seen them as a major obstacle to increasing the productivity of industrial agriculture. In nature, such a division is fundamentally meaningless because living organisms have lived in a harmonious biological balance for millions, even billions, of years. Now and for a long time, capitalist production relations play the role of ancient gods and justify the use of insecticides and the generality of what is called pest control by justifying the harmfulness and usefulness of animals, especially insects. Calling tiny creatures that existed in nature hundreds of millions of years before the advent of man names like “pest” only became common in the short period of industrial capitalism for the use of poisons in industrial agriculture and animal husbandry. The first and second volumes of this series deal in detail with the destructive and destructive role of animals and plants. The above report explains just one of these tragedies, which is that insect populations are rapidly declining worldwide. Insects play a crucial role in nature and in maintaining habitats for all living things. Insects even break down the biological structures of organisms that die, which causes them to decompose more quickly and preserve nature. This enriches the soil. Insects help keep the earth clean by speeding up the decomposition of biological waste. Without insects, humans would float in their own faeces and animal remains! Insects are also food for birds, bats and small mammals. Dr. Francisco Sanchez-Bio from the University of Sydney says: “About 60% of vertebrates require insects for their survival, many species of birds, bats, frogs and freshwater fish would be extinct without them.” The food cycle depends heavily on the activities of millions of insects that live underground and, in the oceans, and seas of the Earth. In addition to being a valuable source of food for other species and saving the planet’s ecosystems through their recycling activities, insects also provide another important free service to industrial agriculture: pollination, which plays a crucial role in food production. One study estimates that capitalist industrial agriculture benefits from insects’ free services by about $350 billion. “Insects are involved in the pollination of most flowering plants, including 75 percent of agricultural crops,” says Dr. Sanchez-Bio. It takes 17 pollinators to make chocolate, 15 of which are tiny creatures. One is a very small ant, and another is a very small moth that humans don’t know much about, but industrial capitalist agriculture will destroy them before they know it. We only know that in many countries, pollinator species such as wild honeybees are in decline. Some of the most famous types of butterflies, including the monarch butterfly, which pollinates many wildflowers, are also disappearing. The insect world is much larger than we humans can fathom. According to the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, the total weight of insects on Earth is 17 times the weight of all humans on Earth. The institute estimates that there are about 10 quintillion insects on Earth at any given time (a quintillion is a billion, or 10 times six triples of zeros, or 10¹⁹). The number of insect species on Earth is still only estimated at between 2 and 3 million. Unlike mammals, long-term research on insects is limited, and many are extinct before they are identified. According to the Smithsonian Institution, we only know about 900,000 different species of insects, but that’s about 80 percent of all species on Earth. Insects are going extinct before they’re even identified and classified. A report published in the journal Biological Conservation in February 2019 paints a grim picture. The report found that insect biomass in Germany, the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico, three countries where insect numbers have been monitored consistently over the past 30 years, has been declining by 2.5 percent per year (a decline of about 70 percent over that time). Populations of 41 percent of insect species have declined in all locations surveyed so far. US researchers in the Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico have found that insect populations have declined by a massive 98% over the past four decades. At this rate, many species will be wiped out. “If the current trend is not stopped, we will see a high rate of insect species extinction this century (more than the current average of 41%),” says Dr. Sanchez-Bayo. “A similar proportion of species have not changed in number, because a small percentage of species have increased and become more abundant, perhaps filling the gap left by those that have disappeared.” This means that the great balance that has existed for millions, if not billions, of years among animals, and especially insects, is undergoing a huge change, the catastrophic results of which cannot be predicted, but the emergence of various epidemics and pandemics among animals and human societies is becoming more and more likely. Habitat destruction due to industrial agriculture is a major cause of insect extinctions, for example, flies that helped pollinate cocoa trees have gone extinct. “These little flies need these trees to fertilize them as adults,” says Dr McAllister. “Their larvae live in the dry leaves of the tree. With the introduction of monoculture of shade trees, which are the habitat of the adult flies, there has been a huge decline and soon they will be gone, as well as the habitat that their larvae need to grow.” Increased use of chemical pesticides, invasive species and global warming also play a role in this decline. Research by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) says in a report published on September 10, 2020, that the world’s wildlife population has declined by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years. Since 1970, two-thirds of the animal population has decreased.

Five years later (March 2025), similar warnings and discoveries are repeated on a much larger scale.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665024001112

“This review critically examines the multifaceted impacts of chemical pesticides on environmental ecosystems and human health, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable pest management practices. The widespread use of pesticides, such as organochlorine compounds (e.g., DDT, endrin) known for their persistence and bioaccumulation, poses significant risks to biodiversity, water quality, and food safety. By accumulating in the food chain, these substances threaten higher trophic levels and amplify the potential for adverse health outcomes, including acute poisoning, cancer, and neurological disorders.” 

The behaviour and functioning of the dominant world order is the main cause of the extinction of many species and animals. The organization says that over the past 50 years, 68 percent of animal, bird and aquatic populations have decreased. Researchers believe that the most important cause is the destruction of forests and the expansion of agricultural land. Marco Lambertini, director of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, told AFP that the destruction of wildlife has accelerated dramatically in recent years. The worst declines have occurred in Africa (in the case of the Congolese gorilla) and Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2016, the organization recorded the extinction of about 60 percent of the world’s animal world, and now, after just four years, the decline is approaching 70 percent. According to Lambertini, this short time is only “a fleeting moment in the millions of years that countless species have lived on this planet.” Tanya Steele, the UK director of the World Wildlife Fund, said wildlife is in “free fall” as forests are burned, industrial and large-scale fishing and the destruction of natural areas. Until now, it was said that mobile phone waves were dangerous to human health. Now, the results of several studies have shown that these waves could be one of the causes of insect deaths. Cell phone radiation could be the cause of insect deaths in Europe, according to a new study. The findings come from a review of 190 scientific studies from around the world, compiled by the German Environmental Protection Association in collaboration with two other environmental organizations. The research shows that, in addition to pesticides and habitat loss and deforestation, increased electromagnetic radiation is also “probably having a negative impact on insect life.”

Of the 100 studies conducted in the laboratory and in the field, 60 show negative effects of cell phone signals on bees, honeybees and insects. These harms range from loss of the ability to navigate through magnetic fields to damage to the genes and larvae of these insects. According to the journal Environmental Medicine, which published the results of the study, the reason for this is that cell phone waves, as well as Internet and Wi-Fi radiation, expand calcium channels in the cells inside the insects’ bodies, allowing more calcium to flow in. Calcium is an important mineral that triggers a series of biochemical chain reactions in insects.

“ An enormous increase in the application of wireless communication in recent decades has intensified research into consequent increase in human exposure to electromagnetic (EM) radiofrequency (RF) radiation fields and potential health effects, especially in school children and teenagers, and this paper gives a snap overview of current findings and recommendations of international expert bodies, with the emphasis on exposure from Wi-Fi technology indoor devices. Our analysis includes over 100 in vitro, animal, epidemiological, and exposure assessment studies (of which 37 in vivo and 30 covering Wi-Fi technologies). Only a small portion of published research papers refers to the “real” health impact of Wi-Fi technologies on children, because they are simply not available. Results from animal studies are rarely fully transferable to humans. As highly controlled laboratory exposure experiments do not reflect real physical interaction between RF radiation fields with biological tissue, dosimetry methods, protocols, and instrumentation need constant improvement. Several studies repeatedly confirmed thermal effect of RF field interaction with human tissue, but non-thermal effects remain dubious and unconfirmed.” 2022 Jul 7

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9287836

The impact of mobile phone radiation on the environment is underestimated. This trend will accelerate with the arrival of 5G mobile technology. A year ago, in August 2021, researchers said their study, published in the journal Science Advances, is the strongest evidence yet of the devastating impact of light pollution on native insect populations, with consequences for birds and other wildlife species that rely on silkworms for food. Light pollution may be a factor in the “alarming” decline in insect populations in recent decades. A study in the UK found that streetlights disrupt moth behaviour and halve the number of silkworms. Modern LED lights appear to have the biggest impact on insects. The causes of the dramatic decline in insect populations are complex and diverse, including the destruction of forests, swamps, wetlands and marshes, the use of pesticides in industrial agriculture, pollution of rivers and lakes, electromagnetic waves and the use of artificial light are now being considered as other factors in the decline of insect populations. A scientific study published in April 2022 concluded that insect populations in some parts of the world have been halved due to climate change and industrial agriculture. The researchers in the UK said that warming and industrial agriculture are causing “serious declines” in insect populations worldwide. Dr Charlie Outhwaite of University College London, who led the study, said the destruction of insect populations could be detrimental not only to the natural environment but also to “human health and food security, particularly the loss of pollinators”.

The sharp decline in insect populations around the world – the so-called “insect apocalypse” – has caused widespread concern. The concern expressed in this regard is not at all about human health or the future of nature, but rather about the potential for increased production costs from the perspective of reduced capital gains. However, scientific data presents a mixed picture, with some insect species seeing dramatic population declines, while others remain stable. In the new study, researchers collected data on the range and numbers of nearly 20,000 insect species, including bees, ants, butterflies, grasshoppers, and dragonflies, at about 6,000 locations. The study, published in Nature, found that in areas where labour-intensive industrial farming techniques were used and warming was noticeable, insect numbers had fallen by 49 percent. This compares with relatively pristine locations that have so far avoided the most severe effects of warming. This research once again shows that the various factors resulting from capitalist production relations have a very dangerous and disruptive effect on the balance and harmony of life of insects with other animals and even plants, the results of which only suddenly become apparent with the emergence of diseases and epidemics. Capital dominates and owns all of nature, from inanimate to living.

