Great! Oil slick in Gulf of Mexico is a triple whammy

Great.

Almost one million liters of oil per day are leaking from a blown-out well into the Gulf of Mexico.

At first glance, the massive slick is a double whammy.

From an environmental or economic point of view, it’s a disaster.

North Atlantic blue fin tuna, prized for sushi and sashimi and a species already in danger of becoming extinct (through no fault of its own) are already in the gulf to spawn and more are on their way.


How will they fare?

In my expert opinion as a conscientious observer, not any better than other plant and marine life as more oil oozes over protective booms due to high winds and is pushed into ponds and lakes in Louisiana, USA.

Untold levels of plant and marine life will die.

As well, the all-important economy and resultant, excessive lifestyles will be harmed as well, near and far.

Already, all new offshore oil projects have been halted in the US. Regarding the current disaster, though crews are trying to shut off an underwater valve, no success has been achieved.

However, I believe we face a triple whammy as mentioned in the title.

This current, massive economic and environmental disaster occurring in the Gulf of Mexico is not an isolated in incident.

While crude is bubbling from the sea bed and destroying the natural benefit and potential of the Gulf of Mexico, another product of oil (chemical fertilizer) is being dumped in large quantities into the Gulf as well with damaging consequences.

This from The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan:

“The flood of synthetic nitrogen (applied to cornfields of mid-America) has fertilized not just the farm fields but the forests and the oceans too, to the benefit of some species (corn and algae being two of the biggest beneficiaries), and to the detriment of countless others.


“The ultimate fate of the nitrates (e.g., applied to vast cornfields in Iowa) is to flow down the Mississippi into the Gulf of mexico, where their deadly fertility poisons the marine ecosystem.

“The nitrogen tide stimulates the growth of algae, and the algae smother the fish, creating a hypoxic or dead zone as big as the state of New Jersey and still growing. By fertilizing the world, we alter the planet’s composition of species and shrink its biodiversity.”

Ironic isn’t it?

For those keeping score, this is the first time that environmental degradation bubbling up from the Gulf’s seabed has come face to face with environmental degradation from the middle of the North American continent.

Great. A triple whammy.

Surely, we should be pleased.

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