Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone - Image via WikipediaBy Jerry GreenfieldThe Gulf of Mexico has seen some better days. We all know about the huge oil spill caused by the explosion of the oil drilling rig, the Deepwater Horizon, on April 20th, 2010. It took them 3 months to finally cap-off the gusher, but by then, the damage was done. This is, to date, the absolute worst oil spill we have ever experienced.
But to add insult to injury, the Gulf of Mexico has had many other "issues" for years. One of the biggest is the fact that there is a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico ... and it is growing.
Now, you're probably asking yourself, "What's a dead zone?" A dead zone is any area in water where the oxygen supply has been depleted. When this happens, the water is said to be hypoxic. If there isn't enough oxygen, then plant-life (such as algae) can't grow. If there's no algae in the area, then much of the marine life has nothing to eat. This marine life will either starve and die, or if they can, they will flee the area and try to find a better place to live.
Water becomes depleted of oxygen when there is too much nitrogen and phosphorus in it. The reason the Gulf of Mexico is so susceptible to this problem is because of the Mississippi River. The mouth of the Mississippi opens up into the Gulf - and boy, is it a big mouth!
Beginning in Minnesota, the Mighty Mississippi flows down to the Gulf of Mexico and carries all of the bi-products of farming right along with it. All of the chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used in the farmland along the Mississippi leach into the ground surrounding the river and begin their journey southward.
Man-made chemicals used in farming are extremely high in nitrogen and phosphorus. In fact, these chemicals have more nitrogen and phosphorus in them than the crops could ever use, so all of the excess is absorbed into the ground and eventually makes its way into streams, creeks, rivers, and lakes ... which all end up somehow being connected to the Mississippi River!
Unfortunately, the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico has only grown over time and shows no signs of halting its growth any time soon. The men and women who live off of the sea have no control over this problem and just have to deal with it. Obviously the marine life has no say! And now, on top of everything else, there are the devastating effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to deal with as well!
We are killing our planet! That's all there is to it! The blatant misuse and overuse of chemicals in farming is causing dead zones where marine life cannot live. Our thirst for energy lends to unsafe circumstances and over-looked precautions when it comes to oil drilling. We need to be held accountable for our action - all of us - not just the people who make a living off the Gulf of Mexico and the marine life who try to make a home there.
For more information, please click here.
http://mygardenwalk.com/
My number one focus is growing my own food. I don't think that really counts as a hobby. For some people it is, but for me, growing my own fruits and vegetables and saving my own seed is the key to survival. The only person you can count on is yourself, if you ask me. The government is trying to "help" us all with GMOs and welfare, but it's all a crock. We need to know how to survive on our own.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Greenfield
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Gulf-of-Mexico-Dead-Zone&id=5859136
The capitalism is correct way of life and has nothing to do with how we treat our environment. Do not think that communism does it better - NO WAY !!!! In communism, there is no money, no law, no responsibility established at all, and there is only one zar - chief officer of the government who not only kills environment without a doubt but also kills and experiments on its own people. Powertiy never helped the environment, yet (think about Mexico dumpting its own shit into the waters they drink from and swim in for centrues). There are no good water refining facilities, or laws protecting environments if you do not have capitalism. Capitalism is the most structrued, natural, close to God society that was ever created by humans. Communism is the MOST EVIL !!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe need to change a human first of all, cardinally, everything starts from wrong thinking. The most important class in school and in every college must be 'Survival of Human' class, where everybody would have to learn on how to think about future and about the consequences of his/her own actions to the environment. Second thing we could do is to change the way humans live. We need to have more opportunity for every family to grow their own food, possibly, or at least educate farmers as to how to survive without chemicals. We need to rethink globally our use of chemicals - plastic bags should all be very well bio-degradable, computers and TVs should be all recycled, real plastic should be used only in hospitals and only for emergency needs and considered hazardous material; energy companies should have their equipment designed with 100 levels of protections, thought of every kind of disaster possibility - which does happen in real life - earthquakes, gas explosions, etc. There should be safety measures built in that equipment to shut off if anything happens, on first warning signs. Our cars can beep if tires go low - why can't atomic station catch first shakes of earth or first signs of danger and shut off immediately! Not only shut off, it should also have measures, like, for example, ingredients that can cause a bad chemical or explosive reaction in the first sign of danger should be mechanically separated into different locations, possibly, so that they cannot interact together and cause possible explosions, for example! It cannot be that hard for engineers to do! They just do not care enough about safety AT ALL!!!! Then they come to the food market, and there is nothing left to eat - crab is radiated, fish is non-existent anymore, and there is nothing left to eat and survive for human. It is so simple to make right decisions and protect ourselves, but I am afraid mostly humans are so wrongly wired in their brains, they will rather invent food made from oil rather than simply plan wisely their actions and think ahead!!!!!
ReplyDelete