Nowhere on this planet is any animal safe from the bite of this terrible monster. If it has not directly acquired and legally owned living beings, it has turned them into traps for tourist capital, huge zoos, and new areas of capital advance by creating fences and specific habitats. The field of tourism capital is expanding and accumulating enormously year after year, the result of which is nothing but the destruction of animals outside the fence and the entrapment of the rest. Such changes that have occurred in the last few decades are the main source of the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the epidemics that are coming. The conversion of natural resources, plants, animals in the air, on the land and in the waters into capital is a requirement of these production relations. To find the root of environmental problems, we have to refer to the history of capitalism, especially industrial capitalism, every time and in every context. The hunting and killing of wild animals, not for the purpose of obtaining meat and skins, but simply as a form of entertainment and a show of appreciation, began in Africa and India by European, especially British, capitalism. This process spread in the areas of industrial capital expansion and mass production of agriculture and livestock and took on global dimensions. This was the beginning of the great invasion of capital on nature and the earth’s resources, but by no means the end. From the very beginning, capitalism sought to control natural factors and the conditions of agricultural production, including changes in the seasons, the quality and content of the land, plant pests, and the type of seed. The importance of the issue reached its peak in the years following the Second Imperialist War. The remarkable technical advances of these times also provided the necessary tools for achieving this goal to the owners of capital. The long cycle of planting, tending, and harvesting, the difficulties of predicting the yield, the danger of plant pests, and the loss of produce, both during fertilization and after harvest and sometimes during storage, are all factors that distinguish this sphere of capital accumulation from other realms and affect the level of productivity of labour. However, one thing is a vital and inherent condition for this system. The achievement of maximum surplus value requires the development of accumulation accompanied by the uncontrolled increase of surplus labour of the working masses at the expense of necessary labour, that is, their wages. In this process, the mechanization of planting, harvesting, storage, and transportation certainly play a very decisive role and contribute significantly to raising the rate of profit. In this transition, capital, like all other realms of advance and by its institutional nature, takes the path of excessive production, seeing the acquisition of golden items of profit as everything and the destruction of humans or their unlimited misery in this regard as the simplest and most unsparing tasks. Capital’s invasion of nature in the agricultural sector is tied to the widespread use of pesticides and poisons. In capitalist agriculture, maintaining the consumer value of the product in the production and management process is subject to many risks. Plant pests constitute the most important and influential part of these risks. In order to avoid bearing the costs of reproducing a product infested with pests, the capitalist farmer takes the path of using pesticides. By doing so, he not only avoids the costs of reproducing but also minimizes the amount of waste and damage. In short, the uncontrolled use of pesticides is an integral part of the process of capital appreciation in the agricultural sector and a necessary condition for achieving the maximum desired surplus value or profit. The foundation of capital’s work is based on the production of maximum goods with the minimum labour force, the extreme reduction of the cost of the various components of the fixed capital sector, the highest possible quality of goods, and maximum competitiveness in the capitalist market. Ensuring all of this in capitalist industrial agriculture is tied to the widespread use of pesticides. The consequences of this onslaught have been the beginning of the destruction of living things, including plants, creatures on land, in the air, and in water. Insects, rodents, weeds, fungi, bacteria, worms, parasites, spiders, and birds are all creatures that are attacked by the toxins produced by agricultural and chemical companies. Another major onslaught has been the transformation of forests and pastures into areas for the advance of capital and the destruction of animal and plant habitats, which has no end. Let us continue with the latest research in these fields.

Billions of birds have disappeared from the scene in North America and Europe in recent years. The situation is worse in the tropics, with more populations at risk of extinction. The number of birds in the world is declining dramatically. There are about 11,000 species of birds in the world, but half of them is declining in population and only 6% are increasing in population. One of the main reasons for the decline in bird populations is the damage caused to bird habitats by targeted capital activities; climate change, pesticides, disease, and air, water, and soil pollution all contribute to the decline in bird populations. Billions of birds have disappeared from the scene in North America and Europe in recent years. The situation is worse in the tropics, with more populations at risk of extinction. Researchers who prepared a recent report on bird population declines, published on May 5, 2022, say that changing bird populations are a good indicator of how the world is changing and the health of the planet. Birds are highly sensitive to changes in their natural habitats and are present all over the planet, so “listening to what they are telling us” Can alert us to the severity of nature’s degradation, the researchers said. A recent study of bird populations, published in the journal Annual Resources and Environment, found that 48 percent of bird species are declining.

Bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 3 billion since 1970, and 600 million birds have disappeared in Europe since 1980. Birds are affected by all aspects of human activity. For example, 2.7 million birds die each year in Canada alone from pesticide poisoning. Those birds that are larger and have a longer breeding season are more at risk than others. Parrots, sea pigeons, cranes and storks are among these birds. Every country in the world has at least one endangered bird, and ten countries have more than 75 species at risk.

The emergence and spread of epidemics

Disruption of symmetry, harmony, and balance among animals, the extinction of many species and the survival of others due to environmental destruction, fires, deforestation, and the like, is one of the important reasons for the emergence of epidemics in human societies. Another important reason is the ever-closer proximity of human societies to the living environment of animals due to the ever-increasing transformation of nature into more and more areas of capital advance. Hunting animals for their use in zoos or for the conversion of their meat, skin, and other body parts into capital circulation is one of the factors that causes and spreads epidemics. Examples of this claim were the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. The live and present case of monkeypox among humans in May 2022 are both very telling evidence of such cases. If such viruses do not cause disease or epidemics in the bodies of these animals because their relationship with their host is a peaceful one, in the biological sense of symbiosis, then these same viruses can be deadly and dangerous to humans and human societies, either through mutation or even without any biological change. This mortality is being carried out in astronomical conditions and in such a way that capital and capital governments, during dozens of capitalist crises and the process of falling capital profit rates, have reduced the health and treatment costs of the working masses and channelled them into the capital circulation cycle. Let us examine this issue by reviewing the recent period. The Covid-19 pandemic is a serious reminder of the tense relationship between humans and nature. Factors that are thought to lead to the emergence of pandemics are mentioned above, including the destruction of natural habitats, wildlife trade, and other factors that contribute to the decline in wildlife. A little over two years have passed since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. At the moment, the moment of these two years, entire governments, the World Health Organization, thousands of institutes and research centers of the world of capital, are talking about their round-the-clock efforts and huge progress in the field of the challenge of this disease. Giant pharmaceutical trusts have seized the most galactic profits by producing and distributing vaccines and raising the flag of pioneering in these developments and have drowned the world in the dust of the miraculous power of their discoveries. All of these and all the media and capital’s platforms are saying that although Covid-19 exists, it is under control, deaths have decreased and the number of infected people has become relatively less!

This is just a distortion, a falsification and a distortion of the nature of capitalism and the institutions of the capitalist order that arise from the nature of capital. The same role has been played and is being played every day in relation to Covid-19 and what it has brought upon humanity. Let us look at the history of the last few years to see what has happened to the global working class. The capitalist system, 14 years ago, turned its explosive global crisis into a mechanism for further slaughter of food, clothing, housing, medicine, education, or basic livelihoods of the working masses. It made every possible plan to perhaps usher in a new round of prosperity for a part of global capital. This struggle failed under the pressure of the inherent contradictions of capital and its tsunami-like rebellion. The number of hospital beds per thousand people decreased during and after each crisis (1990, 2000 and 2008). An example is the number of hospital beds in Italy, Spain and all the countries of the European Community over the course of eighteen years, and especially after the 2008-2009 crisis.

Chart 17

Decades of Tight Fiscal Policy Have Left the Health Care System in Italy Ill-Prepared to Fight the COVID-19 Outbreak Volume 55, 2020 · Number 3 · pp. 147–152 

In recent years, Sweden has been one of the ten countries with the lowest number of intensive care beds per 1,000 people in the Organization of American States (OAS) of 34 powerful countries. In the latest Health at a Glance report, which presents figures for 2015, Sweden’s hospital beds have fallen even further. Compared to other EU countries, Sweden has the fewest available intensive care beds; among the 34 countries, only Mexico and Chile have fewer hospital beds. The number of available intensive care beds has decreased in most countries, with the exception of Korea and Turkey. The average across the 34 major economies is 4.7 intensive care beds per 1,000 people. The number of available hospital beds in Sweden has been declining since the mid-1990s. Swedish capitalism, slightly later than Britain, began its all-out assault on the gains of the labour movement precisely at the beginning of the 1980s. The Swedish bourgeoisie and its representatives on the left and right, from moderates to social democrats, all joined together with one voice in organizing a lightning assault on all the existing welfare, social, educational, and medical facilities that were the product of the long struggles of the working class. Between 1989 and 1994 alone, some 68,000 relief workers and more than 5,000 nurses were laid off from various hospitals. The health budget was largely cut, with vital and essential activities such as care for the elderly and even some necessary surgeries on the elderly either suspended or reduced to a minimum. Every relief worker was forced to work several times more than before, and every sick worker who visited hospitals was forced to pay several times the cost of treatment and receive minimal medical and treatment services. During this period and after that, a large number of workers in the healthcare sector of the Swedish capital emigrated to other countries for work. One of the fields of work where the most labour migration occurs is the healthcare sector, where nurses leave their country due to low wages, hard work, and long shifts. The European Union’s Job Markets Agency compares 300 professions, with nurses being the most in demand abroad. On average, around 10,000 nurses move each year. In 2013, nurses were the largest group of workers to move within Europe. The main reason for this is the reduction in healthcare budgets and the layoffs of workers in these capital-intensive sectors. Statistics compiled by the European Commission show that Romania has lost 7,120 nurses in five years, and Sweden has actually lost a lot of nurses, with 6,585 applying for jobs in other countries in the same year. In total, 23,715 Swedish nurses with work permits are working in Norway. Britain has also been a target for Swedish nurses. There is no exact data on this, but it is likely due to both salaries, as a nurse in Norway earns almost twice as much as in Sweden. The Swedish Council of County Councils wrote in December 2018: More than 2,600 care homes in the country have closed in the autumn weeks, mainly due to a shortage of nurses. The capitalist mode of production has brought all these disasters and calamities upon humanity in order to reduce its relentless descent into the quagmire of crises. There is no accurate information about the number of hospital beds in Iran. But even if there were, considering the tens of millions of poor and marginalized working masses who are unable to even provide for themselves and their families, apportioning the number of hospital beds among the population would seem very strange and ridiculous.

