Straight lines of vegetation trace the path of a pipeline beneath the Gulf of Mexico (file photo).The oil from the oil spill has now affected the marshes, and has damaged the pipelines beneath the surface. This disaster has been caused by the gulf oil spill. The oil is now affecting organisms living in these marshes as well as hurting the infrastructure of the oil industry. If this oil kills off all the plants in the marsh it will become open water witch can hurt the organisms and the oil industry, by making the coastal infrastructure susceptible to ships strikes, storms, and corrosive salt water. The Energy loss and marsh land loss are making this oil spill an even bigger problem than it already was. Natural gas pipelines and onshore oil travel around 26,420 miles through coastal countries. These pipelines were built in this vulnerable spot long ago because many people assumed that they would not be in open water, because they thought that these marsh environments were more stable than they really are.
Opinion: I was shocked when I read this article. I thought that I knew all of the outcomes of the BP oil spill. This problem that has also occurred because of the oil spill can cost oil companies a fortune on top of what they already have to pay to fix the problem of the oil leak. So many organisms from so many different species died from the oil leak. Now may more are dieing from the loss of marshes. I hope that we can fix this problem. Unfortunately I can think of much we can do to fix it. However I do think we should take this occurence into consideration if they build another oil pipeline, and dont build them in or near a marsh, swamp, or any other wetland.
Questions:
1. Can you think of anything that we can do to fix this problem in the coastal marshes? What are they?
2. What other effects has the oil spill had that most people do not know about?
3. What other things do you think will hapen because of the loss of marshes besides the loss of organisms and money?
Hello everyone! I suggest everyone is having quite a pleasurable evening since it is rather late and no one else posted yet... I was suppost to post today, right? Anyhow, after I read Kyles quite insightful summary, I was intrigued, and yet heartbroken. I realize that this gulf spill was an accident and was a much larger issue than it needed to be, and that it did cause many, many issues... but I had no idea it would have such a huge impact on marshes, too! There had to be some impact on them, but I honestly didnt think that it could wipe out a whole area of them! This is just way too mind boggling for my brain to contend with, but I cant help but be devistated. If these marshes are destroyed, all the animals living there will die and all the surrounding land and humans will perish. Just imagine if we couldnt rebuild the New Jersy beaches! The land there would be compleetly eroded away! That's what a wetland does for the area around it, protects it and helps it rebuild during and after disaster. Anyhow, I still have some questions of my own that I would like to pose:
ReplyDelete1: Do you think that if these wetlands do indeed perish, would it be possible to rebuild them? If so, why and how would this be done?
2: Do you think that this will eventually occur in places other than just below the site of the spill? Where do you think this could occur?
3: If this situation is indeed like New Jersey beaches, then why couldn't these areas of land simply rebuild their beaches like NJ does?
WOW!! This is interesting, and yet another affect of the gulf oil spill that I didn't realize. It is absolutely horrible that the oil could eat away the plants in the marshes, causing open water. As we have learned, when wetlands are taken away, flooding can happen. That is the least people in the areas affected by problems in the gulf need now, but it is very likely. If we lived in an area where this problem was happening, I would not be able to stand so many things happening to my area! Just from one little mistake, so many other problems are happening, and none of it good! What a shame.
ReplyDeleteI have some questions of my own:
1) Who should be responsible for rebuilding the marshes, if it is indeed possible?
2) Is there a way to protect the pipelines if we can't rebuild the marshes?
3) Will this hurt our economy because more oil spills are likely to happen?
whoah! that's horrible! Marshes are a big part of our world and they are very important. If we start losing marshes, then this could be a huge problem. Also, now many more animals could become endangered and I agree with you, there isn't much we can do to save them. We do need to figure out something though so we can save our environment and make it better. This will be costing the oil company a lot more money than they already owe. Though, they deserve it because they have done so much damage to our ecosystem with THEIR oil spill.
ReplyDeleteI have a few questions of my own:
1) The marshes are a wetland, correct? does this mean that the oil spill already hit, or is going to hit more wetlands and destroy other types too?
2) Is there anyway to protect the marshes so something like this won't happen again?
3) Like animals, can marshes become endangered? if so, are they endangered now?
woah! this is horrible! i always knew the oil spill had bad affects on the Earth but I never in a million years thought it would affect the marshes too! BP must feel really bad now! It's crazy how much one event can harm so many things so badly! This could kill off all of the animals in the marshes and have terrible consequences on our enviornment!
ReplyDeleteI found a picture that sums up what oil does to marshes!
http://blog.honk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Oil-in-marshes-NY-Times.jpg