Summary: Back in September of last year, a flourishing deep sea coral reef was found in the Gulf of Mexico. Now that coral reef and many more are being threatened by BP's oil spill. It is one of three discovered reefs that are in danger. Scientists believe that the plumes of dissolved oil will destroy the ecosystems in the hidden deep sea reefs. These plumes extend over 22 miles in all directions that may cause many more ecosystems in the ocean to be destroyed. Also this plume has more than 210,000 gallons of oil droplets, natural gas and dispersant chemical corexit(Whatever that is.) Scientists say that they have only uncovered 1% of all the deep sea reefs in the gulf. This is a serious problem. In the worst case scenario, the plumes will cover the coral and basically suffocate it. If the oil spill is not cleaned up in the near future, we may never see those other 99% of the coral reefs and their ecosystems.
Opinion: I believe that BP needs to find a way to clean up all the oil in the Gulf. There are so many things that are affecting people and animals alike. In this case, the oil spill has the potenetial to wipe out all ecosystems within a 22 mile radius of the leak. The way I look at it is this; what if a bomb hit Horsham and killed everyone and everything within a 22 mile radius? That would be catastrophic. I know that both BP and the government are not trying hard enough to get the mess cleaned up and restoring life in the Gulf of Mexico as it was. I hope in the near future that we can forget about this whole mess, learn from it, and move on.
Questions
1. If you could, how would you help clean up oil in the gulf?
2.What do you think will happen to the deep sea reefs?
3. What caused the oil spill to happen?
I too believe the government and bp are not trying their best at cleaning up the mess. Despite all that stuff on TV and the internet, i still think bp can do a better job at fixing their mistake. And about that 22 mile radius affecting at least three barrier reefs, its not something to be looked over easily. Even without bp messing up, everyone was already putting the earth to waste. With this rate, we might as well cut down every tree and kill every animal in out path. I completely agree with Cole on everything that he says other than that we should forget this ever happened. Mistakes are there to learn from, not to push under the bed.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to question 3:
a pipe blew up
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteThis oil spill has been going on for a long time and it has destroyed many ecosystems. I understand that the government and BP are trying to clean up the mess, but obviously they need to change something because not a lot is getting done. So many ecosystems are in danger of being destroyed. This oil spill should be one of the highest priorities to fix in our country right now. According to Cole's summary, if we don't clean up the oil spill in the near future, we won't see 99% of the coral reefs and their ecosystems. That is horrible! Our country needs to realize how detrimental the situation we are in is and fix it soon!
This is a really good article that has more information about the oil spill...
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=oil%20spill&st=cse
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteThe oil spill is destroying so many aspects of life. It needs to be put to stop, much quicker than the progress now. Cole makes a terrific point when he mentions what would happen if everything within a 22 mile radius of Horsham were to be destroyed. Any and every ecosystem is important. It is appalling to me that so many coral reefs we don't even know are there yet could be destroyed. We need to fix this issue quickly or suffer horrible consequences.
Answer to Question 2:
I am not holding out much hope for the coral reefs. I believe that at this rate, all of the reefs will be destroyed. If BP doesn't take much more initiative and SOON, there will be no reversing it. I hope that we can save the reefs, but at this point I do not think it will happen.
Opinion: I too agree that BP and the government are acting a bit lackadaisical about the oil spill. This spill was very serious and a lot of organisms have died because of their foolishness and they are just going through the motions cleaning it up instead of hurrying and cleaning it up as fast as they can. Instead of cleaning it up right away, BP has kind of pushed it aside and basically said to themselves that they'd clean it up later. Well I know that I'm certainly not the only one that that doesn't fly with. They have way too much blood on their hands already, they shouldn't allow more to be spilt.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to #3:
A pipe that was transporting the oil blew up and oil spilled out.