But according to Iranian government officials last year, we should have two and a half nurses for every bed, but the actual figure is only 0.7 nurses, while if we are to provide proper services to the people, it is necessary to have 9 to 10 nurses for every thousand people! The situation of American capitalism has not been and is not better. Despite the multitude of colourful health and medical institutes and the astronomical accumulation of capital in this field every year, the huge pharmaceutical giants and the pride of the largest market in the field of capital advance in this field, the vast mass of tens of millions of poor workers in this country are deprived of minimum medical coverage. It was precisely in this situation that no government in the world and no part of the capitalist world had any level of preparation necessary to deal with this Covid-19 invasion. This very naked and blatant lack of preparation, contrary to all the capitalist-oriented ideas of the right or the left, had nothing to do with the type of management, “democratic”, dictatorial, fascist, or being in the shadow of the galaxy of technological and industrial growth, or any such issues. The root of this complete lack of preparation, as shown above with the figures, lies in the depths of the existence of capital, in the depths of the existence of relations in which everything, the entire fabric of its existence, including all its knowledge, discoveries, inventions, research and training in all areas, including health, medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, as well as in the case of the environment or any other field, is solely in the service of increasing profits and increasing the self-aggrandizement of capital. Relations in which man is the most vulgar being and his entire prestige does not exceed the limit of an active cog in the profit-making machine and a passive cog in the machine of the capitalist political and social order. In a system and method of production with such a background, why should any scientific orientation or research be relevant to understanding the self-created dangers to human lives. When the entire daily functioning of capital works towards creating deadly environmental tsunamis, antagonism to nature, and the extinction of living beings, why should its doctors, researchers, and scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical institutes take the direction and direction of discovering these dangers?

The extent to which the labour movement has been able to force governments to accept costs in this regard, whether the working class must exert the greatest possible pressure on the bourgeoisie for this purpose, is another matter; the debate is about the nature and scope of capitalist existence. The global labour movement, over the past several decades, under the rubble of right-wing and left-wing reformism and destructive deviations on the one hand and the violent repression of the fascist, police, and bourgeois military on the other, has not only not exerted any pressure on the capitalist system, but has also retreated moment by moment in the face of this system’s horrific attacks. Let us return to the discussion on the crisis-ridden state of global capital. The volume of foreign accumulation of the 10 major industrial countries, consisting of the United States and its allies, which, thanks to the reduction of all the needs of the working masses of the world, limped, limped in 2011, finally reached $1,700 billion, began to decline in 2012, and in 2015 and 2016, it went to life, but it decreased again and fell to $1,100 billion by 2018. China’s social capital situation worsened, before it could recover and grow, it fell into a crisis, and in 2016 it experienced its lowest economic growth in 26 years. During the same period, the debt of the governments of the ten largest industrialized countries rose from $35 trillion to $51 trillion. Everything screamed loudly that a new round of crisis explosion was coming.

Global capital was in such a state that suddenly Corona arrived with a terrible bang. Corona had a tremendous capacity to deepen the crisis. The exploited labour force paralyzed international capital and surrendered a significant percentage to death. Capital is the product of the exploitation of the worker or dead labour, and while Covid-19 prevented millions and millions of workers from working, being exploited, and producing profits for capital, it is clear that it would also make the unruly crisis of capitalism even more stormy. It was here that capital entered the fray with all its might. The only way to challenge the falling rate of profit and deal with the crisis was a pandemic assault on the minimum livelihoods and living conditions of the global working class. A terrifying assault that took many forms and with many different strategies. It is the custom of capital to proceed directly and crudely, by lengthening the working day, by mass unemployment, by direct reduction of wages, by a destructive increase in the intensity of work, by the swallowing up of small capitals by more powerful competitors, and the like. Capital has long been doing these things on a very large scale and with octopus-like mechanisms. Here the capitalist states resorted to an old trick, but on a scale that had never been so large and shameless.

The coronavirus outbreak in Europe has hit Italy and Spain, which were already struggling with economic problems, harder than other European countries. At the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, European finance ministers are considering a €500 billion support plan to overcome the coronavirus crisis. This was the beginning, because by March 2021, $30,146 billion (35% of the 2019 global GDP, 84,991 (at constant 2010 prices)) of capital had been pumped into the world’s social capital. The US’s share of this amount was $16,704 billion, and the European Union’s 6,642 billion GEL. The Chinese capital government had also injected tens of billions of dollars into the financial system by February 2020 to combat the effects of the coronavirus on the economic cycle. Talk of injecting more than a trillion yuan into China’s banking and financial system, an amount equivalent to 150 billion euros or more than 160 billion dollars. The Swedish government will contribute up to 3,000 billion kronor to the capitalist production cycle in a series of shock measures, first 500 billion kronor, then 300 billion kronor, and finally under various names, including reducing employers’ costs by 50 percent, completely eliminating the capitalists’ share of workers’ sick leave insurance, drastically reducing the so-called “employer’s tax” and a list of these measures will help the capitalist production cycle by up to 3,000 billion kronor. Many may think that governments resorted to drastic handouts to perhaps prevent the dismissal of a number of workers! If anyone thinks so, it is a delusion and a loss of consciousness. At the very moment when these aids were flowing into the bank accounts of the capitalists, the working masses were dismissed in droves, thousands, and thousands. In Sweden, with a population of 10 million, more than 13,000 restaurant workers lost their jobs in a matter of days. Just one hotel company has laid off 2,000 workers in the past few days. A global storm of layoffs has begun. The Travel and Tourism Trust alone has reported 50 million workers being laid off. The list is terrifyingly long. Thus, the most galactic budgets have been approved to prevent the decline in capital gains and have been given to the giant financial and industrial trusts. In addition, stock markets around the world lost a significant amount of their value. Here, governments, along with the stock market, used a cunning trick. Early in the pandemic, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it had lost about $4 trillion in value. An event that also happened to all the major stock exchanges in the world, including the UK, Germany, and Japan. Twenty days later, the drama was repeated on a larger scale, this time the New York Stock Exchange fell by 10 percent, France by 9 percent, Germany by 8 percent, and the rest by the same amount or more. Something like $15 trillion in total stock markets. Capitalism suggests that a $15 trillion drop in stock values ​​is synonymous with a reduction of this amount in the value of total international capital!! The surface of the story is true, but in the meantime, very crucial fundamental issues are being concealed and falsified. A significant portion of this $15 trillion is in stocks that workers have bought, or in fact, have turned their paid labour into the “virtual capital” of giant financial and industrial trusts. In effect, this reduction means shifting this money from the pockets of workers to other owners of capital. A fairly large number of workers see themselves and their children’s futures secured by paying a portion of their wages to buy shares in large trusts. They gain nothing by doing so, but the giants of finance, by increasing the price of these bonds, increase the amount of capital available to them for advance- ment in more profitable fields. The capitalists make huge profits in this way and as soon as signs of crisis appear, they confiscate all these items in the blink of an eye and take them away from the workers. Another part of this $15 trillion belongs to small capitalists, whose ownership is cancelled by the world stock exchange by applying the capital purification mechanism and given to the owners of larger capital. The stock market does several important things in this regard in order to address the crisis. First, it converts trillions of dollars of paid labour of the working class into unpaid labour or into profits and capital of trusts. Second, it allows large capital to bankrupt its smaller competitors, thereby achieving the process of capital purification. If we add up all these figures, they had offered the capitalist class something like $50 trillion by March 2021 to slaughter the working class in terms of food, clothing, education, and medical care. As the crisis rages, this figure will multiply. A figure that will be taken from the workers, their breadless table, their lack of education, and their future generations, to the last krona. Wages will be subjected to the most brutal attacks. Unemployment will soar; hunger and poverty will reach volcanic proportions. Schools will be dismantled with greater speed than before, hospitals will be closed one after another. The retirement age will be raised again. Unemployment and sickness insurance will be slaughtered, capital will begin a global and strategic massacre against the existing livelihoods of the world’s workers, it will recognize no boundaries for this massacre and will continue it until the working-class retreats to a 19th century level of livelihood. All that has been said so far has prepared the ground for the hound of Covid-19 to slaughter and massacre the working masses under the auspices of capital. Something that is clear within a year of this long period in the World Health Organization report on May 5, 2022.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report that nearly 15 million people worldwide died in 2020 and 2021 from the coronavirus or its impact on health systems. The WHO estimate is almost three times the official figures announced by various governments. According to the WHO, the highest number of deaths was in Southeast Asia (mainly India), the Americas and Europe. According to research conducted by scientists at the World Health Organization, the true number of deaths from Covid-19 from January 2020 to the end of 2021 was around 13.3 million to 16.6 million. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an additional seven to 10 million deaths are due to weak health systems in countries. The WHO figures are based on the method of calculating excess mortality. This method compares the number of deaths recorded in a year with the average number of deaths in previous years. According to this statistic, the highest number of deaths, 84 percent, occurred in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. Experts from this organization have stated that due to corona restrictions in many countries, some of the usual deaths have not occurred. For example, road accidents and workplace accidents can be mentioned. Because many people have been working from home and remotely, and in some areas, curfews have been in place. In the past, other institutions have also provided similar statistics on deaths from Corona. For example, the US Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) announced the death toll related to the pandemic at 15.4 million people. The figures announced by the World Health Organization have been released in the media at a time when the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that more than 18 million people have died from Covid-19. On the other hand, some countries, including India, have disputed the WHO’s method of calculating the number of deaths from Covid and have opposed the idea that the actual number of deaths is much higher than the official figures. World Health Organization estimates show that India had more than 4.7 million deaths from 2020 to the end of 2021, while the official Covid-19 death toll in the country was 481,000 for the same period. The long-term effects of Covid-19, which include dozens of complications, must also be added to the scale of this disaster, which involves hundreds of millions of people, mostly workers. According to various estimates from various institutes, about 25% of those who have experienced the coronavirus have developed what is called post-COVID. If we take the data from the World Health Organization as a basis for calculation, in the same two-year period, about one billion people were infected with this virus, of which a quarter, or at least two hundred million people, generally workers without the slightest health care, suffer from incurable post-COVID complications.

