The Gulf Oil Spill may be the straw that breaks the economic back of not only the Southeastern states bordering the Gulf of Mexico but the entire country as well. From economic to enviornmental and even the endangerment of some species of marine life, the consequences may be irreversible.
Below are listed various repercussions that may result from the Gulf oil spill if they can't stop it, which to date, all attempts to do so have been successful.
"Unlike the Alaska spill, which coated a rock-strewn bay, BP's oil will cling to a sponge-like coast, entering the pores of mangrove forests and sea-grass beds and the breeding grounds for crabs, shrimp and oysters.
Already some of the richest fishing grounds of the gulf are off-limits, idling thousands of commercial fishermen. Some restaurants in New Orleans and elsewhere are either out of homegrown oysters or are down to less than a week's supply.
Further, whatever happens in the gulf could spread.
Scientists say they can't predict more than a few days in advance where the oil is heading. If it slips into the powerful Loop Current, it could spread toward South Florida, get picked up by the Gulf Stream and head up the East Coast before it turns at Cape Hatteras, N.C., toward the open sea.
That could prove disastrous for Florida's enormous tourism industry, with 80 million visitors drawn yearly to its pristine beaches.
A growing slick could cut into a commercial fishing industry that produced about 1.27 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008 with a dockside value of more than $659 million, according to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
Beyond that, more than 3.2 million people fish for fun in the gulf each year.
Damage to the wetlands could cost society billions of dollars in lost natural filtration of water and protection of property from storm surges. The coastal areas also are important habitat for birds, shrimp and many other forms of life.
What we learned was never, ever let oil get into a mangrove coast. You’ll never get it out. It’s like a sponge you rub on a greasy bacon pan. You need very hot water and a lot of soap, and you still might just give up and throw away the sponge.”
The gulf’s coastal sea-grass beds and mangroves are full of burrowing animals that make millions of holes. Oil works its way out of the holes eventually and then storms flush it back into the water, creating what amounts to a new spill.
“It’s going to cover up the Gulf Coast and the wind is eventually going to keep it going south and it’s going to get into the Loop Current, and the Loop Current comes south and comes through the Florida Keys, where 85 percent of the live coral reefs in the country are,” Nelson said.
“We’re talking about massive economic loss to our tourism, our beaches, our fisheries, and very possibly the disruption of our country’s military testing and training in the eastern gulf,” he said."
When storms blow up _ hurricane season begins June 1 _ the oil will be driven into the marshes and “then the problem will build up more and more, because you just can’t stop it,” McKinney said'.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/11/93951/gulf-spill-provokes-worries-of.html#ixzz0ny7dmtK2
Notable is the fact that this disaster has an even projected worse case scenario wherein the continous gush of oil could spread from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to America's eastern seaboard if it meets with the Gulf Loop Current that would disperse the slick even further:
"Many ocean scientists are now raising concerns that a powerful current could spread the still-bubbling slick from the Florida Keys all the way to Cape Hatteras off North Carolina.
These oceanographers are carefully watching the Gulf Loop Current, a clockwise swirl of warm water that sets up in the Gulf of Mexico each spring and summer. If the spill meets the loop -- the disaster becomes a runaway.
"It could make it from Louisiana all the way to Miami in a week, maybe less." said Eric Chassignet, director of the Center for Ocean Atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University. "It is pretty fast."
http://www.georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-spill-how-bad.html
The very worst-case scenario, if the oil leak continued for a very long period of time, the oil could conceivably be carried from the Gulf Stream into world-wide ocean currents. Therefore, this could become a worldwide oceanic disaster.
In many photographs of the oil spill, the waters have been tiger-striped with a reddish-orange rust-colored hue, reminiscent of dried blood. This is similar coloration to what John of Patmos may have seen when he authored the book of Revelation as he was describing his vision of the sea turning to blood and every living thing in the sea dying:
SEE PHOTOGRAPHS OF OIL SPILL
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/photogalleries/100429-gulf-oil-rig-spill-worse-pictures/#gulf-oil-rig-spill-thin-layer_19692_600x450.jpg
Revelation 16:3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
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