We are all aware of ecological Armageddon going on in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster but Dave Cohen reminds us that the Gulf was already in trouble.
The oil leak on the Mississippi Canyon seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico proceeds apace. It is not clear that recent actions have succeeded in plugging the leak. The widely dispersed petroleum is a great disaster, but I get the distinct impression that this oil is seen as despoiling a pristine environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have this impression because, to my knowledge, the sorry state of the Gulf of Mexico before the oil spill is not being discussed. Before the oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico was being ravaged by—
- coastal erosion
- hypoxia (very low oxygen)
- harmful algal blooms (red tides)
The levies that the federal government started building on the Mississippi River in the 30’s are destroying the marshes and wetlands by depriving them of new material. Nitrogen and phosphorus from extensive agriculture in the Mississippi River basin have resulted in large areas of low oxygen, “dead zones” and increased blooms of toxic algae.
As Cohen points out even before the toxic oil volcano in the Gulf it was a toxic waste dump being slowly killed.
Ron can also be found at Newshoggers