The most crucial question is what the labour movement will do in the face of this criminal war of capitalism. The answer to this question is unclear, but one thing is clear. The capitalist nightmare will have no end, and this is while the international working class has no place to retreat. The evidence shows that the workers have no other choice but to raise the banner of a real war against capitalism, to erect the barricade of radical class struggle. We do not know what will happen, but we know this well, we will rush forward determinedly and steadfastly to play a radical role in the war ahead of our class.

Chapter 6

Capital, the Perpetuation of Profit Cycles and Environmental Destruction Continued from Book Two

In this chapter, we will generally address the trends and processes of capital production and its environmental consequences, as well as the health of humans and animals. According to a new UN report in April 2022, industrial agricultural production is destroying and degrading land in an unbridled way. 40% of land has already lost value, largely due to modern agriculture, and if things continue at this rate, an area the size of South America could be completely transformed into barren, nutrient-poor plains by 2050. The report, titled “Global Landscape,” has been in the works for five years, and examines how the capitalist world manages the Earth’s resources, such as soil, water, and biodiversity. One of the main focuses of the report is the degradation of the quality of the planet’s land. The report shows that capitalist industrial farming practices are leading to a decline in the overall health of the land, a decline in soil fertility, a decrease in carbon sequestration, and a reduced ability to sustain species. According to the report, just 1% of farmers own 70% of all agricultural land, while 80% of farms are less than two hectares each, meaning they are only used to produce the daily needs of the families who work them. At least 70% of forest areas were cleared for agricultural purposes between 2013 and 2019. Large-scale industrial agricultural production systems are the biggest culprits, accounting for 80 percent of deforestation and 70 percent of freshwater use. This will reduce agricultural land by another 15 million square kilometres by 2050, an area the size of South America. Continuing this trend would also mean a 12-14 percent loss of productivity in agricultural land, rangelands and natural areas in the long term, with sub-Saharan African countries suffering the most. “We cannot take land for granted,” says the executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). How heavy machinery in industrial agriculture is causing significant damage to the soil. A study published by Swedish researchers in May 2022 says: The huge tractors currently used in industrial agriculture are damaging a fifth of all cultivated land in the world. Researchers in Sweden say in a recently published report that the weight of a combine, tractor or other large agricultural machinery risks compacting the soil, which can lead to flooding and reduced yields. The researchers calculate that combine harvesters, when fully equipped, have grown from 4,000 kilograms in 1958 to about 36,000 kilograms in 2020. In soil that has been pressed down by heavy machinery, air escapes from the pores and the soil becomes more compacted. This process makes it harder for plants to take root and absorb nutrients and makes the land more prone to flooding. The increasing weight of machinery is a threat to large-scale agricultural production, they say. Their analysis, published in the Proceedings of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, suggests that combine harvesters could damage a fifth of the world’s cropland.

(Thomas Keller, professor of soil management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala).

Thomas Keller, a professor of soil management at Uppsala University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden, says the machines need to be designed to weigh less than a certain amount. “By driving these devices over the ground, soil compaction can happen in seconds, but it can take decades to restore the soil to its original state,” he said.

In January 2020, the World Economic Forum in Davos reported that global societies had reached a record annual consumption of raw materials: 100 billion tons per year. According to the report, 100.6 billion tons of raw materials were consumed in 2017 – the last year for which data was available. Half of this total is used as sand, clay and cement for the construction of buildings, facilities, factories, roads, ports, airports, etc., and the rest is used to produce fertilizers. Coal, oil and gas accounted for 15% of the total consumption, and metal ores accounted for 10%. The remaining 25 percent are plants and trees used for fuel and food. The largest share of capital consumption of these materials is in the housing industry: 40 percent of the total. For food production, transportation, health, communications, and finished goods for non-capital consumers such as clothing and household goods constitute other high-consumption industries. Of the materials used each year, one-third (for example, in cars or buildings) will still be in use the following year. But 15% of this total is released into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, and 25% (including plastics dumped into oceans and rivers) as waste. A third of this material is landfilled as non-recyclable waste. Only 8.6% of this material is recycled. The amount of material consumed in the global capitalist economy has quadrupled since the 1970s. Population growth, however, has only doubled. Last year (2019) was declared “Earth Violation Day.” Earth Day is the name given to the day on which all renewable resources for one year’s consumption are exhausted. However, consumption is not uniform throughout the world, and developed capitalist countries with high capital and individual consumption have much higher consumption than other countries and poorer classes. For example, the average consumption of a North American citizen is five times that of a Mexican citizen, 10 times that of a Chinese citizen, and 30 times that of an Indian citizen. If the whole world lived like America, we would need 5 planets to meet our consumption needs. This number is 4.1 for Australia, 3.2 for Russia, 3 for Germany, and only 0.7 for India. It goes without saying that such a comparison in the world of capital, which has the highest level of trade, shows that a significant part of goods, whether capital or personal consumption, are produced in other geographical locations, while their capital and personal consumption takes place in another place. Therefore, the whole world of capital should be considered with the hysteria of production and accumulation of capital in relation to the consumption of raw materials, as in other productions. Capital production and accumulation have ushered in the sixth age of mass extinction of animals and destruction of their natural habitats. This is while exactly one year later, experts from the global network “Footprint” announced that on January 29, 2021, “humans” have reached the maximum utilization of the planet’s natural resources. This means that for the rest of the year, capital production and accumulation in the world will consume more than 100 billion tons of natural resources. The Footprint Network marks a day each year when the natural resource use peak of that year is reached; the resources used for urban development, food production, and industrial use. Reaching such a day means that from that day on, capital’s consumption of natural resources will exceed the Earth’s capacity and ability to regenerate them. Last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the relative stagnation of capitalist production, it consumed fewer resources. But in 2021, according to expert assessments, the use of natural resources will be much greater than before the Corona era. At the same time, plant and animal species are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. But these species and their habitats are of extraordinary importance to all life on Earth and all manifestations of existence, including humans. In these reports, “humans” are mentioned everywhere as the main factor in environmental destruction, greed for production for profit and capital accumulation. For a worker with the least class consciousness, it is as clear as day that this human being, who is named as the cause, has lived on the planet for tens of thousands of years. Now, how is it that this same human being, during the approximately 150 years of industrial capitalism, has suddenly become destructive of nature and his own living environment? The demagoguery of capital research institutes, newspapers, and in many cases even researchers in misleading and giving false addresses about the destruction of the environment and nature is becoming more rampant every day! The words of capitalist statesmen and their colourful environmental think tanks are not due to a lack of knowledge about the factors and causes of environmental destruction, but rather another issue that is as old as capitalist production relations. That the key to human life, the provider of sustenance and the guarantor of the existence of man and nature, is capital, and these relations were not and are not to be questioned or discussed. The essence of this message and the coercive function of capital is also very clear and explicit. That workers are sellers of labour power, have no right to interfere in the fate of work and production, what should be produced and what should not be produced and how it should be produced, only capital decides, and the basis of capital’s decision, whatever it is, must be accepted as divine providence. If man is mentioned here as the cause, it is also merely a code name for capital! Capital was not created from the beginning and is never meant to be responsible for what it does to humans, their environment, and nature. When the foundation of capital’s existence is the sacrifice of humans in the face of profit, when in the process of work and production it alienates humans from their work, the products of their work, it is not meant to and has never been to have mercy on nature, animals, and their environment. Everything and everyone must be sacrificed in the face of profit and the accumulation of ever greater capital.

We have discussed the production of raw materials, and it is necessary to follow up with a discussion of heavy metals, their historical production, and their harmful effects in Chapter 6 of Volume 2 of this series. An important part of the annual production of capital raw materials are heavy metals, which have various capital uses in various processes and products. What they have in common is their potential to cause various, often dangerous and incurable diseases. These metals, which include 18 elements, are named below. But before we get into the discussion of heavy metals and their environmental, human, and animal health effects as their use increases, we should discuss the discovery, extraction, and astronomical increase of other metals, for which no results have yet been published on their environmental effects. However, the origin and widespread use of these elements indicate disasters far greater than the use of heavy metals.

Such elements are called rare earths. Rare earths and international competition in other areas of capital advance that play an increasingly important role. The rapid increase in electronics, the need for batteries with high storage capacity, the increasing prevalence of electric vehicles, and the need for capital to further increase labour productivity in the production of goods, both capital and consumer, are increasing the need for metals with high electrical conductivity, formability, and other physical properties, such as lithium. The main focus of Bolivia’s large companies was initially tin mining, but tin is no longer the main focus in Bolivia. The main focus is now its vast reserves and resources of lithium (it is said to have about half of the world’s resources; the other Latin American countries with large lithium reserves are Chile and Argentina), which are essential for making electric cars. The Evo Morales government intended to sign lithium mining contracts with Chinese companies instead of large companies such as Glencore, Jindal Steel & Power (India), Pan American Energy, and South American Silver (now known as Tri metals Mining), Tesla, and Tata India. With the Chinese Tianqi Lithium Group, which is engaged in mining the same element in Argentina. In addition, Bolivia’s silver, iron, zinc and indium mines are among the world’s most important resources. Indium is widely used in the semiconductor industry. The Bolivian capitalist state, which has an active presence in mining through the Bolivian National Mining Company (COMIBO) and the Bolivian National Lithium Company (YLB), is in dire need of large-scale capital and advanced techniques with high labour productivity in order to maintain and even increase its position as a shareholder in the surplus value produced by the Bolivian working masses. The metals known as rare earths are in this category. The market for the production of these metals, which includes the first identified mineral of these elements, is a mixture called gadolinite, which is a chemical compound of caesium, yttrium, iron, silicon and other elements. Their production is generally controlled by Chinese companies, whether their mines are in China, Africa or Latin America (especially Bolivia). Chinese companies control nearly 90 percent of the production and sales of rare earths and mass-produce them using workers whose meagre wages below the poverty line are not paid for months, directly adding to the massive profits of capital. So far, 17 rare earth elements have been identified that have industrial applications (lanthanum, caesium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium).

(La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm,Yb, Lu, Sc, Y)

Most of these elements, despite their names, are very abundant in the Earth. For example, caesium is the 25th most abundant element, with a concentration equal to that of copper. Due to geological characteristics, these elements are very dispersed in the Earth as fine soil particles and are not sufficiently concentrated in one place. As a result, their discovery, extraction, and exploitation are very costly. Deposits of these elements that can be exploited economically are called rare earth minerals. The first identified mineral of these elements was gadolinite, a chemical compound of caesium (Cs), yttrium (Y), iron, silicon, and other elements. This mineral was obtained from a mine in the village of Ytterby in Sweden. Several rare earth elements are named after this area. These discoveries occurred at a time when the industrialized country was undergoing a period of great capitalist development, a period when, at its peak, Alfred Nobel revolutionized mining with more than a hundred discoveries and inventions, including the invention of dynamite. The proximity of these elements to the lactide group, which includes uranium, thorium, plutonium, etc., which are radioactive elements, and their type of ion extraction is common. In addition, these elements are created in the process of radioactive decay of elements such as uranium, and they themselves are not stable and are converted into other elements by emitting radioactive waves. For this reason, their lifespan is often short, and some have a half-life of 18 years. This process, often accompanied by their extraction, has caused environmental damage that has forced some capitalists in this area of ​​capital investment to temporarily stop production. For example, the Malaysian government recently forced the production of these elements to stop due to public environmental concerns. Near mining and industrial centres that extract and process them, their concentration can increase to several times the natural level. These elements can be transported to the soil by many factors such as erosion, weather, acidity, precipitation, acidic groundwater, etc. These elements have functions similar to metals. They can be excreted or absorbed depending on soil conditions. They can be taken up by plants through biological nutrient sources and then consumed by humans and animals. In addition, strong acids during the extraction process of rare earth elements form compounds with them, which can then be transferred to the environment and water bodies, making the environment acidic. Most of these elements, along with radioactive elements such as thorium (Th) and uranium (U), are found in rare earth rocks, which are dispersed in the environment during mining and cause widespread environmental pollution. For this reason, the Chinese government was forced to temporarily stop mining these elements, especially in Inner Mongolia, in 2010, 2013, and recent years, but production and mining resumed after a short period of time. In most of these cases, the price of these important raw materials in world markets has increased several times. In this regard, it is not possible to clearly and with certainty understand what the main reason for the temporary stoppage of production was!

In 2017, China produced 81% of the world’s rare earth resources. The country extracted the most of these elements from Inner Mongolia, which holds 36.7% of global reserves. Australia is a distant second and the other largest producer, with 15% of global production, but this same capitalist country enjoyed lower production growth in 2020, with almost all of its production losses lost to Chinese capital. From 2014 to 2019, China’s exports of rare earth oxides doubled. 80% of China’s exports of these materials go to the United States. France, Japan, and Estonia also export processed rare earth elements to the United States. But they import their raw materials from China. Some important applications of rare earth elements are used in the production of high-performance magnets, catalysts, alloys, glasses, and electronics. Neodymium (Nd) is important in magnet production. Rare earth elements are used in electric motors for hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, hard disk drives, portable electronics, microphones, and loudspeakers. Caesium and lanthanum are important catalysts for petroleum refining and are used as diesel additives. Caesium (Cs), lanthanum (La), and neodymium (Nd) are important in alloying and the production of fuel cells and nickel-metal hydride (Ni) batteries. Caesium, gadolinium (Gd) and neodymium play an important role in electronics and are used in the production of LCD and plasma displays, fibre optics, lasers and also in medical imaging. Other uses of rare earth elements are in tracking in medical applications, fertilization. Rare earth elements are used in agriculture to increase plant growth, labour productivity in agriculture. Rare earth elements are used in agriculture through fertilizers enriched with rare earth elements, which is a common practice in China. In addition, these elements are feed additives for livestock, which lead to increased reproduction of large animals and the production of eggs and dairy products, and in fact, increased labour productivity in this area of ​​capital investment. The destructive effects, especially long-term and cumulative over time, on the human body, animals and nature are unknown, and no research has been done in this area, or if it has been done, it is far from the point of view because there are huge profits in this regard. In this case, the same trend can be compared to a similar period when, shortly after Marie Curie’s discoveries of radioactivity (radium Rh and polonium Po elements) (about 120 years ago), profit-seeking capitalists were selling water contaminated with these radioactive substances as the water of life! Therefore, the radioactivity of these elements, their proximity to radioactive elements and their fission from these materials, the increase in the acidity of the soil, rain and waters of the world is another great danger that threatens the health of workers who work with these materials and the masses who feed on these materials under the influence of capitalist misinformation. But the producers and consumers of these capital goods continue to work only with the idea of ​​profit and capital appreciation, like most areas of capital. China also has the highest mining and processing rate of these elements. In 2019, nearly 90% of the mining and processing of functional oxides of these elements was carried out in China. Almost all of the remaining 10% was produced by an Australian company in Malaysia. Malaysia plans to stop producing these elements due to public environmental concerns. New products that require rare earth elements include advanced equipment such as smartphones, digital cameras, computer components (PC components), high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles, etc. In addition, these elements are also used in new energy technology, military equipment, glass manufacturing, and metallurgy.

Chart 18 a: Resources and reserves of rare earths in the world and major producers in this area. Capital advance.

Chart 18 b: Resources and reserves of rare earths in the world and major producers in this area. Capital advance. China continues to mine these elements, Figure 18b, 2021

China is not only the largest producer of these valuable and strategic materials (charts above) and not only has huge reserves of these elements but also has made and continues to make significant investments in this area in African and Latin American countries. The reason for the international conflicts between the world’s major capitalist powers, such as the United States, Europe, and some Asian giants, is the performance of Chinese capitalism and its government in recent decades in Burma (Myanmar) over the country’s mineral resources, including rare earths, which China has complete control over extraction and production. Burmese domestic capital reaps huge profits in this cooperation, while China, with its global dominance in these areas, like any major capitalist, reaps huge profits in return for its massive capital, high labour productivity in this area, and the production of semi-finished and fully finished capital goods.

Heavy metal environmental pollution is increasingly widespread and, due to its adverse effects worldwide, it gives a broader dimension to the dimensions of environmental disasters and human health. These inorganic pollutants pose an unspoken and unknown danger due to the rapid growth of agriculture and metal industries, the increasing accumulation of waste, fertilizers and pesticides in the waters, soil and atmosphere of the earth under the banner of greenhouse gases and global warming. This review shows how pollutants enter the environment along with their fate. Some metals affect biological function and development, while others accumulate in one or more different organs and cause many serious diseases, such as cancer. The pharmacokinetic and toxicological processes in humans for each metal are described in the second volume. In summary, this review presents the physiological and biochemical effects of each bioaccumulation of heavy metals in humans and the levels of gravimetric and disease-causing factors. These metals include titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, molybdenum, silver, cadmium, tin, platinum, gold, mercury, and lead. They are defined as heavy metals due to their high atomic weight or due to their high density. Today, the term “heavy metal” is used to describe metallic chemical elements and metalloids that are toxic to the environment and humans. Some metalloids, as well as lighter metals such as selenium, arsenic, and aluminium, are toxic. They are called heavy metals. While some heavy metals are not usually toxic, such as the element gold, but are produced using heavy metals such as mercury. However, heavier and more dangerous metals such as uranium, radium, and the rare earth elements (which include seventeen elements) also have the chemical and toxic properties of heavy metals. Metalloids tend to form strong bonds, which is an important consequence of this. Their property is that they can bond covalently (the strongest chemical bond) with organic molecules of living organisms. Hence, they form ions and lipophilic compounds, and when they bind to non-metallic elements of cellular macromolecules, they can cause toxic effects, genetic changes, and cancer. Due to their lipophilic nature, metalloids are widely distributed in the biosphere (the part of the living world on Earth). Examples of lyophilic compounds (generally water-soluble) include tributyltin oxide and methyl arsenic forms, which are highly toxic. Examples of binding to non-metallic elements include the binding of lead and mercury to sulphide groups in proteins. Heavy metals can enter humans in four ways: by consuming contaminated food, inhaling contaminated air, drinking contaminated water, and through skin contact in agricultural, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, residential, and industrial areas. Most metals are non-biodegradable and exist in nature in various pure and combined forms. When heavy metals are ingested or enter our bodies, they accumulate in our systems. This bioaccumulation causes biological and physiological effects. Some heavy metals are essential for life (in very small amounts) and are called essential elements, which are needed for a variety of biochemical and physiological functions. However, when they accumulate in large quantities, they can be toxic. They are widely used in agriculture, industry, medicine and other sectors, so they accumulate in the environment, including the atmosphere, water and soil, and even the bodies of living organisms. These heavy metals have naturally existed in the earth’s crust since the formation of the earth. Due to the increasing use of heavy metals, it has led to an imminent increase in the amount of metal substances in both the terrestrial and aquatic environments and even the air. Heavy metal pollution is primarily due to the need for capital to increase their use, the extraction of these metals, smelting, casting and other metal-based industries, and the leaching of metals from various sources such as landfills, livestock and poultry manure, runoff and leachate from sewage sludge, automobiles and roads. The use of heavy metals in agriculture has been a secondary source of heavy metal pollution, such as the use of pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, etc. Natural causes such as volcanic activity, evaporation of metals from soil and water, and resuspension of sediments increase soil erosion. It goes without saying that the latter has always existed before humans existed and is only added to when mines are opened, rocks are exposed to the air, and mined minerals are left to their own devices.

Chart 19: Global production trends of three elements over twenty years

Chart 20 Diseases and injuries caused by arsenic absorption in the body

Arsenic and all its compounds are highly toxic. The most toxic arsenic compound is arsine gas (AsH₃), which is a combination of arsenic and hydrogen gas. Breathing this gas at a concentration of 10 parts per thousand million (ppb 10) can kill a person in less than 5 seconds. This gas is 100,000 times more toxic and deadly than hydrogen cyanide (cyanide).

The main reason for the high toxicity of arsenic is its chemical similarity to phosphorus (one of the most common elements in the chemical composition of the body of the oppressors), for this reason, in biological molecules such as (adenosine triphosphate) or the phospholipid membrane of cells and internal components of the cell, as well as most of the vital enzymes, it replaces phosphorus and establishes covalent bonds (the strongest chemical bond) stronger than phosphorus. For this reason, arsenic leads to death by widely disrupting the digestive system and causing shock, otherwise it causes long-term complications including skin cancer and serious damage to the intestines and liver. The above image shows the complications of arsenic poisoning in the form of a star.

Cadmium in agricultural products, especially cereals and potatoes, is the most important source of absorption of this element for the human body. The absorption rate of cadmium for people with iron deficiency is 3 to 4 times that of people with normal iron levels. Cadmium accumulates in the kidneys and since the life of this element in the body is up to 30 years, it continues to damage the kidneys and liver for a long time. This element damages the kidneys and causes osteoporosis. Other side effects of cadmium include damage to the reproductive system and the body’s defence system. Inhalation of cadmium in factories where it is produced and as an auxiliary substance causes lung cancer among workers. Cadmium is rarely found in its pure form because it easily combines with other chemical molecules to form much more toxic compounds. For this reason, it can be found in water, air, soil, sediments, and food. Mining, metal smelting, and oil extraction are sources that increase cadmium concentrations in the environment and work. Workers in various capital investment sectors work with cadmium, including the production of alloys, chemicals used in chemical synthesis, metal smelting, casting, production of cadmium wire, production of cadmium powder for soldering, special cadmium powder for contact between metal sheets and as an auxiliary material in battery production, production of silver alloys, an auxiliary material in electronic goods, and a good conductor of heat and electricity, and when used as an additive in electrical and thermal alloys, it increases the speed of production processes.

Mercury is a heavy element that, in addition to its carcinogenic and toxic properties, is liquid at normal temperatures (22-24 degrees Celsius) and quickly emits mercury vapor, which is why it is easily transported by air circulation. The main reason for the increase in mercury concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels, coal as an energy source, and other fossil fuels such as oil. Another source of increased mercury in the atmosphere and nature is the process of gold production in gold mines in countries when workers use mercury to separate and clean gold from other salts. This technique releases a large amount of mercury into the atmosphere, but more importantly, there are workers who have been extracting money in the mines with this technique for hundreds of years!! The last stage of production is when the gold amalgam (a mixture of gold and mercury) is heated and the mercury evaporates!! Pure gold is obtained, the workers at this stage bear the most risks and losses. The mercury technique covers a quarter of the world’s gold production because it is the cheapest type of gold extraction. Although it requires more labour, but due to the extremely cheap labour cost, capitalists in the mentioned countries use this technique. Different mercury compounds have different toxicity, with compounds such as phenylmercury and alkyl alkoxy mercury causing the least harm, and alkylmercury compounds causing the most harm. Mercury can be absorbed through inhalation, digestion, and skin. Mercury vapor tends to target the central nervous system, but its main target is the kidneys and liver. Global studies show that direct contact or inhalation of mercury vapor can cause various disorders, some of which include: Autoimmune system disorders, kidney dysfunction, infertility, negative effects on the fetus, behavioral-neurological problems, cardiac dysfunction, Alzheimer’s, destructive effects on the central and peripheral nervous systems, eye effects, oral problems, acute respiratory failure, skin inflammation, dementia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, anaemia, redness of the eyes, bronchitis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, metal fume fever and neurological disorders, effects on the thyroid gland, reproduction and genotoxicity. Inhaling one milligram of mercury vapor per cubic meter damages the lungs, kidneys, and nervous system, causing severe irritability, emotional instability, tremors, weight loss, swollen gums, headaches, stunted growth, lung inflammation, and skin inflammation. After mercury vapor, methylmercury is the most dangerous form of mercury. The use of methylmercury as a fungicide to protect grains has led to a significant reduction in birds that have eaten these grains, and hundreds of deaths have been reported in Iraq and the United States from eating bread whose wheat grains have come into contact with methylmercury. The most toxic form of mercury, methylmercury, enters the human body and causes Minamata disease. This disease was first observed in the 1950s in Minamata Bay, Japan. The occurrence of this disease in humans is associated with various neurological complications, including impairment of the five senses, the occurrence of Alzheimer’s in old age, and in severe cases, the death of the patient. Methylmercury is more potent than the poison salts because, in addition to its high solubility in fatty tissue, it has the ability to bioaccumulate. It can also cross the blood-brain barrier and the placenta. Most of the mercury in humans and animals is in the form of methylmercury, which is often ingested through fish consumption. Fatty fish have become the main source of mercury in the water by feeding on plankton and other fish, as mercury has been dumped into seas and waterways by producers over many years. Methylmercury is distributed through the digestive tract, especially in the central nervous system and kidneys, and manifests as delayed neurological disorders. Some of these disorders include:

Incoordination of muscle movements, drowsiness and tingling of the limbs, tremors, decreased vision, hearing, smell and taste, memory loss, progressive dementia, tissue necrosis, destruction of glial cells (non-neuronal cells of the central nervous system, brain and spinal cord and peripheral nervous system), movement disorders and death. Thus, the nervous system is the most sensitive organ to contact with mercury vapor. A wide range of respiratory, mental, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, hepatic, renal, blood, skin, musculoskeletal, immune, sensory and perceptual and genotoxic disorders can be the effects of mercury. The following image shows the waste of this harmful metal in the human body.

Chart 21: Damage and diseases caused by mercury absorption in body organs

Chart 22: World production of lead and nickel throughout the history of industrial capitalism

Nickel production reached 2.7-million-ton s worldwide in 2021. Since 2010, global nickel production has increased by more than one million tons per year. Nickel is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract as a low molecular weight lipophilic compound. Various ions and compounds (different ligands) present in the intestine effect nickel absorption. Animal studies have shown that nickel present in small amounts is absorbed by active transport with facilitated diffusion. In contrast, if nickel is present in large amounts, the carriers become saturated and nickel is absorbed by passive diffusion. In vitro studies have shown similar results, with nickel being absorbed by the jejunum and passively through the ileum (in gastrointestinal anatomy, the last of the three segments of the small intestine). In most vertebrates, the jejunum is the terminal part of the small intestine. Nickel, along with ligands such as amino acids and small polypeptides, binds to albumin and is transported into the blood. Nickel competes with copper in blood albumin (the main water-soluble blood protein). The metal is absorbed into the liver through calcium channels present in liver cells, as has been observed in laboratory studies in mice. It has also been observed that nickel activation causes a decrease in a regulatory enzyme that leads to increased angiogenesis, which then facilitates tumour growth. Nickel metal has a wide range of carcinogenic mechanisms that include transcription factors, free radical production, and the controlled expression of certain genes. Nickel is involved in the regulation of the expression of certain long non-coding RNAs (RNAs and messenger RNAs, mRNA). This heavy metal can induce promoter methylation (in genetics, the part of DNA where a gene’s transcription begins) and cause downregulation. Downregulation causes an increase in two proteins, hypoxia-inducible factor, which has been shown to play a role in carcinogenesis. Since nickel produces free radicals, it also plays a role in the carcinogenesis process.

Global lead production increased astronomically between 2006 and 2021 (in 2020, production decreased slightly from 12 million tons in 2019 to 11.7 million tons). But in 2021, it returned to its previous momentum and increased to 12.28 million tons. With properties such as abundance, density, high formability, and low melting point, lead has numerous applications in various fields of capital investment. Building structures, pigments used in ceramic glazes and water pipes, in old decorative items, ceilings, pipes and windows. This metal (in its elemental form) is the most widely used after iron, aluminium, copper and zinc. It is used industrially in radiation protection, in the manufacture of solder, lead-acid batteries, in electronic components, cable sheathing, ammunition, in glass. Lead is formed from the radioactive decay of uranium and is itself converted to mercury by radioactive decay. It exists in the earth’s layers in various combinations, but its spread in the environment is solely due to its extraction in mines as a raw material for the production of alloys, paints, anti-rust coatings, water pipes, batteries and ammunition. Lead, like mercury, accumulates in the body and, like it, causes complications in the nervous system and brain, especially in children and foetuses. Lead is a toxic metal that, even at low concentrations, damages the nervous system (especially in children) and causes blood and brain diseases. In adults, it causes kidney disease and high blood pressure. Lead absorption for children 4 to 14 years of age is estimated to be between 0.3 and 0.56 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. Children with iron and calcium deficiencies absorb more lead than children with normal iron and calcium. For adults (15 to 75 years of age), it is between 0.23 and 0.41 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. Lead exposure in children leads to an estimated 600,000 new cases of cerebral palsy worldwide each year. A level of at least 5 micrograms of lead per decilitre of blood in children will cause reduced learning and memory, low intelligence, behavioural disorders, tremors, intestinal colic, muscle pain, increased blood pressure, anemia, reduced sperm count, and infertility, and these effects will increase with increasing lead exposure and increased blood lead concentrations. Despite various conventions for the production and capital use of lead, its annual production has been constantly increasing and has gained great momentum in the last decade. This once again shows that the ostentatious laws of capitalism to control the production and consumption of harmful substances are nothing more than empty words, parliamentary propaganda, embellishment and a cover-up of environmental crimes. Lead, like other heavy and toxic metals such as mercury and arsenic, has no relationship or mechanism in the human body or other organisms, yet it is constantly produced and enters the body in various ways, poisoning all parts of the body from the molecular level to the cells and tissues. The image below illustrates such a judgment.

Chart 23: Poisoning of body organs during lead absorption

Chart 24: World production of aluminium, copper and zinc since the Second Imperialist War

Aluminium (Al) toxicity has been documented in various cases since the first decade of the last century. Some cases are related to the fact that Al is a neurotoxicant that has been found at high levels in the brain tissues of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), epilepsy, and autism patients. Other cases are related to infants, especially premature infants and those with renal failure, who are at risk for developing central nervous system (CNS) and bone toxicity. This risk arises from infant exposure to aluminium through formula, intravenous feeding solutions, and aluminium-containing vaccinations. In addition, most antiperspirants (deodorants) contain aluminium compounds, which increase human exposure to toxic aluminium. The research collected in July 2021 under the title “Environmental aluminium Pollution: The Silent Killer” contains significant studies that, without exaggeration, lead us to no other conclusion than “Capitalism, the Silent Killer”! aluminium, the most abundant metallic element in the Earth’s crust, is a light metal with high thermal and electrical conductivity. By mass, 8.8% of the Earth’s crust is aluminium and it can be found in large quantities in rocks. aluminium is released into the environment by natural weathering of rocks, mining, and high capital expenditures, is taken up by plants, and accumulates in water, either through these processes or through water treatment systems that consume large amounts of aluminium. Due to its properties, this metal is able to combine with various substances and create ligands (various complexes) that increase its biological availability in the animal body. With the mass production of capitalism, this metal has also been mixed in the air, water and various types of foods containing aluminium. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the daily intake is at least one milligram per kilogram of body weight for each human.

However, the human body is currently overexposed to aluminium for obvious reasons. Studies reported (National Library of Medicine) have shown that consumption and exposure to high levels of aluminium can lead to serious health problems. Recently (2006, 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2020) published in the same journal, various studies have shown that aluminium is associated with many human diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In addition, the high levels of aluminium in formula milk have further increased the safety of infant formula feeding. Some vaccines also contain high concentrations of aluminium. The use of antiperspirants (deodorants) exposes humans to toxic aluminium through the skin. Some plants have high concentrations of aluminium, such as tea, some herbs and spices, potatoes and spinach (2019). In general, the concentration of aluminium in fruits and vegetables depends on various factors, including soil acidity, water used for irrigation and the type of plant. As a result of these factors, researchers (2017) have shown that fruits and vegetables of different origins have different aluminium contents. For example, an average of 32.8 mg/kg of aluminium was reported to be found in Spanish bananas. Furthermore, some plants tend to accumulate more aluminium in their roots while others accumulate more aluminium in their leaves (e.g., tea) (2017). Carrots, spinach, cabbage, watercress and pumpkin have been reported to contain high levels of aluminium (27.47 mg/kg), where these vegetables originate from Spain (2010). Soni et al. (2001) also reported that baked potatoes from the United States contain high levels of aluminium (26 mg/kg). Table 11 shows the average aluminium content in some food groups. This shows that vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers, and seafood all have high aluminium content. The presence of aluminium in the air and water is not limited to natural processes. Capitalist production is a major contributor to the presence of aluminium in the air and water. Air emissions from the aluminium production process, coal combustion, mining, waste incineration, and motor vehicle exhaust all contribute to higher aluminium concentrations in the air (2002; 2008; 2017; 2019). Many studies have shown that particulate matter in urban areas contains a significant amount of aluminium from industrial production (2018; 2020; 2019; 2020). In drinking water, aluminium concentrations vary based on the water source and the use of aluminium in the water treatment process (2019). Aluminium salts are most commonly used as coagulants in the coagulation process for water treatment (2013; 2014). Although some food sources naturally contain aluminium, much of what we eat contains aluminium as food additives. Processed dairy products, mainly processed cheese, breakfast cereals, flour, cakes, biscuits, baking powder, coffee, milk powder, table salts, bread, rice and soft drinks are all examples of foods with high aluminium additives (2014; 2019). In fact, aluminium additives are used in pickling and food preservation processes (2014).

Examples of aluminium additives for various food products as well as the function of these additives are provided in (Centre for Food Safety 2009).

A human being is exposed to a significant amount of aluminium without any will or any interference in the production process, not only because of the presence of aluminium in food, but also as a result of cooking with aluminium utensils, wrapping food with aluminium foil, and food stored in aluminium cans (2013). Cooking with aluminium cookware causes aluminium to leach from the cookware into the food as it heats up. A study (2011) found that the amount of aluminium leached from various foods is unacceptable by the World Health Organization and that this invasion of human health is considered negligible. Food contact with aluminium foil during food packaging results in aluminium transfer to food (2017).

In fact, a recent study was conducted to show the difference between baking in aluminium foil cups and silicone cups (2018). The study found that cakes baked in aluminium foil cups contained high levels of aluminium, which is unacceptable according to the WHO (2018). It is also worth noting that cooking acidic foods such as tomatoes in aluminium containers is considered quite unsafe because aluminium is released from cooking containers more readily into acidic foods (2013). Therefore, humans are exposed to varying concentrations of aluminium from foods depending on the food source, type of food, cooking method, and storage method. In addition, infant formula has been reported to contain significant amounts of aluminium, especially soy-based formulas, which have high levels of aluminium (2013). Recently, various research studies have focused on determining the concentration of aluminium in several brands of infant formula to investigate whether the amount is negligible or intolerable for the health of the infant. Regarding the level of aluminium in seafood, it is said that aquatic organisms can accumulate aluminium in their bodies because the water is contaminated with high levels of aluminium (2013). In fact, research (2011) studied aluminium accumulation in freshwater crabs and found that the crabs stored and accumulated aluminium due to aluminium contamination in the water. Currently, there is great concern that human exposure to toxic aluminium from multiple sources increases the potential for adverse health effects. aluminium has recently been associated with neurotoxicity.

Zinc is the fourth most widely used capital metal in the world after iron, aluminium, and copper. Zinc is used in various alloys, including brass and galvanized steel, electroplating of metals to prevent them from rusting, powerful zinc batteries, galvanizing iron, container production, military industries, automotive, shipbuilding, battery manufacturing, and the production of alloys such as brass, Warsaw, etc. At the same time, zinc is a food that is required in very small amounts by plants and animals, but its large amounts are toxic. Zinc is present in several enzymes and is required for body metabolism, among other things. Zinc is the second most common trace element in the body; iron is the most common trace element. Increased zinc absorption leads to zinc toxicity and causes a decrease in blood iron levels. This leads to acute weakening of the immune system, anemia and neutropenia (an immune deficiency caused by a deficiency of neutrophils in the body; the presence of neutrophils is essential in preventing and limiting bacterial infections). High zinc absorption also increases cholesterol, which is why zinc toxicity leads to increased blood lipids, which is also seen in people who regularly take zinc supplements. As we saw with aluminium, zinc levels in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s were more than twice as high as in healthy people.

Copper is a metallic element with ductility and high thermal and electrical conductivity, and has the highest electrical conductivity after silver, but due to its reasonable price, this metal is used more than silver in electrical wires, etc. Copper metabolism plays an important role in physiological homeostasis. However, copper toxicity causes several pathological processes that are harmful to human health. During the copper extraction process by pyrometallurgy, a significant amount of sulphur dioxide SO₂ is produced. Copper production plants usually produce large amounts of sulphur dioxide, which, when released into the environment, causes significant pollution. While copper is required as an important catalytic cofactor in chemistry for many proteins, in excess, free copper ions can cause damage to cellular components. A delicate balance between the uptake and excretion of copper ions determines cellular copper levels. Excess copper not only causes oxidative stress but also damages DNA and reduces cell proliferation. Ingestion of more than 1 g of copper sulphate leads to symptoms of toxicity. Copper toxicity can be caused by metabolic defects or by excessive intake or by increased absorption or decreased excretion due to underlying pathological processes. Copper poisoning can be caused by consuming acidic foods cooked in uncoated copper containers or by exposure to excess copper in drinking water or other environmental sources. The mass production of this metal and its widespread use in various fields of capital investment have disrupted the thousands of years of balance of this metal in the human environment and nutrition. Many cases of copper poisoning are often the result of consuming contaminated water sources, topical creams containing copper salts for treating burns, and acidic foods cooked in uncoated copper containers, but the main source of poisoning is the prominent and increasing role of this metal. For example, copper sulphate is a chemical that is readily available in many countries, even sold without a prescription. It is used in agriculture as a pesticide, in the leather industry, and in the manufacture of homemade glue. Burning copper sulphate in homes and shops (as a good luck charm and for some religious activities) is a common practice among Buddhists and Hindus. The bright blue colour of the hydrated form of copper sulphate crystals is attractive to children and is a frequent cause of unintentional poisoning. The mass production of this metal, as is evident from the above diagram, has been closely linked to its extensive use of capital in recent centuries. Capitalism is based on the need to produce and accumulate profit, so what is of primary and vital importance to it is the need to reproduce and accumulate, not the health of humans, their environment, or nature. Wilson’s disease is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by excessive copper accumulation and is caused by a variant of the gene encoding the enzyme copper-ATPase. The risks of copper toxicity are much greater for infants and children because of their immature biliary excretory system and increased intestinal absorption. The symptoms of overt acute copper toxicity depend in part on the manner in which the excess copper was ingested, usually accompanied by gastrointestinal side effects such as abdominal pain, jaundice, anorexia, intense thirst, diarrhea, and vomiting, along with erosive gastropathy. Altered mental alertness, headache, coma, and tachycardia may also accompany gastrointestinal side effects. Neurological symptoms such as depression, fatigue, irritability, agitation, and difficulty concentrating have also been reported. In the most severe forms, copper poisoning leads to rhabdomyolysis (skeletal muscle cells break down and their contents leak into the blood), heart and kidney failure, methemoglobinemia (when the iron molecule of haemoglobin is oxidized by the poisoning), intravascular homolysis, hepatic necrosis, encephalopathy, and ultimately death. As previously mentioned, the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and copper and zinc is as intriguing as that between aluminium and copper. Researchers discovered this relationship ten years ago and explained it as follows.

“In this special issue on biological factors that cause cognitive impairment, we present and discuss evidence for two such biological factors. One is excess copper, which causes neurotoxicity. We provide evidence that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has become an epidemic in developed, but not underdeveloped, countries, and that this epidemic is a new disease phenomenon that began in the early 1900s and has exploded in the past 50 years. This leads to the conclusion that something in the developed environment is a major risk factor for AD. We hypothesize that the agent is inorganic copper, originating from copper plumbing, the use of which coincides with the AD epidemic. We present a network of evidence that supports this hypothesis.”

Four years later, another research group reached similar conclusions.

“As one of the ten leading causes of death, dementia is becoming a major health concern, especially as the U.S. population ages (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). In fact, the World Health Organization predicts that the number of people with dementia will triple by 2050, with 115.4 million reported cases. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the leading causes of dementia, is also expected to increase in the future. A study using 2010 census data estimated that Alzheimer’s disease will increase from 4.7 million in 2010 to 13.8 million by 2050 (2013). Furthermore, with the cost of Alzheimer’s disease care expected to exceed $1.1 trillion by 2050, a catastrophe is looming if the current rate of Alzheimer’s disease is not reduced (University of California San Francisco, 2013). Several studies have focused on the environmental impacts of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Wang, 2017).

Chart 25

Occupational exposure to copper and aluminium metals and their impact on dementia was reported by the University of Washington in 2018. In this study, 4,354 workers with different job divisions were studied. The above chart shows the distribution of different worker groups as well as the situations of exposure to copper and aluminium. The majority of workers in this group were in professional, technical work (29%), which included engineers, researchers, computer technicians, and teachers. The second largest group of occupations was service and private workers (22%). Housekeepers, health care assistants, and security guards fall into this category. Individuals exposed to copper and aluminium show. Occupational groups, with the difference that office workers made up the largest occupational group at 24% and 22%, respectively. Office workers consist of messengers, office machine operators, and clerical workers.  Technical and professional workers were the second largest group for both metals. At the end of June 2015, 75% of participants were not diagnosed with any form of dementia in the group, 15.5% were diagnosed with dementia with all symptoms. However, it should be noted that compared to the unexposed groups, the respective exposed groups had a higher proportion of dementia.

We have already talked about the harmful effects of heavy metals and rare earths on humans and animals. It is appropriate to give a brief report on an element whose capital applications are increasing astronomically, and huge resources are being extracted in some countries, including Bolivia and Australia. The production of this precious metal, along with its increasing use in car batteries, has been expanding since 2016, and only in recent years has the trend of increasing its production fluctuated.

Chart 26 Global lithium production

Lithium is an important element in batteries in everything from electric cars to cell phones. But the metal is dangerous to health. Research has shown for years that lithium restricts fetal growth and causes birth defects. Like heavy metals, lithium, which is extracted from deep within the earth and then released into the environment as a result of widespread production and consumption, passes from the mother’s blood to the foetus, and many studies have shown that it affects fetal development. “The biggest concern is that lithium will end up in the same situation as other hazardous substances,” says Marie Wachter, a professor of environmental medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. “It will enter the environment on a large scale, as we have seen with lead emissions or, more recently, polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances,” she says. “It will get to the point where it is impossible to reverse and reduce.” So far, no government agency, whether it be the United Nations, the European Commission, or the governments of the United States and China, the largest consumers of these commodities (rare earths and lithium), has even made a final decision on how to classify these elements and lithium, nor have they made any plans for their collection and recovery. Like many toxins, they are consumed and released into nature.

At the beginning of this article, we said that “capitalist crises also emanate precisely from here, from the depths of this same process, the process of excessive production of capital and the forced rise of the organic composition of capital, which makes the rate of accumulation surpassing the rate of production of surplus value, the downward trend of the rate of profit, and finally the outbreak of crisis, inevitable.” However, the very nature of capitalist crises, which today are no longer periodic but continuous and interconnected, is not in itself, in any way, not even the slightest, an existential crisis or the destruction of this system, or even a danger to the existence of this system. Here, as elsewhere, capital, as the basis and foundation of its existence, locks every insignificant amount of its own increase and its profit into the greater poverty, deeper exhaustion, and increasing degradation of the worker. It is absolutely not satisfied with a more crushing intensification of exploitation and a deeper physical slaughter of him; it also bombards his intelligence, knowledge, discernment, and ability to think. Today, compared to two decades ago, the global working class must endure a much more crushing, eroding, and deadly rate of exploitation to make the mountains of capital of the world’s capitalist class profitable. The working masses of the world will be forced to multiply the volume of capital accumulated to date in the coming years, under the pressure of the most fascist and criminal form of exploitation, slaughter, and extinction. The only way out for the working masses around the world is to return to class struggle and revolt against the social existence of the capitalist world. This struggle is not a rebellion, but rather the global labour movement is forced to find a solution in its forced and coercive campaign to overcome its shortcomings, weaknesses, and inferiority complex, to end its misguidance, and to make the search for a radical anti-capitalist struggle its agenda. Following right-wing syndicalist reformism, social democracy and left-wing reformism is not the solution for the workers but the challenge of their struggle against capital. Reformist solutions are the solution to the capitalist crises for the survival of this order in another form and image. If we are to overcome capitalism, push back capitalist states in all areas including livelihood, environment, housing, food, schools and hospitals and ultimately bury capitalism in the cemetery of history forever, the entire working class, all the conscious, active, militant, influential and radical elements of this class, together with the working class, must organize hand in hand in an anti-capitalist soviet movement. A labour movement that, in the context of current, everyday events and in the arena of great uprisings that are taking shape, will have this capacity and will take the path of purifying itself from reformist impurities, will step through this transition, will become radical, will present its demands from an anti-capitalist perspective, and will organize itself as a council and anti-capitalist movement.

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